Playgrounded

🌟We were honoured to be part of the very first Web Directions Next conference in Sydney last week—a truly unique and inspiring event! 🚀 For the past 20-years Web Directions have been inspiring Australia’s tech future. This year, Web Directions Next launched as a space to explore what’s next for the world as technology advances to an exciting and uncertain place 🌏✨ With all those brilliant minds pondering the ideas shared, attendees needed a space to consider how they might affect that change. Playgrounded created a space where these big ideas could flourish—combining drawing, LEGO, and Playdough (check out the Playdough-art!) to spark creativity and focus, alongside Mario Kart and bean-sorting fun to keep energy high and minds engaged. 🎮✨ People made art. We had a ball. Plus, the bear returned. A heartfelt thank you to John Allsopp, Rosemary Allsopp, Jane Girot and the entire Web Directions team for having us. It was an inspiring day, and we’re so excited to see where these ideas lead! 💬🙌

🚀 Last week, we teamed up with Remote for an incredible event series diving into the evolving world of work! 🌍✨ Together, we explored how to empower teams to thrive in today’s dynamic, hybrid environments. With teammates, leaders, teams we collaborate with, suppliers and customers increasingly spread across the globe, building strong, connected cultures is more crucial than ever. We explored ways leaders can foster culture where teams feel safe *enough* to play, take risks, disagree constructively, and be creative supporting hybrid and remote teams that are not only functional but also dynamic and full of possibility - through Relationships, Rituals, and Reflective Practices💡💬 Thank you to all those folks who came along. It was a truly collaborative atmosphere. We're so fortunate to be part of a community of leaders who cares so deeply about making working better. And, a huge thanks to the amazing Remote team for hosting and collaborating with us on these events! 🙌 #HybridWork #RemoteWork #TeamCulture #MakeWorkBetter

🎉 What a week it’s been for Playgrounded! We had the incredible opportunity to dive into 5 events across 2 cities last week—and we’re still buzzing from all the energy, connections, and inspiring conversations. Here’s the whirlwind recap: 🗓️ Monday: In Stefan's other role as an academic lecturer of leadership and organisational dynamics, he spent some time talking with his fellow academics about group dynamics and the future of work. 🗓️Tuesday: Georgina teamed up with Ruth Neech to co-host the Future Tech Collective, exploring how technology is changing how we communicate and how human relationships and brains are changing 🗓️ Wednesday: We partnered with Remote to share insights that matter to the future of work at an event in Sydney 🗓️  Thursday: Stefan took the stage with Remote again, this time in Melbourne, to continue the conversation. 🗓️  Friday: We wrapped it up at Web Directions Next in Sydney, connecting with some of the brightest minds in digital and design. Thank you John Allsopp and team for having us. And... the bear returned! 🩷 A huge thank you to everyone we worked with, learned from, and laughed with along the way. Events like these fuel our passion for making work better, and we're so grateful for all the community support we felt from you all. We'll share some more detailed wrap-ups over the coming days 🧸👱🏻♀️ #MakeWorkBetter #FutureOfWork #Innovation #Collaboration #Leadership

Disengagement costs $8 trillion globally (Gallup, 2024). Everywhere we look, empirical and anecdotal data like this 👆 suggests businesses everywhere have a problem; people are having a terrible time with work and it’s costing businesses. The job of a leader is never done. Even if your team is super engaged, here's a little reminder to gather data on the experiences your team is having. We've even drafted a message for you that might help you get valuable insights that will help you get more done, and have more fun. Hey team, I’m really interested in your experience of work and how we can make work better together. This week in our 1:1s I’ll be asking you what’s getting in the way of working, what you’re enjoying about work, what you’re finding difficult. -- 👋 We're Playgrounded. We offer 1:1 coaching, team workshops, offsite support and contracted group dynamics expertise to help hybrid & remote teams get more done, and have more fun 🎉

👋 If you're in Sydney on 27th or Melbourne on 28th November, join us and our event partners Remote for not-your-average-ways-of-working event experience 🥳 The world of work has changed. More than ever, we're no longer sharing the physical space with our colleagues, leaders, or customers. We're excited by what this means for how we work together as humans. Come join us for a discussion with other smart humans who care about making dynamic, playful and functional hybrid and remote teams. Registrations are open now, but space is limited! Registration links in comments 👇 Sydney: Time : November 27 | 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm AEDT Location : Studio Q, QT Sydney | 49 Market St, Sydney NSW 2000 Melbourne: Time : November 28th | 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM AEDT Location : The Barclay Room, QT Melbourne | 133 Russell St, Melbourne VIC 3000

