PROFILE
Georgina has built a career as a people and operations leader in growing technology companies, primarily in remote and distributed teams. Stefan is a clown, teacher, facilitator, youth worker, actor, consultant, academic and coach. Together, they are building Playgrounded and helping hybrid & remote teams get more done and have more fun.
Stefan Bramble
Stefan is a facilitator, performer, teacher, clown and academic. He delivers research-backed content around effective teams and group dynamics and makes them more accessible, useful and entertaining.
Georgina Robilliard
Georgina has spent her career supporting people in their work to do great work and build great relationships. Her fascination with people was sparked through studying sociology and psychology, which led her to people roles in growing technology companies. She brings a wealth of experience in people, talent and operations having been part of executive leadership teams in high growth tech startups, focused on scaling remote and distributed teams.
SPEAKING TOPICS
Work is Not Working (Talk)
Work isn’t working. Far too often we hear of people having a truly terrible time at work. Empirically, the data shows engagement is falling globally, unhappiness is rising and this seems to be the new norm. Anecdotally, we all hear about work becoming traumatic for people. We as HR are the funnel for these experiences and increasingly, we’re burning out. This is bad because it’s not good for humans… but also, it’s bad because it’s bad for business. Unengaged workers impact their teams, and organisations get far less done. The mental model we share of work was created in the 1760s and is no longer fit for purpose. What we need is a new paradigm for thinking about work that allows for crucial skills of creativity, collaboration and connection that are requirements for the survival of organisations in the modern workplace.
The Playstate Peach (Talk or Workshop)
UNDERSTANDING THE CONDITIONS FOR PLAY TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR TEAMS
There is a revolution in organisational life.
This workshop topic is an introduction to the fundamentals of attaining a ‘play state’ within your group so that individuals feel included, can contribute and are creative in service of your mission.
This workshop topic introduces the concept of play in an early childhood development paradigm as a means to supercharge learning, creativity, problem solving and productivity. It presents a model for organisations to make sense of the problems they face and creates an environment for groups to find their own solutions. You will leave with an understanding of the fundamentals of organisation structure, and the dynamics of systems. It is also VERY playful. There may be peaches.
You might be interested in this workshop topic if:
- You want to have fun while you get shit done at work
- You experience a lack of engagement within your teams
- You or your team has lots of Sunday scary feelings
- You experience a lack of alignment to mission
- Your strategy has not been integrated into the work system
- You or your teams are lacking in productivity
- You have just had a restructure
Effortless influence: storytelling for purpose (Workshop)
Everything is stories. Your organisation, your product or service, your skills and opinions. Stories live on in the minds of the listener long after the speaker has left the room. The trick is understanding the mechanisms of your stories to get your point across; how to harness the power of narrative to influence, be influenced and make the change you want to see.
This workshop topic explores the narratives of you, your organisations and your products. We will explore how to find your stories and the elements that make a good story. You’ll discover techniques such as story mining and narrative construction to help you effectively share your message. These techniques will help you influence your audience and sell yourself, your organisation and your products in an authentic manner that feels effortless and grounded. Once you master the science of stories, the art of storytelling makes you unforgettable.
You might be interested in this workshop topic if:
- You want to improve your pitches and presentations
- You feel a lack of confidence that what you are saying is interesting
- You are unsure how to frame an idea for others
- Your organisation or team has a hard time getting buy-in on new ideas
- Your organisation or team requires more personal connection
- You are a leader needing to supercharge your communication
- You know you need to talk more about your personal narrative, but find it hard to figure out what to say
- Your organisation needs to talk with more impact about your product
DEALING WITH DOUBT: Getting out of your own way (Talk or Workshop)
The greatest tool we have for solving problems lives between our ears. Understanding how our thoughts effect our actions can help us learn to lead and follow with more impact and contribute to the central mission of our groups. It allows us to fully bring ourselves to our roles in a way that is grounded, authentic and vulnerable. It also makes work/life way more fun.
This workshop topic introduces research and thinking about cognition from the fields of psychology, evolution, management theory and philosophy.
From these fundamentals participants think about their thinking so that they can create a ‘reflection-in-action’ mindset that allows the individual to perform at their best. Think of it as the mindset training athletes undergo to ensure that their thinking support optimal performance, except in an office. Not only is it full of real good nerding out on the science of the mind, you will know yourself and your teams working style and ways of thinking.
Plus it will be fun and there may be drawing involved.
You might be interested in this workshop topic if:
- You sometimes feel like an imposter
- If you second guess your actions
- You enjoy thinking about thought
- You have a love of ‘the psychological arts’
- Experience high levels of caution slowing down innovation/creativity
- You fear of saying the wrong thing
- You want to get to know your team better
A LEARNING ORGANISATION: Reflection as a tool for growth (Workshop)
Reflective practice is the means through which humans attain mastery. It allows a contributor to ask ‘What did I just do? How did it feel? What can I learn from it?’. More importantly it allows other to share this learning and in turn, for the organisation to learn. In this era of innovation, this is vital for the survival of any organisation. Learn how to create spaces for this ongoing group learning so that your team can thrive now and in the future.
This workshop topic introduces the fundamentals needed to create a reflective practice. Due to the vulnerable and sometimes painful experience of learning and growth, leaders who want to develop themselves and their teams must become acquainted with the mechanisms and intricacies of educational theory, facilitation and emotional containment. Once these mechanisms are understood, a reflective practice leader must engage in practice and… reflection in order to fully develop this skill.
It ain’t easy, but the rewards are immense: organisations that cannot learn risk becoming irrelevant in a market where the pace of change only increases, while organisations that master the art of learning together, grow.
You might be interested in this workshop topic if:
- You want to stay abreast of a changing marketplace
- Individuals within your organisation expressing a desire for challenge and growth
- Your team is not working effectively together
- You want to hone your leadership skills
- Yourself or people you lead are not meeting their potential
- You experience a lot of ‘people drama’
