New Way of WorkingWhen change is constant, flexibility rulesMoves to more flexible methods of working, where staff are no longer tied to a desk or even a building, demand smarter systems and robust structures. New ways of working is often referred to as flexible working, and incorporates ideas like life-work balance, teleworking, home working, hot desking, hotelling, flexible office, location independent working. New ways of working emphasises the importance of business and organisation, and spans people, property, technology, community and environment. It involves strategy, analysis, implementation and training, and demands skills in change management and process improvement. In most recent discussions, research papers and other documents, "new ways of working" focuses on technological advances over the last few years and how they can be used to further improve business performance and establish new procedures and processes for working. These technological advances refer to the use of computers, the world wide web, emails, discussion boards, video conferencing, electronic document transfer and the like. To the NEWORKer or Portfolio Worker, these are tools to a new way of working. True, they may be important tools but nonetheless that is what they are - tools to a new way of working. The Portfolio worker uses these tools in a manner that enables a task to be completed in a new way of working. This new way of working focuses on relationships with family, the community, the client and the business outcome. It is the relationship which enables an excellent outcome to all involved in an environment of flexibility, a flexibility for the client, the client's staff, the NEWORKer, the portfolio worker and others. Flexibility in work challenges our assumptions about what work is, where we do it, how we do it, when we do it, and who does it. This affects the workplace, working practices, working time, and how people (or organisations) are employed to do the work. Some of these are not new, such as employment contracts (full time, part time, temporary) and working hours (flexitime). Others, such as working at home and call centres are being broadened and re-vitalised through technology. It is our capacity to capitalise on technology and change working practices that is in question, not the capability of the technology itself. Flexible working is a break with tradition, and this single factor in many cases prevents consideration of schemes, and in others causes major compromise or abandonment. The break with tradition means that change management is a critical component of any implementation. This is perceived as a risk by many executives, since change management cannot be put in a box or in a financial case in the same way as technology or process investments. The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker being from outside the organisation can be flexible and by negotiation that flexibility is implemented with the client, client's staff and others in a new way of working. The Role of Offices in Flexible WorkingExamining the work done in offices, or perhaps not in offices (!) is a surprising experience. It reveals the history of the office, a place created to bring together staff so that communications was possible within the organisation. In turn the grouping of offices made inter-organisation communication possible. Of course, the quill pen was the only alternative to face to face communications, and messages were delivered by runner or horse. Communications has changed a bit since then, but the concept of offices has remained essentially the same. Have you ever taken a day at home to work? People who are asked about that usually say that they can get two or three days work done in one day at home. Where would you sit at home to read a report? Probably not at a desk or table, but in an armchair with a cup of coffee or tea. If you wanted to chat to a colleague about something, where would you prefer to meet? Again, probably not at a desk or in a meeting room, but in the pub over a pint, or in a cafe over a cup of cappuccino. If you need to prepare for a meeting with a client, would you travel to the office, and then on to the client? If the office is out of the way, then you'd probably choose to meet in a hotel foyer or road-side cafe on the way there. What's all that got to do with offices? Offices, at the base, must be about providing the most productive work setting to staff so that the infrastructure investment supports the goal of the organisation, to get work done. So where are the armchairs in our offices? Why doesn't the staff restaurant open all day? But perhaps even more important, what do we do with unoccupied space - the desks that are empty while people are in meetings, at the cafe, or working elsewhere, like at home, never mind when they are on holiday or off sick? The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker being from outside the organisation works in many environments in a manner that brings the most effective and productive opportunities to the client, client's staff and others in a new way of working. What is Work?One of the paradigms we have about office work is that a desk in an office is essential in order to do it. We conveniently forget the need for meetings, personal interaction, training, and all the other things we do when 'working' in an office for which we don't use a desk. The activities outside the office, such as client meetings, meetings in other offices, training, and holidays, are more obvious, although we don't think of the expense during these activities of the un-occupied desk. Observation of the office at any time during the day will reveal that occupancy of desks is not as high as we expect, even for staff whom we would consider to be permanently in the office. Surveys confirm this. It is not that the office is not useful, just that it is not the right work setting for every activity. The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker does not need an office to take advantage of all opportunities, locations and environments to meet the needs of the client, client's staff and others in a new way of working. Different ApproachesThere are many different approaches to providing these productive work settings for staff and addressing the problems inherent in the current view of space. One flexible approach is to furnish offices so that all the work settings are available within them. This has been very successful in some overseas settings. The culture in New Zealand changes more slowly, so the approach has been to make the location for work more flexible. This allows the settings to occur outside the office, mainly in areas already providing the kind of work settings required. This is evident in allowing staff to be flexible in the locations at which they choose to work, and the times when they choose to use them. Incidentally, this has the beneficial side effect of extending the hours of use of buildings. Staff in this scenario tend to make more use of homes, cafes, hotels, and business centres, as well as