The New Way of Working (NWOW) has become increasingly popular in recent years. Companies like Microsoft have made the New Way of Working a spearhead and success stories from companies such as HP and Rabobank appear in the media. In addition to the savings on housing costs, these companies claim the benefits in terms of employee satisfaction.
Although the term “the New Way of Working” is now widely known, there are still many companies that are not familiar with the New Way of Working in terms of content or in practice. Especially Small and Medium Enterprises seem to be lagging behind with the introduction of The New Way of Working. There is therefore still much to be gained for companies in the field of the New Way of Working.
Work differently, think differently
The New Way of Working is often seen as a new name or interpretation for what was formerly known as Teleworking; (partly) not at the office but working from home. Teleworking has been stimulated over the past decades to limit the number of traffic jams and the time that employees are stuck in traffic jams. The work itself does not change, however, when someone is going to Teleworking. The same tasks are performed only from another workplace. The authority relationships and responsibilities also remain the same; the manager tells the employee what his or her tasks are and is responsible for achieving the objectives.
The purpose of The New Way of Working is not so much to find a way to deal with office hours differently, but to deal with work differently. Here the development of the employee is central, as well as the use of the possibilities that are hidden in every person. The question is not: “Can you determine your office hours yourself?”, But: “What motivates you?” New ingredients are needed for this: networking with others determines who you know and who can help you reach your goals and the right preconditions are necessary to function optimally. Work no longer happens in a place, in a building or at home, but in time; “From place to space.”
Bricks, Bytes & Behavior
The New Way of Working is distinguished by a (often combined) change in the areas Bricks, Bytes & Behavior:
Bricks: the infrastructural aspect; the building and / or the place where you work,
Bytes: the technological aspect; the information systems you work with and
Behavior: the personal aspect; the way of working and authority relationships.
With the New Way of Working you can work wherever and whenever you want; this can be at home or in the office, but also in a place where you can concentrate well on your work or on the location where you can make the most of your network. You depend on others in your network in your work, just like they are yours. You are not working together but working together.
In the New Way of Working you yourself are the director of your agenda; your work and leisure life. You can decide for yourself when you are most productive, or when you prefer not to be busy with work. The only limitation is your environment; possibly you have appointments in your network or with customers that require availability at certain times and places.
The separation between work and leisure fades with this, and that requires skills to not let one dominate over the other. Work-life balance is an important aspect in (learning to) deal with The New Way of Working.
A lot changes for the manager; the daily or weekly monitoring of (the progress of) the work takes place for the “enabling” and supervising employees in order to enable them to achieve the optimal result. Removing blockades and helping networks plays an important role in this. Of course it is not just freedom, happiness that strikes the clock: making clear agreements about the (interim) results that one wants to achieve together forms the basis for the new “authority relationship”. The result is that employees are often more aware than ever of their tasks and responsibilities.