BowerBird Insider Podcast: Season 2: Recent Episodes
BowerBird
Welcome to the BowerBird Insider Podcast. This is a podcast for our new recruits, where we explore how we communicate and how we make a workplace calm and fun, while still getting everything done. Co-founders of BowerBird.io, Nic Granleese and Ben G Morgan, talk about the business, its culture, and why it's a great place to work.
In this episode Nic and Ben explore the focus on having fun, while still getting everything done!
In this episode, Nic and Ben talk about the power of good systems to create a calm workplace.
In this episode, Nic and Ben explain what they're looking for in key players within the BowerBird team.
In this episode, Nic and Ben debunk the 'work family myth', explaining the ways BowerBird works to foster a healthy team-based environment.
In this episode Ben and Nic explore how BowerBird makes remote work a reality, and the benefits and trade-offs.
Have you ever stopped to think what a 'flexible' workplace actually looks like? In this episode, Nic and Ben explore the 'flexibility myth' and explain how we support true flexibility through trust and structure.
In this episode, Nic and Ben explore the ways BowerBird promotes a calm workplace, avoiding 'firefighting' and slowing down decisions.
In this episode Nic and Ben talk about the BowerBird approach to performance coaching, where we focus on continuous improvement, rather than outdated annual reviews.
In this episode we look at how we use science and data to develop new ideas, removing ego and allowing the best ideas to survive and thrive.
In this episode we look at how we use Slack, and the unique challenges it presents, including the dreaded 'Chat Grenade'.
In this episode we work through the various ways we communicate effectively at BowerBird.
In this episode Nic and Ben discuss the communication tools that help BowerBird to function.
You wake up in the morning, what do you do? The hardest question any remote worker has.
I’ve got a big list of goals for the year. How on earth will I get them all done?
Here’s how we do it.
This idea is largely based on Atomic Habits.
Break your week into 10 blocks. One block in the morning, and one in the afternoon for each day. Now nominate one focus to each block.
Whatever you need to do that year has to fit into that grid.
Basically if something is part of your role, it needs to be a weekly habit.
Why is this so powerful
Consistency.
Achievable workload - and to know when you need help.
The ability to improve.
Natural triggers for events.
Exceptions
There’s always exceptions.
Why monthly events suck - there’s no natural trigger.
3 month events.
(Or listen to an audio book, or just listen to a podcast summarising the book)
Atomic Habits
Habits, not goals.
Habits can be powerful.
Start with very small (achievable tasks).
Repetition is the secret to success.
The Lean Startup
Getting creativity into a scientific process
Avoid large passion projects.
Do small testable experiments.
It’s not true until you test it.
The results often surprise.
To sell is human
Everyone is part of sales now.
Sales is just moving people.
Help people and find the right match for them.
Extras
E-myth revisited
4 Hour work week
The history of travelling the world with BowerBird
Architects didn’t know what video chat was
Travelling to new cities and launching was exhausting, but a lot of fun
Covid changed everything, now we can do all our meetings and almost all our business remotely
But travel is in our DNA. It’s part of who we are
As borders reopen and we look towards a post-covid world, we expect a lot of BowerBirders will become a lot more mobile
Already today we have BowerBirders with family and friends in different cities, so they move around
As long as you have a secure internet connection, the time zones match up, and you can complete your work from where you are, you’re no longer tied to one place.
Tips for travel:
Try not to move around too much. We recommend no less than 2 weeks in a place, and thinking about longer blocks like 3 months is a really great idea. You might even be able to find house swap arrangements
Always be sure of a high-speed internet connection
If you are doing external Zoom meetings, think about the space behind you (we DO NOT use Zoom filters/backgrounds)
As things open up, you may be able to go to new cities, meet with architects, journalists etc. and depending on the tax systems in your country, even claim the travel on tax (we’re not tax agents, so check this out)
We’re a remote first team.
We’re not anti-office.
We’re based in Australia.
The team is spread out around the world. Where?
You’ll have some teammates close by, but the secret is async communications.
We don’t have set work times, but we do have “Habit Weeks”.
We don’t like management, but love coaching.
We’re performance based, not time based.
We go slow to go fast.
Good ideas come from good frameworks, not geniuses.
Emotions lead to fights, data lead to truth.
High performance and kicking ass is important. You need to want to be constantly improving. But we also want as much free time to do fun stuff as possible.
We think about how we work a lot. How do we communicate, what’s actually effective, what’s a waste of time and how do make a workplace fun, while still getting everything done.
In this episode you’ll learning why we’ve made this podcast and why you should be listening
This podcast will give you an idea of what it’s like working at BowerBird. We want to share with you our culture and the little (but really important) things that make our workplace what it is.
Founders origin stories.
Previous workplaces
Why we started BowerBird
Where we’re headed (what stage are we in)