OK I'm Curious - Kate Monts: Head of Facilities

Today's conversation is with Kate Monts. She's the Head of Employee and Facility Services at Method. She describes herself as a mother to daughters, an endless question asker, a hopeful yogi and a recovering know it all who is trying to hold more space for the gray areas in life. 

Listen to hear how important it is to be introspective and really understand yourself. You will not only learn to dissect your feelings, but also how to be empathetic to others.

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:29:11
Unknown
Today's conversation is with Kate Moss. She's the head of employee and Facility services at Method. He describes herself as a mother to daughters, an endless question asker, a hopeful yogi and a recovery. Know it all. Who is trying to hold more space for the gray areas in life. Listen to hear how important it is to be introspective and really understand yourself.

00:00:29:13 - 00:00:42:24
Unknown
You will not only learn to dissect your feelings, but also how to be empathetic to others. Okay. I'm curious. How about you?

00:00:43:01 - 00:01:02:14
Unknown
Okay. Welcome to. Okay. I'm curious. Hi, Kate. How are you? I'm well. Thanks for having me, Jerry. So I don't usually like to ask people their position because I just don't think it's important when we talk, when I talk to them. But in this case, I think it is kind of relevant. So could you tell me a little bit about what you do at Method?

00:01:02:16 - 00:01:27:19
Unknown
Sure. I am the head of facilities and employee Services. We have about 300 employees and five different physical offices and then a lot of remote employees. So my job kind of encompasses making sure people have what they need in the office and at home to do what they need to get their work done. So one of the areas that you've talked about wanting to work with method employees is around embodiment.

00:01:27:21 - 00:01:50:02
Unknown
Can you describe or define what embodiment is? Yes. So it's funny because a lot of people don't surprisingly don't like to talk about their bodies at work. But I'm trying to make it a little bit more mainstream, and I like to think of embodiment as remembering that we are our bodies, which is not a message that a lot of people get.

00:01:50:04 - 00:02:21:10
Unknown
Our society and culture really have elevated our minds as who we are, and the most important part of who we are. And I like to think of their being able to be a shift back to where also our physical bodies, they're not better than our minds, but our minds aren't better than our bodies either. There's not a hierarchy and kind of remembering and recognizing, oh yeah, my physical, how I show up in a space and how I appear to also affect how I work and affects how I move to the world.

00:02:21:11 - 00:02:48:01
Unknown
So it's this kind of this simple remembering and another part of embodiment I think is trusting our bodies, because those are also some messages that maybe have not been at the forefront of how kids are taught and how families function and how workplaces are that our bodies are wise and they have things to tell us if we'll pay attention and listen and believe them, whether we're sick or we're cold or we have a funny intuition about somebody.

00:02:48:01 - 00:03:13:10
Unknown
I like to think of embodiment is as coming back to that and remembering that. So it's a little like introspection, I guess, like understanding what you're feeling and putting, you know, trying to figure out why you feel that way. So why is that important? I guess specifically, why is that important in a workplace? Definitely. I mean, I think that the first part of that is acknowledging that our bodies want to tell us something, whether it's a feeling or emotion.

00:03:13:10 - 00:03:35:04
Unknown
And at work, again, it hasn't always been the cultural norm to honor that and listen to our bodies. So once we remember that and oh, hey, I am learning something either about somebody else or about myself, maybe about how I work best or how they work best, and that we can really listen and maybe make different decisions based on that.

00:03:35:04 - 00:03:56:02
Unknown
So whether it's somebody that doesn't like in-person meetings and maybe honoring that, or maybe it's someone that does prefer to get together over coffee and and have that energy exchange in person, like those matter of how we do business, how we do our best work for ourselves and specifically for method wear in client services. So we want to do the best work for our clients.

00:03:56:04 - 00:04:14:05
Unknown
But just remembering again, back to the body, this is where our functions happen. This is where things where we're thinking and perceiving and knowing. And so just kind of this baseline honoring of I have a body and you have a body and that can be the baseline for empathy, I think. So I guess that in essence, we just got through a pandemic.

00:04:14:10 - 00:04:35:20
Unknown
I would assume that people changed a bit before pandemic. You know, there was that pre-pandemic pandemic post pandemic, and we're kind of in that post-pandemic now. I would assume the way people show up and maybe even their mentality may have changed a little bit because of that. Any thoughts on how people are now? Maybe a little different from that experience?

00:04:35:22 - 00:04:57:03
Unknown
Yes. I mean, I think that we've all had some experience in recognizing that, again, we're not just a mine. And COVID really highlighted that, that our bodies matter. And whether we were trying to protect ourselves or protect our families, our communities, we had to make shifts. And it wasn't all just because of what was going on in our brains or what was going on through the keyboard.

00:04:57:03 - 00:05:16:08
Unknown
But our physical bodies showing up in spaces was totally changed in 2020, and we're still dealing with the ramifications of that. I think it's going to be a long time before we can all kind of come off the whirlwind that was COVID and the fact that our bodies were threatening to each other potentially if they were carrying a virus.

