Building Community with SMART Work Design - with Sharon Parker
Release Date: 06/17/2024
The Cost of Burnout - What I Wish I Knew with Shae Giles
Work Life by Design
Creating a retreat doesn’t happen without the incredible support of so many people behind the scenes. One of those people is the talented If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ve no doubt seen Shae’s stunning photography scattered across my socials. She’s not only been my creative eye behind the lens for years, but also a loyal cheerleader and friend. But there’s another side to Shae’s story. Like so many women, she’s walked the heavy path of burnout — a reality that too often goes unseen until it’s too late. The emotional toll of pushing through, of constantly showing up...
info_outline
Trusting your Intuition with Filly Bellette
Work Life by Design
Have you ever had that gut feeling about a decision in your business… but second-guessed yourself, over-analysed it, or went searching for someone else’s advice? I know I have. For me, the turning point wasn’t about strategy or experience—it was about reconnecting with myself and learning to trust my own intuition. In this episode, I’m joined by —functional medicine practitioner, trauma therapist, and co-creator of the Ending Body Burnout Method. Filly was a huge part of my own healing journey, helping me uncover what was truly keeping me stuck: nervous system dysregulation,...
info_outline
Expanding Your Capacity with Heidi Lampard
Work Life by Design
Burnout can creep up on even the most high-performing women — sometimes we don’t even realise we’re on the edge until our bodies start screaming at us. In this episode, I’m joined by the incredible Heidi Lampard — Yoga Practitioner, Holistic Wellness Mentor, Tea Ceremony Facilitator, Retreat Leader, and mother of two. Heidi will also be joining us as a facilitator at the upcoming Exhale Retreat in October, sharing her wisdom, practices, and tools with attendees. We dive deep into the challenges of burnout, particularly for high-performing female leaders and entrepreneurs who are...
info_outline
Exhale the Retreat | My 'why' and why YOU need it.
Work Life by Design
This retreat has been born out of my own experience and journey from body burnout to thriving. For years, I thought the only way I could find the peace I craved was to burn it all down, close my business, walk away from everything, and start fresh. I know I’m not alone in this. So many ambitious women I work with are exhausted from constantly being on. Leading a business, showing up for clients, being there for family... and silently wondering: is this just what success is meant to feel like? What I’ve learned... you don’t have to choose between leading a thriving business and having the...
info_outline
Season 7 | Thats a Wrap!
Work Life by Design
Season 7 has been one of the most personal yet—an honest reflection of a year filled with growth, insight, and powerful conversations. In this wrap-up episode, I’m sharing the key themes and lessons that emerged across the season: How personal transformation fuels professional fulfilment Why mastery isn’t perfection, but a commitment to growth The connection between workspaces, well-being, and culture The impact of neurodiversity and designing for inclusion The wisdom of nature, rest, and healing From solo reflections to rich guest conversations, this season was about designing a work...
info_outline
Following awe and wonder in our lives with Meg Hooper
Work Life by Design
When was the last time you let yourself be swept away by the sheer beauty of the world around you? Maybe it’s the sun sinking into a golden horizon or the way light dances through trees. These moments remind us of the profound joy that’s available — if we pause long enough to notice. In this special conversation, Dr. Meg Hooper and I explore the concept of awe, inspired by Julia Baird’s remarkable book Phosphorescence — a guide to finding light and wonder even in life’s darkest times. In this episode, we explore: 🌿 How reconnecting with nature can heal and ground us...
info_outline
Master your Focus in a world of Distraction with Angela Lockwood
Work Life by Design
In a world where distractions rule and our attention is constantly hijacked—how do we reclaim our focus and find clarity? In this powerful and practical episode, I sit down with Angela Lockwood, occupational therapist, author, speaker, and the brilliant mind behind The Focus Formula. With a career dedicated to helping people tune out the noise and tune into what truly matters, Angela shares the tools, mindset shifts, and daily habits that can help you own your attention and thrive—especially in leadership and business. From a life-altering accident that changed the course of her...
info_outline
Maximising Northrop's Investment Opportunity with Stephen Fryer
Work Life by Design
What if your next office move wasn’t just about real estate, but a radical reset for your entire business culture? In this episode, I sit down with my client Stephen Fryer, Greater Sydney Leader at Northrop Consulting Engineers, to explore how a lease expiry sparked a workplace transformation that redefined leadership, engagement, and innovation. From flexible work models to culture-led design, discover how Northrop turned relocation into reinvention, and how the team at COMUNiTI supported him to make it happen. 🎧 We talk: Turning a lease expiry into a growth opportunity Building a...
info_outline
A return to community with Amber Hawken
Work Life by Design
In today’s episode, we explore something deeply human yet often overlooked in business: community. When we shift focus from the bottom line to the broader picture—our people, our values, and our environment—we open the door to more meaningful success. I’ve welcomed Amber Hawken, a thought leader in this space, to explore how leadership, mindfulness, and nature can help reshape workplace culture. What You’ll Learn: ✔ The first steps businesses can take to foster a deeper connection with their communities. ✔ Why leadership must drive the change from the top down. ✔ How small...
info_outline
Body Burnout: Know the signs and what you can do with Filipa Bellette
Work Life by Design
Burnout isn’t just feeling tired—it’s your body waving a red flag. I know because I’ve been there, pushing through exhaustion until my body forced me to stop. That’s when I found Filipa Bellette, and everything changed. As co-founder of Chris and Filipa Functional Medicine, she’s helped thousands heal beyond just “managing” burnout. In this episode, we uncover: 💡 What body burnout really is—and why it’s often overlooked 💡 Why traditional medicine misses the root cause 💡 How deep-seated beliefs and stress patterns keep us...
info_outlineThe role that our workplaces play in encouraging and enabling our relationships at work, was largely taken for granted, until they were taken away from us.
A silver lining of the pandemic, we realised the impact of our workplaces and the role they play in our establishing and supporting the social & support networks in our lives.
And social connection is a foundation for building any community.
Today’s guest ARC Laureate Fellow Sharon K. Parker. I was first introduced to Sharon and her work through my friend and Colleague Dr Meg Hooper of Carousel Consulting, and her S.M.A.R.T Work Design Model, to develop meaningful and motivating work. This piece of work has been instrumental in underpinning our approach to work design and workplace design, a difference that Sharon will elaborate on in today’s podcast.
Meg has been following Sharon’s work for a very long time, and such I’ve invited her along to co-host today’s episode!
ARC Laureate Fellow Sharon K. Parker is a John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Director of the Centre for Transformative Work Design at Curtain University, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences and Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology.
Sharon has published more than 250 internationally refereed articles on topics such as work design, proactive behaviour, mental health, and job performance, has over 46,500 citations, and is ranked in the top .15% of global scholars in her field.
She is the founder of the S.M.A.R.T model, cofounder of the Thrive at Work Initiative, and has contributed to policy on work design in Australia and internationally.
With the breadth of research that Sharon has done, this podcast could go in any direction, but as we are focused on the role of community in the workplace this season, we’ve narrowed in on this topic and explored how the work she does overlaps with this ability to build community.
So today, we are exploring;
- Her view on the relationship that exists between our workplaces and the role they play in building community
- Her S.M.A.R.T work design model and what the important factors are to consider in building community and where organisations could be letting themselves down
- The role of autonomy in buffering the effects of poor workplace design
- The definition of work design and the overlap to workplace design
- Some of the key consideration that designer, Culture Leaders and property managers/specialists should be looking at when it comes to workplace design
Sharon’s perspective on this is fascinating and Meg & I were loving this conversation - we honestly could have chatted for hours. So, I hope you love listening to this episode as much as we loved recording it!