More and more companies in 2019 are feeling that innovation is important for their 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 term "New Work." How exactly companies can make their working methods future-proof was something I asked New Work expert Friederike Euwens from "AllesRoger."
The company AllesRoger consists of three women who call themselves "New Work facilitators." Their mission: to support teams in efficiently implementing new ways of working. 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 even need innovation?
My first question for Friederike: Why should companies even occupy themselves with New Work strategies? What makes innovation desirable in itself?
Friederike from AllesRoger:
Nowadays, we must operate globally. It may be that someone in India has a better idea, and then your business model becomes obsolete. I believe that many HR developers in companies are realizing that they cannot continue the way they have been for much longer. They feel that some employees are no longer motivated. This is where innovation plays a significant role.
Innovation means that new ways must be found. On one hand, companies must present themselves attractively to qualified employees. On the other hand, working conditions are changing – for example, the concept of home office has become easier and more profitable for companies due to digitalization.
The term innovation is almost hovering over many HR departments but is often not really tangible. After all, especially in large and more traditionally managed companies, existing working methods cannot be completely turned upside down overnight. That’s why AllesRoger relies on so-called ambidexterity: the ability of companies to be both innovative and efficient.
Innovation: Introducing new business models and ways of working to make the company future-proof and attractive to the market.
Efficiency: Being maximally productive to make the company successful and to have market-appropriate offers.
Future of work: 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: How 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, it's about collaborating as best as possible both in teams and throughout the entire organizational unit. 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 compiled a few examples for you:
Examples of New Work
| "Old Work" | "New Work" || ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ || Every employee has their fixed workstation in the company itself. Work means being on-site. | Flexible workspaces allowExample: Home office and remote workspaces || Classic hierarchy: Regular employees have a team leader and further management levels above them. | Redistributing responsibilitiesExample: Collegial leadership || Meetings are often annoying appointments in the calendar. Often, ten people sit around a table, of whom two speak, five listen with half an ear, and three don't even know why they are there. | Making meetings efficientExample: Redesigning meetings as a kind of workshop, for instance as a discussion marketplace || Many companies have a slogan and a specific color scheme – but the individual employees are connected by nothing more than the source of their salary. | Actively shaping and communicating valuesExample: Letting employees find the values of the company themselves in workshops to create a strong sense of belonging. |
New Work in all company sizes
We at blink.it and also the team at AllesRoger actively apply New Work in our everyday 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 be larger than 150 people and that a team should never be larger than 15. We notice this in training or coaching – up to these sizes, New Work works very well. If the company itself is larger, smaller organizational units should be found accordingly. This is already happening in the form of departments. Only the hierarchy is lived differently with New Work.
New Work 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, as a result, very successful."
Work hacks: Small adjustments to start with New Work
So how can I start with New Work? Friederike advises first to redesign existing meetings. Simply try out other processes for decision-making, for example, with targeted involvement of employees as in a discussion marketplace.
She also recommends that companies generally hold a vision and values workshop with all employees at the beginning. Questions should be clarified like "What do we want to achieve together?" (Vision) and "How do we want to work together?" (Values). This establishes the framework for New Work.
The vision of blink.it: Enabling people to train their skills as easily and sustainably as possible.
Friederike from AllesRoger:
To even talk about this very vague topic, our New Work Map helps at the beginning: There we can look together with companies and discuss: Where do you need to start, what are your best options for new ways of working?
Starting with new employees: Onboarding as an online course
A great opportunity to simply get started with New Work is also the onboarding of new employees. Those who are new to a company are often more open to new ways of working and therefore offer great potential for New Work.
Download the guide now: Blended onboarding for companies – onboarding in a mix of personal meetings and online courses. Learn in the guide how to create your first blended onboarding within 3 weeks and shape the future of work!
The idea: Let new employees participate in an online onboarding.
How it works: Basic information and guidelines of the company are conveyed in online courses. At the same time, team leaders can upload content-related exercises or refer to sources. Once created, the online course can be reused over and over again – and over the months and years, it can be jointly supplemented and changed.
Bonus: The newcomers can also exchange ideas in a closed online course, even if they do not work in the same department. They find connections among like-minded individuals and learn to network early on. Just for that, online onboarding is helpful.
Blended onboarding at blink.it: With a mix of personal sessions and accompanying online courses, new employees are efficiently and innovatively integrated.
Friederike from AllesRoger:
For a team to work efficiently, communication is absolutely essential: Learning from one another and together. I find the idea of designing onboarding as an online course very exciting. Through the exchange, newcomers can quickly feel a sense of belonging. At the same time, the colleagues and the HR department are relieved. It's a win-win situation.
How do you approach 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 maximum 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 what such an online course in onboarding could look like: Examples and many more tips can be found in our guide to blended onboarding. Good luck starting with New Work strategies!
