More and more companies in 2019 feel that innovation is important for their own survival and positioning. At the same time, they want to continue working efficiently. Innovation and efficiency – how does that fit together? Solutions can be found under the keyword “New Work”. I asked New Work expert Friederike Euwens from “AllesRoger” how companies can make their working methods future-proof.
The company AllesRoger consists of three women who refer to themselves as “New Work Facilitators”. Their mission: to support teams in efficiently implementing new working methods. We at blink.it also find this approach exciting, so I asked Friederike Euwens, one of the three New Work Facilitators, for her tips and best practices for small and large companies.
Friederike Euwens from AllesRoger, with her colleague Lea Böhm.
Why do companies need innovation at all?
My first question to Friederike: Why should companies even engage with New Work strategies? What makes innovation itself desirable?
Friederike from AllesRoger:
We need to act globally nowadays. It could be that someone in India has a better idea, and then your business model is obsolete. I believe many HR developers within companies realize they can no longer continue as they have been. They feel that some employees are no longer motivated. Innovation plays a large role here.
Innovation means that new ways must be found. On the one hand, because companies need to present themselves attractively to qualified employees. On the other hand, because work conditions are changing – for example, due to digitization, the concept of home office has become easier and more profitable for companies to implement.
The term innovation is hovering over many HR departments, but often it is not really tangible. After all, especially in large and more traditionally managed companies, existing working methods cannot be completely revolutionized overnight. AllesRoger therefore relies on the so-called ambidexterity: the ability of companies to be innovative and efficient at the same time.
Innovation: Introducing new business models and working methods to make the company future-proof and attractive for the market.
Efficiency: Being as productive as possible to make the company successful and have market-relevant offers.
Work of the future: Companies need models to work innovatively and efficiently at the same time.
Living Innovation with “New Work”
You have probably already come across the buzzword “New Work”. I have read about it repeatedly and wanted to know from the expert: In what way does New Work benefit companies?
Friederike from AllesRoger:
New Work means something different for every company. We offer ideas and best practices, but depending on the company structure, different approaches are necessary. Essentially, New Work is about collaborating as best as possible both in teams and throughout the entire organization. This benefits the entire company because employees are more satisfied and can work efficiently.
That sounds absolutely desirable! To make the rather abstract term “New Work” more tangible, I have here a few examples for you:
Examples of New Work
"Old Work" | "New Work" |
Every employee has their fixed workstation in the company itself. Work is when you are present on-site. | Flexible workstations enable |
Classic hierarchy: Regular employees have a team leader and further management levels above. | Redistributing responsibilities |
Meetings are often annoying appointments on the calendar. Frequently, ten people sit around a table, of whom two speak, five listen half-heartedly, and three have no idea why they are actually there. | Making meetings efficient |
Many companies have a slogan and a specific color scheme – but the employees themselves are connected by nothing more than the source of their salary. | Actively shaping and communicating values |
New Work in all company sizes
We at blink.it and the team from AllesRoger actively practice New Work in our daily work. But we are still a relatively small and young team: Quick agreements are the order of the day, and trying out new strategies is very easy. But how can New Work work in really large companies?
Friederike from AllesRoger:
Many say that an organizational unit should not have more than 150 people and a team should never be larger than 15. We also notice this in training or coaching – up to these sizes, New Work works very well. If a company is larger, correspondingly smaller organizational units should be found. This is already happening in the form of departments. Only the hierarchy is lived differently with New Work.
New Work therefore works in all company sizes. As an example of a large company, Friederike mentions Hypoport AG from Berlin with 1,000 employees: “They are already very advanced in terms of self-organization and have been very successful with it.”
Work Hacks: Small adjustments to start with New Work
So how can I start with New Work? Friederike recommends first redesigning existing meetings. Simply try out different decision-making processes, for example, with targeted involvement of employees as in a discussion marketplace.
She also generally recommends that companies initially conduct a vision and values workshop with all employees. Questions should be clarified such as “What do we want to achieve together?” (Vision) and “How do we want to work together?” (Values). This sets the framework for New Work.
The vision of blink.it: To enable people to develop their skills as simply and sustainably as possible.
Friederike from AllesRoger:
To even be able to discuss this very vague topic, our New Work Map helps at the beginning: There we can look at it with companies and discuss: Where do you need to start, what are your best options to take new paths in work?
Starting with new employees: Onboarding as an online course
A great way to easily start with New Work is also the onboarding of new employees. Those who are new in a company are usually more open to new working methods and therefore offer great potential for New Work.
The idea: To have new employees participate in an online onboarding.
How it works: In online courses, fundamental information and guidelines of the company are conveyed. At the same time, team leaders can upload content exercises or refer to sources. Once created, the online course can be reused repeatedly – and supplemented and changed together over months and years.
Bonus: The new hires can also exchange ideas among themselves in a closed online course, even though they do not work in the same department. They find connections with like-minded individuals and learn to network early on. Just for this, online onboarding is helpful.
Blended onboarding at blink.it: With a mix of personal sessions and accompanying online course, new employees are efficiently and innovatively trained.
Friederike from AllesRoger:
For a team to work efficiently, communication is absolutely essential: Learning from and with each other. I find the idea of designing onboarding as an online course very exciting. Through exchange, newcomers can feel a sense of belonging quickly. At the same time, work is relieved from colleagues and the HR department. It’s a win-win situation.
How do you design New Work in your company? Simply try out Friederike's tips to start and consider: How could you design the next meeting so that the entire team derives the greatest possible benefit from it? Perhaps the format of a discussion marketplace is an inspiration for that.
Are you in any way responsible for integrating new employees into the company? Then take a look at how such an online course in onboarding could look: Examples and many more tips can be found in our guide for blended onboarding. Good luck with starting New Work strategies!
