All posts by Juliane Röll

About Juliane Röll

Juliane Röll is a Co-Founder of Structure & Process. She leads the Organisational Development, Consulting and Coaching work of the company. See all of Juliane's Roles here. Contact her at juliane@structureprocess.com.

Which Roles should you give up?

Holacracy,

Matthijs Collard on the Holacracy Community of Practise Forum:

I am coaching a colleague that has too many roles (Yes, that could also be me). I remember I once read an article about a nice little app (not software, but a Holacracy add-on method) that lets you evaluate your roles based on a few criteria. The result was that you figured out what roles you should give back. Thing is, I can’t find it anywhere. Does anybody know this app? Thanks!

Matthijs Collard

I don’t know an app, but I do have some thoughts.

On the individual level:

  • What is your gut feeling about the Role? Often, you already know which Role you do not want to hold. In Holacracy, it is safe to act on these intuitions: the Role falls back to the Lead Link, who can then pass it on to somebody else. Alternatively, they may get back to you if more complex processing is needed. For yourself, it is allright to take care of yourself first: it is not necessary to think of all possible knock-on effects of your resignation. The Lead Link and the Circle are there to hold this.
  • What are your skills in the Role? Are you good at it, or not so good?
    • If you are good: Do you enjoy your mastery, or does it bore you?
    • If you are not so good: Does this bother & exhaust you, or does it challenge & motivate you to learn?
  • Speaking of learning: Do you still want to learn new things about the Role and the skills it requires? Do you see personal development for yourself in it? If not: Does this give you a sense of peace & stability or of stagnation & boredom?

On the group level:

  • Do you see a colleague who might be a better fit for the Role?
    • Is there someone who could do the job better?
    • Is there someone who is highly motivated to hold the Role?
    • Is there someone disconnected from the team, for whom this Role would help reconnect with the Circle’s activities?

Or in other words: Would another individual or the Circle as a whole benefit from you giving up the Role?

Giving up a Role doesn’t have to be about you: It can be about helping others or helping the Circle function better.

What other criteria or tests might there be to find out what Roles to give up? If you have any thought, please share them in the comment below or back on the Holacracy Community of Practise!

Structure & Process Work Notes, April 2018 (Juliane)

Structure & Process

A short work month for me, as I was still on holiday during the first two weeks.

We began in Groningen, working with a team of researchers, building structures to help them coordinate and work efficiently and effectively. I spent an extra day in the city, meeting with an HR executive of the university, discussing organisational development and consulting for university teams.

The Main Building of the University of Groningen, in the inner city.

Travelling back to Dresden, I reconnected with former Structure & Process Partners Annette Mehlhoop (who now works at Bremer Baumwollbörse) and Lynoure Braakman (who works with neuland – Büro für Informatik) in Oldenburg and Bremen.

I spent a week in Dresden catching up on communication, processing a good number of new leads that had come in and running an exploratory call with a potential new client. I prepared a workshop process for our new client in Switzerland who we will see next week. This was the most stressful week.

Continue reading Structure & Process Work Notes, April 2018 (Juliane) →

Structure & Process Work Notes, March 2018

Structure & Process

A lot of work at the beginning of March got done from London, where I was attending Gender in the Contemporary World Symposium.

I shouldn’t even be writing this. :-)

I am technically on holiday. But as I was browsing business email, I fell into last month’s work notes and noticed: oh, it’s time!

I do enjoy taking this time off. Except for my vacation in December 2017, I haven’t taken a true holiday in a very long time. I feel relaxed, easy and joyful. My brain is producing some creativity that for once does not circle around Structure & Process, Organisational Development or other things close to my usual profession. I like it.

Continue reading Structure & Process Work Notes, March 2018 →

Links of the Month for February 2018

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Some reading, curated from our link collection over the month of February:

  • In “Planned obsolescence”, Eugenio Molini speaks about working in such a way, that his client no longer needs his service. He then extends this perspective to his whole career, confronting the fears that come up with it.
  • Table of Contents of the IETF Paper on 'rough consensus'An IETF paper on “humming” (yes, seriously!) and “rough consensus”. I didn’t read the whole 19 pages in all their detail, but found the inspiration for group decision making process and culture well worth the look.
  • Do organisations, especially so-called “teal” ones, have a purpose of their own? And if they do – is it (purpose), and are they (these organisations), sustainable? Frederik Laloux discusses.

Structure & Process Work Notes, February 2018 (Juliane)

Structure & Process, , , ,

Previous Month: http://structureprocess.com/blog/january2018/

I had some difficulty writing these Work Notes. As I looked over my calendar and the outcomes of last month, I thought: “Oh dear! This is not interesting! I was mostly traveling, and involved with my more personal issues; and yes, while we made some important progress with our clients, there is nothing really interesting to say to the world about that…” 

When I raised this in our Monday Tactical Meeting, having almost dropped the project, Malwina told me: “Well: write about that. Share your process!” And I think she is right.

