The Corona pandemic has almost tripled the number of employees working from home. Whereas before the pandemic the figure was 25%, 64% of employees now work fully or partly from home.
As the working model of the future, the New Work concept is currently developing into a mega-trend because it combines the best of both working worlds in the office and in the home office, is significantly more efficient and represents a win-win situation for employers and employees. It is invigorating, fulfilling and innovative. It saves on physical workplaces while offering the flexibility to work from anywhere.
Find out how we introduced this concept at seventhings and what to consider in this blog article!
Would you like to know what the term New Work actually means? Here we have summarised everything you need to know about flexible working so that you can find your way through the jungle of terms home office, remote work and new work!
1. Journey is the goal: Be brave!
The first and probably most important step in implementing New Work in everyday working life is the right attitude of management and employees. In order to get to know New Work methods at all, you need the courage to change and openness for new work structures. We at seventhings have internalised exactly that. This makes it possible for us to successfully tackle projects while constantly moving along new and varied paths.
"Step-by-step into the new-work world" is also an important keyword. Turning old-established corporate structures inside out cannot work overnight. Moreover, it should not be a top-down decision. Rather, all colleagues must be taken along and convinced of the new idea.
2. New Leadership
The New Work concept needs a new type of leader. The key words are: New Leadership or Leadership 4.0. The focus is on empathy and trust instead of control, which allows everyone to take responsibility for their own work. In this way, a clear vision can be exemplified for employees and creativity and productivity can be promoted. Everyone is allowed and encouraged to contribute their ideas and to contribute to projects with skill and passion. Titles or departmental affiliation no longer determine participation in projects, but interest and personal skills. Executives no longer act as directing authorities, but rather as motivators and coaches for the entire team.
At seventhings, all employees come together digitally every Monday at the WEEKLY Stand Up. Here, not only the focus for the new week is set - anecdotes from the weekend are told and, in general, thoughts are shared with all participants, if they wish. Anyone who wants to share something is welcome to do so. Of course, the managing directors Patrick and Steffen will also be there!
3. Less (hierarchy) is more!
The new leadership style is based on more trust among each other and focuses on leading based on results. The high degree of personal responsibility increases the motivation and efficiency of each individual. People meet at eye level - this reduces the number of hierarchical levels. The credo is rather to empower employees, to define framework conditions and to train them to make decisions themselves. A healthy feedback culture is particularly important here.
We at seventhings experience this every day, as we work together at eye level and the absolute development of the employees' potential is our top priority. We do not rely on a strict division of labour, but rather on personal and professional development. Personal responsibility is the new way to go for us. Because we want to make a difference!
4. Office à la New Work
An office à la New Work must be one thing above all: open and flexible to use. Seventhings therefore relies on trust-based working hours and locations to make flexible working arrangements possible. There are no rigid rules for the start or end of the working day. Work-life balance is replaced by work-life blending - the flexibility makes it easier to combine work and private life, for example, you can easily integrate a doctor's appointment into your working day.
In addition to providing a basis for concentrated work, our office also offers plenty of space for creative work. Among other things, we use meeting rooms with Post-Its, whiteboards and flipcharts. This allows us to live out our creativity to the full and a variety of projects develop.
For us it's "Ciao personal workplace" and "Hello desk sharing"! Because the previously fixed desk is significantly changed by the New Work concept. The desk is no longer home to tons of files, family pictures and similar private items. There is no longer a fixed allocation of workspaces. This means that workspaces can be used flexibly and according to need. Having new "office neighbours" all the time also has the advantage of being able to exchange ideas with many colleagues at the same time.
Home office, desk sharing, remote work - very exhausting to keep track of inventory items, isn't it? The seventhings Inventory Manager supports you in this. The simple recording of items, the uncomplicated allocation to specific rooms or the handover to employees - with the seventhings app and platform, you can do all of this in no time at all, instead of printing out handover protocols and filing them away.
>>>>The smart inventory manager from seventhings is the perfect solution for companies that want to digitise inventory and always have an overview of the complete inventory, whether in the office or home office. Try it out now for free!
5. Transparency, good communication and documentation = maximum flexibility
Good agreements between all areas of the company are essential for New Work to function as a working model. The New Work concept should really be lived and should be an essential part of the corporate culture. The most important thing is to clarify responsibilities. This is the only way that tasks can be clearly distributed, even if you are partially separated spatially. A common way of working is absolutely important - whether it means saving files in the cloud or implies digital task management. Meeting etiquette is essential, as is the discipline for all staff to agree to work together digitally and save files online.
Transparent collaboration requires structured documentation of all results using appropriate tools. Seventhings also uses some of these tools to give its employees as much freedom as possible to organise their daily work.
6. Safety first
When implementing New Work as a concept of collaboration, it is important that all internal company data and systems are accessible from anywhere. In addition, collaboration tools and digital means of communication are absolute must-haves for an intact working atmosphere that can function remotely. In order to enable the most efficient work with workflows and roadmaps in teams, the focus is on products that are described as "The No. 1 development tools for agile teams".
Seventhings attaches great importance to a solid and functional internal IT infrastructure. Furthermore, in times when the number of cyberattacks is constantly increasing, it is extremely important to take security precautions to prevent data theft. In order not to have to worry about this, seventhings has already taken decisive precautions such as the use of VPNs, absolutely secure data storage and processing as well as firewalls and other security precautions.
7. Let´s catch up!
With all the digital meetings and freedom regarding working hours and location, it is sometimes quite difficult to get and stay in touch in person. For a functioning new-work concept, contacts with colleagues outside working hours are at least as important as a stable IT infrastructure. They are necessary to build a good team and strengthen cohesion within the company. Among other things, we rely on coffee breaks with different colleagues, AFTER WORK events for the whole team and various leisure activities.
More flexibility, personal responsibility and agility require good self-organisation on the part of each individual - so mature New Work Management is particularly important. The entry into the New Work world can also fail as soon as the new methods do not fit the company and cannot be linked to the company structure and the employees. We at seventhings have found a good way to meet the challenges of the new concept and appreciate the enormous flexibility in the workplace (wherever it may be)!
>>> All this sounds interesting to you and you are looking for an employer who will let you realise your full potential with flexible working hours? Then take a look at our career page. We are looking forward to meeting you!