offices. The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker in working with the client, client's staff and others is often based away from the client's base of business, operating from home, the boot of the car, the café, the internet cafe in a new way of working. Social and Management ChangesThe change in the way the organisation operates brought about by the new way of working obviously has an impact on individuals, management and teams. It changes the way staff think about what they do, where they do it, and causes them to re-evaluate the function of locations and time. Working differently like this does cause some feeling of isolation, but the individual choice of work place for each task, the new role of the team meeting, the freedom for informal contact wherever and however the individual chooses, the enhanced meeting time, the enhanced social life, and the practice of good management prevent this being any more than a useful goal to being more effective. It is important to recognise that the new way of working is a change process. A critical success factor is that it must be a participative change process. In the office there are behaviour and relationship norms. The change to the new way of working sweeps these away, and they must be replaced by new working norms. One method of achieving this is the creation of personal contracts which are a record of how individuals will work with each other. These 'contracts' are not necessarily written down, and they require continual review and re-adjustment as people become accustomed to the new way of working. An example of this is the 'contract' a secretary (who is likely to be looking after a large number of others) might have with a member of staff, and vice versa. There are many opportunities for increased effectiveness for staff. Certainly it has an effect on the way staff think about their work and the inefficiencies that organisations have tried to tackle for years. For example time management training and effective meeting training have succeeded in making small improvements, whereas time management and meetings have changed radically for the better after the introduction of the new way of working. The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker, contrasting them with similar office based staff, support these statements and draw interesting comparisons in a new way of working. Team meetingsTake, for instance, the team meeting. Office based staff usually think of this as a necessary evil, of the kind where you receive about ten minutes of useful information for your half day in the meeting. How many of you have agreed to a customer appointment to clash so that your ten minutes is just an update from a colleague? Then there is the format of the team meeting. Usually lots of 'input' sessions, each of which has value, but has to be sat through to gain that piece of value. The breaks are, hopefully, liberal, but of short duration so the agenda can be completed. What of the team meeting in a flexible new way of working environment? It is really appreciated by staff. They use it to share with colleagues; to meet new colleagues; to have mini meetings; and generally to catch up. Oh yes, and to receive the ten minutes of useful information. The format? Short sessions and lots of long breaks. This means that the sessions have to be punchy and deliver the messages in short order so that the two hours for lunch and the one hour for coffee can be fitted into the same time. The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker becomes a member of a team and participates as such, having the skills and intiative to create opportunities to effectively and efficiently meet the client, client's staff and others in a team environment in a new way of working. Informal ContactThe coffee machine chat is an important method of business communication. Obviously with staff working wherever they find it most conducive, this is a feature that only emerges when they visit the office. Consequently, when they do visit the office, the effect is much the same as that on the team meeting. They will allow plenty of informal time to chat to whoever happens to be in and to build relationships with those permanently in the office. That is not to say that this type of communication never happens when staff are not in the office. It is an important part of any meeting with colleagues, wherever it happens to be held. Staff will also use the telephone (more) and the electronic and voice mail systems (less) to make informal contact with colleagues. It is interesting to look at the sites used for communicating in person. For Flexible Workers, these are very much more varied than those of an office worker, who basically uses only the office. Our experience indicates that this is likely to make the communication more effective for the specific meetings, though there is evidence to suggest that some spontaneous communication is lost. This has to be weighed with the loss of undesirable spontaneous communication, commonly called interruptions, that lead to huge losses in productivity. The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker values the informal contact with the client, client's staff and others in a new way of working. Effective TimeNEWORKers/Portfolio Workers use their time more effectively than office-based workers. They do less unimportant administration, and less unnecessary time wasting. They have very little scope to be more effective compared to office workers. They spend much more time at customer sites and much less time in the office. Effective MeetingsMeetings are more effectively used, as is travel time. For example, a Flexible Worker will tend to fix several meetings in an area rather than just travelling for one. This is very evident when a Flexible Worker visits an office and has four, five or six meetings fixed as well as the long breaks in which to make informal contact. In itself this tends to make the Portfolio Worker concentrate on the topic of a meeting. For example, an office based team meet on a Monday to discuss 20 items about a project. After the hour allotted, they agree to continue to try to get further down the list. After two hours they agree to meet again on Wednesday, and the story repeats itself on the Wednesday, although this time they actually finish all 20 items. A flexible team meeting like this on a Monday would have other meetings to go to. They are also not likely to be in the office on Wednesday. Thus they would decide which were the most important items, discuss those 6 and any other burning issues, and finish the meeting on the Monday. The other less important items are left till the next time or dealt with in another way - email. After all, if any do become urgent that requires face to face contact, a special meeting can always be arranged! Social LifeAgain, there is some evidence to support the return of social connections into the local community. This not only benefits the local community, but the individual as well. NEWORKers/Portfolio Workers have the opportunity, and indeed take it, to play a more active