What if instead of starting with the design of the workplace of the future – we need to start with the design of work? For many work is broken, out of date and just doesn’t work anymore. In any ways, maybe it always was but most of us kept going because “that’s the way it’s always been”. But in fact it hasn’t.
What if instead of starting with the design of the workplace of the future – we need to start with the design of work? For many work is broken, out of date and just doesn’t work anymore. In any ways, maybe it always was but most of us kept going because “that’s the way it’s always been”. But in fact it hasn’t.
The world of 9-5 work, the office, the corporation- are all constructs of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Just like the landline, gramophone and steam train – should we snap back to those too? The traditional world of work was conceived in a world were mothers didn’t work, fathers didn’t spend time with their children and most of the work was designed like a factory production line.
More and more talking to both leaders and their teams I am realising there is something missing in the way we approach work. It’s not so much about workplace as it is about how we do the work itself, how we connect, the processes, what tools we use. For a while I didn’t even know what to call this aspect of work. It’s not strategy, or experience or organisational design or workforce planning, although it is a piece of all these things. Then I heard the term “work design” not “workplace design” but work itself! How simple, how obvious – this should be easy. But it’s not, not many teams or organisations are really thinking about it.
Long before the pandemic, Fully remote organisations like GitHub and Basecamp started thinking about the design of remote work. Atlassian have now built a big part of their brand message on it. Often these companies are just viewed to be doing this so they can sell software, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t learn something from what they do. You don’t have to be remote first to benefit from work designed and optimised for the twenty first century.
One of the reasons hybrid work seems so hard is that often it hasn’t been deliberately designed. To really work, it requires a rethinking, a redesign of the processes of work and not just replacing meetings with virtual links. As I’ve written about before – part time or dispersed working also requires more thought about the process. For years organisation’s have been tinkering at the edges of process, layering on agile methodology or new software to communicate and coordinate. But if we don’t bring intentional design to this process we keep layering these new ways and tools over the top of the old and creating the mongrel beast that work was become today – where people’s job is all about replying to emails and going to meetings. These are things that do need to happen as part of doing with in the twenty first century but they shouldn’t be the main thing whole teams are doing.
Often the problems are seen as software problems, email is the problem, zoom is the problem (or insert any industry specific software – in building design revit is the problem). However often the software isn’t the problem – the process itself is the problem. However with many of the companies trying to address the problem (such as Atlassian) – the problem is still seen as software or something simplistic like too many meetings.
Even within the word of work, I (and others I’ve talked to) we’re struggling to work out – who can help fix this? There is no commonly used terminology to describe this problem or the type of consultant you might hire to work with you to solve this challenge. Recently I came across the work of Sharon Parker, and The Future of Work Institute using the term “work design”. Light bulb moment! This is so simple conceptually but exactly what we need. Work needs to be redesigned! (Thanks also to Melissa Marsden for introducing me to Sharon’s work thru her podcast.)
The SMART work design model is based upon crafting work that is more meaningful and motivating, allowing people to build better working relationships and achieve better work outcomes. Similarly, the Four day workweek (or reduced hours workweek), where people work less hours for the same productivity and pay is a redesign of work. In order to work less achieve the same outputs you have to reconsider, rethink and redesign how you do it.
What does work designed for the twenty first century actually look like? In my view, it does have to mean digital first, optimising whatever you do for best in class technology. Integrating AI will be part of redesigning work. Likely so will new means of interacting with technology – the keyboard is surely reaching the end of its lifespan. Voice will become bigger but what else?
It also has to be designed for people, for individuals – the face of capitalism has changed. Many behaviours or work practices of the early twentieth century are no longer acceptable. So let’s also accept that work can be designed for both individuals and companies alike – it needs to be flexible in both place and time so we can draw upon the most talented and divese teams. It needs to be intentional. We need to stop being busy for the sake of it,for the fact it’s always been done a certain way and think about what is really important to the outcomes, for our clients, our teams and the work we deliver.
Intention takes work. Redesign takes work. Structural change is disruptive. Some people see booking a desk or coordinating a time to meet as hard. What they may not realise is that for others, coming to the office 5 days a week is harder. None of this is easy. People don’t like to change, especially if the can’t immediately see the benefits to themselves. The redesign of work should benefit everyone. But there are people who have been privileged in the past who might find this harder to see. It’s been well documented (McKinsey etc) that more diverse companies outperform less diverse companies. The potential benefits are huge. It think it’s worth the effort – don’t you? Four day workweek anyone?
Ceilidh Higgins
Image via Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/water-ripple-Q5QspluNZmM