7/10 CEOs worry their employees lack the right skills for the future. But the skills required to do our jobs are expected to change by 65% in the next 6 years (Atvis, 2024) So, even the CEOs who worry now, don’t know what the specific technical skills are that we’ll need to learn. All we know is that learning new skills and learning from experience will be vital in the future. Reflective Practice is an awesome… practice to help you build your learning culture. It’s tricky to do well, but its formula is simple. Next time your team is talking about something that went well, or not so well, try asking the group - what happened, how did it feel and what can we do with that? -- 👋 We're Playgrounded. We offer 1:1 coaching, team workshops, offsite support and contracted group dynamics expertise to help hybrid & remote teams get more done, and have more fun 🎉

Connected and engaged humans collaborate better. If we're going to make flying cars, and solve the complex problems facing our world, then we must get awesome at collaborating. Stories connect people to each other and to your company mission. Stories inspire your team to inspire each other. Next time you're in a team meeting, try asking everyone to share a story about someone who inspires them. A super quick and easy way to share and connect to each other and what motivates people. --- 👋 We're Playgrounded. We offer 1:1 coaching, team workshops, offsite support and contracted group dynamics expertise to help hybrid & remote teams get more done, and have more fun 🎉

We're getting excited for Web Directions Next on Friday 29th November in Sydney! Technology is changing our world. Join us in hearing how smart, wise, witty people share what they believe is next in the world of digital design, product and strategy Registrations are still open. More details here 👉

Play at work has a problem. Play at work often isn’t fun and doesn't help people get stuff done. Play washing(v): The act of weaponizing play as a means to keep you at work all the time and look like a ‘hip-cool startup’. (eg. “We just got a ping pong table! Now after work we can do that tournament we always wanted to do”) The ick(n): The internal groan one has to ‘Play activities’ (laughing yoga, role play, amazing race events) during work hours that get in the way of you completing the job you will still have to get done once the activity has thankfully finished The cringe(n): The shudder in your soul when one is asked to do ‘Play activities’ (Trust falls, contact improvisation, karaoke) that you find embarrassing to both witness and/or do yourself If your team is experiencing any of these, it's not helping you get more done. Humans will naturally find a way to make things enjoyable so your role as a leader is to focus on making it safe enough to play with work. Check out our last post for how to manage boundaries, and spend time building relationships, rituals and reflective practice. --- 👋 We're Playgrounded. We offer 1:1 coaching, team workshops, offsite support and contracted group dynamics expertise to help hybrid & remote teams get more done, and have more fun 🎉

Boundaries tell the organisation who they are and how they work. There are 5 categories of boundaries that leaders can manage that support effective team work. 🥽 Task clarity What is the company working on, what are teams working on and how does it all relate? Think - Vision, mission, strategy, goals, metrics. Articulate, regularly communicate and seek feedback on what it is you’re working toward 👐 Containment & holding What is the emotional experience of work and what does that tell us about our organisation’s effectiveness?
 Think - Tolerating projections, processing feelings for effective action
 Use reflective practice to understand the emotional experience of working and use that as data to improve the organisation 🧠 Organisation in the mind How people experience the organisation? Think - culture, rituals, and what people think of when they think of working in your organisation Identify repeatable rituals that allow the organisation as a whole or your team to come together to focus on task in a way that’s authentic to you and your teams 🚦Management How does work happen? Think - Working systems, processes and execution

 Identify processes and opportunities to develop, document and iterate on the processes that give people the tools to work. The key here is the Goldilocks balance between not too much and not enough. 👑 Authority How do decisions get made and actions get taken?
 Think - Hierarchy, role clarity, responsibility, empowerment & tacit authority Ask yourself the following question: do people in my team take appropriate action without seeking permission? Reward and recognise appropriate actions without seeking permission. A cheat sheet for improving how effective boundary management can be is to work on your relationships, rituals and reflective practice 🩷 -- 👋 We're Playgrounded. We offer 1:1 coaching, team workshops, offsite support and contracted group dynamics expertise to help hybrid & remote teams get more done, and have more fun 🎉