00:05:16:08 - 00:05:32:12
Unknown
And of course, those were around before COVID, too. But COVID really put this huge mirror up to all of us. I was like, there was no running away from it. There was no getting around it. Our offices closed down for over a year, a year and a half, and then we tried to open some of our offices back up.

00:05:32:13 - 00:05:51:24
Unknown
And there was also the dealing with that, the return to work that some people were more comfortable than others. And again, I think it's just kind of interesting that it was because of our physical or our physical beings, and that was why things had to change and that hadn't happened. But I know of in recorded history is as quickly and as vastly as it did because of COVID.

00:05:52:01 - 00:06:10:24
Unknown
And now coming out of that, I can speak personally. So myself and other people that I talk to, it has changed how we interact with each other. We might not be as comfortable. You know, even giving a handshake or a high fives or we might just not be as comfortable with small talk and knowing how to casually interact with each other.

00:06:11:01 - 00:06:31:09
Unknown
We have people in the office that come in and feel a lot more anxiety than they did before because they've forgotten and they don't know the the appropriate ways, the social norms anymore. So I like to think I specifically where we work and how we host people, that expectation isn't that it'll be just like it was before COVID.

00:06:31:11 - 00:06:53:16
Unknown
And the expectation is that that they're going to have the exact same amount of productivity in the office that they might at home. But there's other things happening with creativity and collaboration. If you're meeting up and having a cup of coffee together, you might not be doing the specific keystrokes that you would be at home, but you're still getting work done and you're still getting to be this presence and be with each other.

00:06:53:16 - 00:07:13:08
Unknown
And that adds value to our own lives. And I would argue it adds value to our clients, too. You said something that I thought was really interesting. You mentioned how if you're feeling anxious, you know, people might have a different feeling when they're in the office or interacting with other people. And I could see how being introspective and really understanding that feeling and what you're projecting could be really important.

00:07:13:10 - 00:07:37:17
Unknown
How do you think that being in public and understanding yourself helps others? How do you gain that empathy? Is it because you understand yourself? You start to see it in others? I think so, yes. I think that when you recognize, oh, I might be feeling my stomach hurts a little bit, maybe I'm anxious or maybe I'm nervous. Oh, maybe that other person is also feeling that way.

00:07:37:19 - 00:07:57:18
Unknown
There's, again, kind of a baseline of empathy and understanding that we all share human experiences and in the workplace or at home or at the grocery store or wherever we are, there's this common denominator. If it's cold outside, most people are going to be dressed in layers if it's COVID. Most people, you know, we had to wear masks.

00:07:57:18 - 00:08:33:14
Unknown
There's this kind of bringing us back to baseline that we all have similar experiences and that might change how we interact with each other. And I think the more we can kind of own our own experience and understand what our bodies are telling us, then we can regulate that and be a safe place for other people. Be a great colleague, be a great employer, be a great friend, be a great person to the client that's able to kind of understand them on a deeper level of, sure, we're going to try to do this work for you, but we also want we want to reach our full human potential and we want to help you do

00:08:33:14 - 00:08:55:12
Unknown
that. That's a big thing at method. And part of that is this knowledge of ourselves. We have programing and we have different things that we're trying to do to let people understand what's happening in themselves and their bodies and their emotions and then see what comes out of that. There's so much more to do. It really excites me to think about all the ways that the more we know ourselves, the better person we can be and better employer.

00:08:55:12 - 00:09:13:03
Unknown
And there's just so many ripple effects of understanding our own emotions and understanding how we show up in the space. Yeah, and, and almost take responsibility for that. I think like we have responsibility for how we show up because we do project that energy at the workplace. So if you're, if you're coming in, you're I don't know, we always call people toxic, right?

00:09:13:04 - 00:09:34:10
Unknown
Where you're bad energy is kind of spreading around. But having responsibility for that and understanding where that's coming from and working on not sharing that that with everyone. I know that in your position at Method, you know a lot of other companies after the pandemic, they're all trying to figure out how to deal with getting back to what you say normal and how to change this culture.

00:09:34:10 - 00:09:57:21
Unknown
And I know this culture of sharing this embodiment is really important to you, but talk a little bit about what you've been doing at Method to kind of train our employees to look a little bit more internally and how to create a culture of that. Yes, it's really fun getting to be with a company that's willing to kind of play around with this and the return to work, as stressful as it has been for all the companies.

00:09:57:22 - 00:10:28:05
Unknown
I do think it's this kind of there's this rich soil for innovation and change for companies and methods really embracing that. One thing we've done is method connects, which was specifically in our Charlotte office, where there's about 120 employees trying to bring in about 25 employees at a time that might not usually come into the office. There's no super strict specific programing, but it's this invitation and this offer come in, have a great meal, will cater lunches and breakfast eats.