role in the family, to take up new hobbies, or simply to expand their social life away from the office. It also has potential benefits for work by giving a new dimension to work subjects garnered from work contacts outside the organisation, and therefore of a differing slant. The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker is a participant in their community and bring this to the client, client's staff and others in a new way of working. Home LifeIn a similar way to the social aspects of life, there is a change in the way in which home and work interact. Instead of being run as two entirely separate activities, they become more integrated. This means that the 'contracts', such as that mentioned between secretary and member of staff, are also an integral and important part of the home / work interface. Take for example the 'when are you going to be home' phone call to the office. The person in the office will be immersed in office thought processes and office priorities, so it is easy to dismiss the home situation as less urgent, and also out of reach, and vice versa. Translate this into the hand on the shoulder of the 'office' worker in the dining room. There is an immediate appreciation of the home situation and the 'office' situation by both sides. It is then possible to compromise on, for example, half an hour in the sitting room, then back to finish off the 'office' work. The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker becomes skilled in balancing the needs of the home and the needs of the client. client's staff and others, in a new way of working. ManagementInterestingly, NEWORKer/Portfolio Workers display a better understanding of what is expected of them by their client and how their client expects them to use their time. They do feel, however, that they don't understand organisational changes quite as well as their counterparts in the office. They have a very clear understanding of how their performance is evaluated compared to the office based worker. Also, they suffer less from low morale, being more generally content. This supports the theory that managers have to be very much more precise in dealing with the NEWORKer. It has also been shown that, if managers are prepared to invest in this change, then the NEWORKer/Portfolio Workers are, in the opinion of those managers, much more effective members of their "staff" than office based workers in the new way of working. Benefits of Flexible WorkingAlthough there is scepticism about the positive impacts of flexible working, the commercial case is excellent, both in cost saving and productivity. There are positive staff impacts. It is environmentally sound and good for the community. It fits with the current labour market trends (working partners, flexibility, portfolio, whole life view) and is politically correct (equal opportunities, family friendly). The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker is a full participant in this new way of working that provides flexibility for all. CommercialMany organisations have expressed the commercial benefits of working in a new way. The Birmingham City Council in the UK is said to have saved £50m through a scheme that offers flexible working to 7,000 staff. Direct Line insurance is improving customer service through new ways of working. Oxfordshire County Council retains valuable staff through flexible working. Digital UK has offered a new way of working to over 1,200 Workers, about one third of their work force at a saving of about £4.2m net each year. They are also 20-30% more productive. This is typical of productivity gains reported from many other schemes. PersonalA "Telegraph" survey reported on 2 January 2003 found that 56% of staff would welcome the ability to work more flexibly. Those that do express their wish never to go back to commuting to and working in an office. While this is a UK survey, there is anecdotal evidence of a similar attitude in New Zealand. People who work flexibly don't have to commute, saving time, money and stress. They have a more flexible life with regard to home and can re-discover their families and social life, which could help them, perhaps, to be less of a workaholic, giving greater staff satisfaction by balancing work and personal needs. CommunityThe NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker is present in the community during the day, with the potential to transform dormitory areas into communities again. They spend their business money more in local shops, for postage, copying, lunches, etc. helping to keep small shops open for young families and older people. EnvironmentThe NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker uses less corporate office space, meaning that they only consume one set of energy, not one at home and one at work. Digital demonstrates the need for considerably less office space and more intensive use of both office and home space. There is less commuting. The NEWORKer/Portfolio Worker travel when they need to, and often also at times of choice, reducing the peak hour loads and transforming the travel experience. Hertfordshire County Council reports both decreased business mileage and decreased commuting mileage from their flexible working scheme. Thus rail and road infrastructure does not have to be sized for the enormous, but very short, peak periods. AdoptionOne of the things which hampers consideration of the past and future impact of new way of working is a lack of reliable statistics. This area is confused both by widely varying definitions and by hype introduced through those selling services that support the flexible working market. This confusion will ease, as the governments and others in the employment field introduces new questions into the employment surveys begin to gather statistics about the new way of working. This will then provide more reliable base information against which related numbers can be judged in the future. In New Zealand, we really do not know how many people are following the lifestlyle of the NEWORKer or Prtfolio Worker. There are no really clear statistics anywhere but it is clear that the acceptance of the new way of working has some way to go as both employer and employees organisations and individuals come to understand the new way of working and how it fits into New Zealand society so that all can benefit. The barriers to implementation will increasingly be overcome as cost pressure on organisations increases, and as competitors take up flexible working. Pressure on transport will cause both staff pressure (grid lock, taxes) and policy pressure (car park charging, company perks tax, travel reduction) to adopt this flexible working style of a new way of working. Social change (life / work balance, working partners, etc.) will also put pressure on employers and employees alike to adopt more flexible work options. This indicates that there will be a radical change in the amount of work being done outside offices over the next five years. The implications for offices are that:
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