Blog | Podcast
Perhaps forever, we have taken for granted how we build relationships at work.
I’m not talking about the relationships we forge to get work done, I mean the meaningful relationships that make us happy, connected and part of something bigger.
These relationships are often built in the spaces between the work, no matter how many ‘back to backs’ we have, there are always spaces, even if it’s just a crack.
In this episode we talk to Rachel Garrett, who delivers some invaluable insights and tips into leadership in a remote working world.
Perhaps the biggest one is to make being a genuine and authentic person your first priority and using that to influence your approach to work and leadership but she shares many more. Rachel Garrett is the NZ Lead for Shopify's Servicing team and is the creator of a remote working collaboration group on LinkedIn called Remote Work New Zealand find it here https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13805842
The (many) highlights:
- Authentic leadership through finding your personal purpose and values - How knowing what you want from your life and career allows you to take some risks
- Scaleable Leadership: developing a leadership mindset in all your people, not just those with the title of leader
- Building the social connections you would normally see in a bricks and mortar office, in a remote environment by being deliberate about how your teams share and connect
- The Trust battery: how to build trust and call out behaviours that break trust
- Turning your purpose into outcomes that your teams can own and achieve
- Keeping KPI's relevant and using them as a prompt for coaching rather than an absolute pass or fail indicator
Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts:
Anchor: https://anchor.fm/the-agile-contact-centre
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-agile-contact-centre-podcast/id1485239665
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/30Hsw0MpgaAnhTSiy5Fh8y
Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/the-agile-contact-centre-podcast
Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9mMjFkMDdjL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1485239665/the-agile-contact-centre-podcast
RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/the-agile-contact-centre-podcast-Wx0yDO
Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/gl7zy9s8
Once again this snippet comes from our podcast with Marcie & Eduardo and they talk us through how to foster productive and engaged teams when leading remotely. They draw on their experiences in establishing a 2000 seat contact centre at Shopify, which is 95% remote.
Marcie Murray held the role of Director of Support at Shopify when they established their contact centre and grew the team from 95 to 2000.
Eduardo Nofeuntes is the Founder of The Agile Contact Centre and The Agile 11 and has helped leaders all over the world transform their contact centres.
Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts:
Anchor: https://anchor.fm/the-agile-contact-centre
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-agile-contact-centre-podcast/id1485239665
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/30Hsw0MpgaAnhTSiy5Fh8y
Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/the-agile-contact-centre-podcast
Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9mMjFkMDdjL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1485239665/the-agile-contact-centre-podcast
RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/the-agile-contact-centre-podcast-Wx0yDO
Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/gl7zy9s8
“I got to a point where I realised the real opportunity for me to make a difference is to actually start working on the system of work that sits behind or within the contact centre. And if I can effect a change there, even by a little a bit, it wouldn’t just impact a few hundred employees it could potentially impact thousands or a couple of hundred thousand people working in call centres in Australia”
Tim Buzza and the team at IAG have achieved the impossible, they have created a system for people to self-manage their rosters, at scale, without any additional review or approval.
This is anything but a podcast about rostering, its a unique insights into how the human systems in your contact centre can flourish when you focus on trust, flexibility and collaboration.
Here are some of the highlights:
How they went about creating an app for hundreds of people to self manage roster changes.
The innovative feedback loop in place so people know if they have made a helpful change or not.
The transformative impacts this has had on the lives of the people working there.
Donate here to help Indy get her seizure dog
https://www.mycause.com.au/page/208410/indys-therapy-dog-for-epileptic-seizure-alerts
Show notes
- Tim talks why the stakes are so high in self-organising rosters and schedules and the impacts on the people who interact with the system that is created to manage rostering. (1:24)
- A quick dive into systems theory (4:34)
- Tim talks about his background, previous jobs and career that has led him to live a life of impact (8:24)
- Tim talks about his first roles in contact centres and the positive impact leadership can have in the lives of people in contact centres (10:47)
- The culture that exists can be a response to the systemic forces on a contact centre and while it may look positive on the surface, it may be hiding problems (13:37)
- We talk about ‘Switch’ as a solution to improve flexibility and control over the rostering process to people’s rosters (16:01)
- How they iterated to create ‘Switch’ (22:51)
- How they built a feedback loop into the system so people knew if the change they made was helpful or unhelpful (24:33)
- How trust and reciprocity is the foundation of the solution (26:13)
- Another quick dive into systems thinking to explain why this solution works on a large scale (29:35)
- Tim talks about the real ways they have had a positive effect on the people that work at IAG (35:19)
- The app’s impact on mental health and well being (40:07)
- How leaders have benefited (43:23)
- Tim shares a case study of a team members experience and benefits since implementing ‘Switch’ (46:17)
- Concept of trust and reciprocity is explored and flexibility in the workplace (55:21)
- Next steps for ‘Switch’ (57:41)
- What to do if you wanted to create self-organising teams in your contact centre (59:30)
- Tim talks human connection and isolation the current state of work as he sees it and what he sees as the opportunity (1:02:18)
References
- Cynefin framework – system thinking model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework
https://hbr.org/2007/11/a-leaders-framework-for-decision-making
- Wizard of Oz experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_of_Oz_experiment
- The Lean Start-up http://theleanstartup.com/
- Human centred design https://www.wired.com/insights/2013/12/human-centered-design-matters/
- Warwick Endinburgh mental health score https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/med/research/platform/wemwbs/
- Rachel Botsman on trust https://rachelbotsman.com
- Reinventing organisations – Q&Q with Author Federic Laloux https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcS04BI2sbk
- A great illustration of Lean and Agile Adoption with the Laloux Culture Model
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Jc5aAJu9g
Books
- Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership and Change – Don Edward Beck
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204687.Spiral_Dynamics?from_search=true&qid=3f1WyzNhw8&rank=4
- Dying for a paycheck - Jeffrey Pfeffer https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35181013-dying-for-a-paycheck?from_search=true&qid=h8wOUdnrNy&rank=1
- Drive – Dan Pink
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6452796-drive?from_search=true&qid=tYkNGd4b9Z&rank=1
- When – Dan Pink
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35412097-when?from_search=true&qid=TSp3eewa1H&rank=1
Podcast
- Eat, sleep, work, repeat
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/eat-sleep-work-repeat/id1190000968
https://open.spotify.com/show/5KUW5Lu36O4nnfIFqIIUh4