One of the aspects most important to beautiful work (our organisation’s purpose), is that I can set my own rhythm. Or tune into what might be the “natural” rhythm, not needing to force anything or raise the speed of development, when things are actually fine. It allows me to take myself seriously, and allow development for myself as a person, rather than just being a role-filler of the organisation.

So… what was it like?

Continue reading Structure & Process Work Notes, February 2018 (Juliane) →

Structure & Process Work Notes, January 2018

General, Structure & Process, Teamwork, , ,

Welcome, to what may become a new column here on our blog! With these notes, I want to chronicle our work year and provide updates on what we do and how our thinking and practise develops. I start it as an experiment – your feedback is very welcome!

We started this work year very slowly, and, myself, after coming from a solid, long vacation in December. I worked only from home in the first week of January, sorting out emails, cleaning things up, creating good working conditions.

And then we kicked things off not with a workshop, partner meeting or, well, a kick-off, but with a retreat.

5 days in the most beautiful of places, reconnecting with each other as coworkers and collaborators, and inviting clients to join us. For what? For being together in mindfulness, to breathe, relax, look deeply into things, and see if work might also happen. Which it did. I was fascinated with how well everything went, with the new ideas that came up (one of which went into practise immediately), with the ease of being together.

The sun sets over Scharmützelsee near Bad Saarow, January 10th 2018

Week 3 had a final work team meeting at reinblau, our main organisational development client in Berlin. I was glad to wrap up the work for now, and give it over into full responsibility of the client. The rhythm felt right: There is time for consulting and input and change, and a time to let things settle or unfold in new ways, to step away, and come back at another time.

I got stuck in Berlin with the storm and found myself with a gorgeous room at the Lux 11 for the night, looking out on Alexanderplatz. From there, I ran a call with our new clients in Groningen in the next morning, discussing next steps and setting up a new workshop with them. (We started working with a team of researchers from the University of Groningen in November 2017, working with a process based on our strategy workshop. More to come.)

A room with a view. (January 18th 2018)

In the final week, I reconnected with Holacracy Club, a Berlin-based community of Holacracy practitioners that I hadn’t been with in many months. I was glad to get updates on what everyone is doing. It turned out that many of us are now consultants! (When I joined in 2016, I was the only one.)

I explored three new  incoming work requests from potential clients and produced proposals for all of them.

Our work feels easy and calm and purposeful at the moment. The work load is just right. Occasional feelings of overwhelm point me to better personal organisation, rather than to changes in the company.

We basically function as a team of 2 people now. While last year this has given me some worry about not having enough capacity or not being interesting enough, I now appreciate the ease of coordination and the sense of personal responsibility that this gives us. As we keep the number of concurrent projects low (and are making conscious effort to reduce work-in-progress where we can), we can stay focused and make good progress in all places that need attention.

Good to be writing again. Hello, world.

Beautiful Work.

Purpose, Structure & Process, , , ,

How our Organisation’s Purpose guides what we do.

Structure & Process uses an explicit company purpose statement to guide its work. I recently wrote about encounters for meaningful collaboration – our company purpose until July 2017. I have also written about Purposeful Organisations in which people love to work in February 2015.

Over the years that Structure & Process has existed, our purpose has changed many times. We have moved between “large”, “high”, more abstract goals or visions, and more down-to-earth manifestations of what our company intends to bring into the world.

We are looking for words that inspire and guide us: They tell us what to put attention to and what to work on. They should also be inviting for others to engage with us. We are looking for a quality that “opens” – that invites new conversations about things that matter – and that “closes” – moves to action – at the same time.

Flipchart on 'beautiful work'
The first flipchart on which “beautiful work” appeared – June 2017

We phrase Purpose positively, as an outcome that we want to see in the world: At the same time, we acknowledge the flipside of every positive statement: A sentiment of pain or suffering, something that is “wrong” or less than ideal for us, and calls for improving, fixing, bettering.

Over two Partner Meetings this summer, we changed our company purpose again. It became, short and simple: “Beautiful Work.”

Our current company purpose: “Beautiful Work”

When we started out with Structure & Process in 2012, we noticed that many people around us were dissatisfied with their work: They disliked their work environments, their bosses, their coworkers or their staff. Some questioned the meaning of their work fundamentally, being disillusioned with capitalism and looking for more depth in their work.

Then I noticed that I was not happy myself: I loved my freedom and autonomy as a self-employed person, but missed the deep connectedness and shared meaning that I had experienced living as a Buddhist Monastic.