00:10:28:05 - 00:10:46:09
Unknown
And we you still do your work, do your client work during the business hours, but come in and sit with people in different functions that you might not talk to normally. And there's no quota that you're having to fill. We're not going to quiz you on who Jimmy heard you learn or what, you know? X-Y-Z different things that you do.

00:10:46:11 - 00:11:04:02
Unknown
We trust that we have great employees as that and that are interesting and have a vast life experience and we want you to just have a chance to get to know them more. We did do Strengths Finder, which is a test helping people learn a little bit more about the positive parts of their personality and how they bring those to work.

00:11:04:02 - 00:11:42:07
Unknown
We've also done some training and development with the Enneagram, another personality assessment. Again, there's so many out there and we're just really trying to give our employees the broad possibility of knowing themselves a couple of different avenues for doing that. I know a lot of our teams also do just deeper dives and check ins with each other. Again, part of this is because we are a business and this is our work, but we're interested in the full human, the full human experience, the unique parts of ourselves, and really trying to genuinely give people that space to express that in the office, which is again, it's exciting, it's fun, it's different.

00:11:42:07 - 00:12:02:20
Unknown
It's not, you know, the typical corporate America the way the most workplaces have worked in the past. So trying to give people the space and we take a lot of feedback from people too, if they want more autonomy, we that's a big part of method, but giving them these options too. What would you like to do? How do you want to dive into things?

00:12:02:20 - 00:12:20:21
Unknown
We have different book clubs. We have a storytelling classes that people can take and the more healthy individuals are. We'd like to think that the the more healthy of a worker they're going to be. And both and both are important. So we're just always looking for ways that people can connect them and not always be about the project.

00:12:20:21 - 00:12:45:00
Unknown
We do great work, so that's not the part that we're struggling with or the part that we need to work on. It's getting back to who we are as individuals and collectively what that looks like for us to show up for each other. And I was fortunate to go through some of the anagram training and it's really interesting because though I'm still trying to figure out which one I am, I love the fact that as I'm exploring it more, it helps me relate to other people.

00:12:45:06 - 00:13:04:20
Unknown
Oh, I bet you're one. And I bet this is really hard for you that I haven't figured out, you know, the plan yet. Like, I just love the idea of how it can help you relate to others as well, not just figuring yourself out. Great program. Yes. It's funny you say that. I'm a I'm a four on the gram, which is a pretty emotional one.

00:13:04:20 - 00:13:26:14
Unknown
And I still don't really believe that not everyone as a society, I've known this for about five years and I'm like, I still think that everyone professes like I do. What are you telling me? There's rational thought out there? So I say, Well, I'm very surprised. I guess that's great. So anything else you want to share before we wrap this up?

00:13:26:14 - 00:13:48:04
Unknown
I love that this is really kind of empowering everybody to start thinking about, okay, what do I bring to the table and how do I show up every day? But anything else you want to share? One last thing. When we were talking about the energy exchange, because there's this balance of working from home and how great that is for people and again, autonomy and what makes sense for their lives outside of work.

00:13:48:06 - 00:14:18:20
Unknown
But I do the more I'm learning about energy and how we interact with each other, there is this shift in kind of how we think about ourselves and others when we are in person. I've recently learned that our heart has an energy field that reaches out even past our brains energy field. And so again, back to this idea of knowing ourselves to show up in a place and not be toxic, like you said, but show up in a place where you're grounded and you're excited to exchange energy with other people.

00:14:18:21 - 00:14:37:20
Unknown
That's what I'm really trying to do in my own life and really want to encourage other people to do that where they feel like they can, that our energy matters and we can feed off each other. And these really beautiful, interesting and collaborative ways that we just can't do at home from a screen. So that's my little spiel of our energy exchange.

00:14:37:20 - 00:14:56:10
Unknown
And and even if it's not in the workplace, but finding other places, you can be in person with people and connect with them and kind of see what happens from there. Because I think there's a lot, a lot more that we can be doing for ourselves and each other. And I will I don't want to miss this because it's something you said to me earlier, and I want to mention it one more time.

00:14:56:15 - 00:15:13:09
Unknown
You said it's really short sighted of us to think of productivity as keystrokes are the only way to measure or the best measure of success. And I think I just want to sum that up like it's very short sighted us to think that employees or our culture just how how much work we get done is a measure of success.

00:15:13:11 - 00:15:34:10
Unknown
So I think that's a really positive way to say, you know, we're more than that. And how do we how do we grow? That is really important. Yes, absolutely. Awesome. Well, thanks, Kate. Thanks, Carrie. I hope you enjoyed this episode. And if you need more method in your life, you can always find us on social. And don't forget to check out any of our monthly tech talks.

00:15:34:10 - 00:16:02:10
Unknown
They're available both in-person and virtual. We would love for you to be a part of those. You can find out more information about them on social media as well as on our website. Keep your ears open. We'll be back with another episode soon. But until then, don't forget to stay nerdy open.