Herbstmorgen
One of the buildings of Won Kwan Sa International Zen Temple, where I spent two very good years between 2008 and 2010.

Continue reading Beautiful Work. →

Blueprint for a well-balanced work day schedule

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Obenaus Community Farm in Southern Styria: side barn with community kitchen (left) and main building with coworking space (right)

While staying at the Obenaus Community in Southern Styria this week, I tracked my day: I wanted to observe how I spend my time, so that I can harvest insights on a balanced work day structure.

I share it here for inspiration and exchange: I am curious how others structure their day to find balance, health and productivity in their work day.

“Work” for me was office work on this day – mostly on the computer.

The Schedule

0630 Wakeup
0700 Meditation & self-care
0800 Breakfast (about 45 minutes, then set up for work)

0900 Work (online meeting with the team of Structure & Process)
1030 Break / personal social time (spent in the garden, speaking on the phone with a friend)
1100 Break / Community time
1125 Work continues (computer, phone, paper)
1300 Lunch

Chilling at the “Sunset Bar” after work is done.

1415 Nap & self-care
1515 Work
1645 Break
1730 Work
1900 End Work

This schedule felt just right for me, except for the last work period, which was too long. If this became my proper schedule, I would experiment ending work at 1830.

This would net three work periods of 1.5 hours and one of 1 hour: 5.5 net work hours (which seems plenty).  I could see the work periods dedicated for other purposes (community time, study, outside travels, more rest) depending on situational need.

My personal highlights:
  • Early wakeup. I enjoy waking up early. I often go to bed late though, which then impacts on everything else. On this day, I had committed to a shared meditation at 0700, so I knew I would get up at a fixed time.
  • Dedicated meditation time.
  • Regular meals. Early-ish breakfast. Long lunch break.
  • Dedicated time for personal connections and community during the day (not pushed aside by work, not pushed into the evening)
  • Scheduled Nap Time! Every day becomes better with a nap for me. I have never regretted a single nap I took, ever. Note to self: take more naps.
  • Dedicated personal care time during the day (while I am awake and energetic, not pushed into the evening when I am often tired)
  • Work periods have 90 minutes max, then a break follows.

I have yet to see how I can apply this in my daily life, which often involves travels and changes in location. I could see an expansion for the week too, using this from Monday to Thursday, relaxing on Friday and taking a break on Saturday and Sunday.

View from the Sunset Bar at Obenaus

What structures do you use to go through your day? What has worked for you and what not? I am curious to hear about others’ schedules or interesting pieces of structure that help you find balance, health, productivity and peace of mind during your work day!

(Originally posted on the (closed) Obenaus Facebook Group on August 2nd 2017, expanded and edited for this blog.)

Obenaus is an international residential community exploring healthy and sustainable ways of living in community. It was co-founded by Rainer von Leoprechting, who is a partner in Structure & Process.

Encounters for meaningful collaboration (a few words on our organisation’s purpose)

Purpose, Structure & Process, , , , , ,

I procrastinated publishing this post long enough that our organisation’s official purpose changed meanwhile. :-) I still find it valuable to share though, as it expresses a nuance on our work that I enjoy.
Even if as a company, we now speak more generally about “beautiful work” (another blogpost will follow), “encounters for meaningful collaboration” are still the heart of what we produce and what we thrive on. I offer this to you, for inspiration and connection! – Martina

We say: Encounters, as in: meeting of real people: Real humans meeting real humans. In all their complexity. With all the potential for change.

We say: “encounters” rather than “meetings”: Encounters are fierce, intensely personal, piercing. They might start subtly, but they carry immense strength. An encounter will change you, and may change your life.

We say: Collaboration, as in: working together to build something. Solving problems. Doing it together as opposed to doing it alone. With shared ownership and active engagement of all parties.
Collaboration may be structured or free-flowing. Rules and roles may appear, change, and dissolve. Collaboration can be clear and collaboration can be messy. Sometimes it is both at the same time.

We say: Meaningful, as in: with purpose. With depth. With intent.
Sinnvoll. Zweckgerichtet. Intentional. We invite depth, feeling, intentionality. We quest into intimate questions of what is important and what not. We care for the personal meaning in what may look to the outside as shared or even collective, large-scale work.  Life is short. What is meaningful to you?

Meaningful collaboration is not: random. “For fun”. An “experiment”. It is dedicated effort towards something significant. Fun and lightness come naturally to the process, but they are not goals in themselves. Enjoyment may be: Deep joy arises when meaning is apparent.

As an organisation, Structure & Process creates “encounters for meaningful collaboration”. In our work as a team, with our clients, in our client organisations. We invite you to join us: to co-create, to collaborate, and engage with the world’s, our communities’ and our shared personal challenges.

We are looking forward to meeting you.