This concept echoes the notions of flexibility and agility now dear to companies and their users. It calls for the transformation of companies by digitizing them, modifying their structure and processes, and accelerating the creativity and well-being of their teams. Goodbye to organizations considered too rigid and predefined! With Smart Workings, let's focus on the BA-BA: ideas, projects and people. Let's explore this concept in detail.
Rethinking work spaces for user comfort
Workspaces must now be thought of in terms of their uses and the real activities of users. Moreover, the company's head office is now seen as a mother ship that allows the gathering, reception or training of its crew, but no longer on a daily basis. The tasks that employees have to perform may require them to work in spaces of concentration, exchange, sharing... that the head office is not always able to offer. So, let's understand that with Smart Workings, work is no longer constrained by the physical limits of the company. It can be done from a third space, close to the employees' home for example, or from a coworking space.
Note that many companies have already adopted "free office" or "flex desk" systems, but what Smart Working offers goes much further. It explodes the work surface and allows the exercise of its activity from anywhere.
The company must nevertheless support its teams by offering them adapted workspaces... and the freedom to use them or not. Want to know if your company is ready? Simply propose to your management to be able to work from a coworking space!
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Reinforce the digitalization of the company
Nevertheless, to make this possible, each company willing to implement Smart Working within its company, must digitalize its teams and processes, and offer a mobile equipment. Technology and digitalization are integral parts of this new work organization. Be careful not to neglect this aspect because if the technology is not optimal, it can be a source of irritation and conflict.
The use of smartphones, laptops and tablets have already been widely adopted by companies, however, newer technologies such as AI for example are not yet popular. In addition, companies are confronted with other more sensitive topics related to data processing, GDPR, or accounting for example. If Smart Workings is an ideal to reach, let's keep in mind that some practices must first be supervised and some software secured. The Covid-19 crisis has accelerated the consideration of these topics, but it will take a few more months to make them real for all functions and strata of the company.
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Promoting flexibility at all levels of the company
The flexibility of workspaces is at the heart of smart working policies. The necessary balance between professional and personal life is key for many employees, and this is even more true with generations X, Y and Millenials. Many studies can be found to support this topic and demonstrate the desire for freedom. The priority today is to get the job done right, no matter where it is done. Leaving employees free to manage their time, the choice of their work spaces... without forcing them to deal with daily habits such as transportation times for example is a win-win strategy.
A major consulting firm illustrated that in 2017, 92% of employees admitted that telecommuting contributed to a better personal balance. Since then, the studies have come and gone, and telecommuting has been experienced nationwide in 2020 and 2021, following successive confinements. If the return to the office or at least to a workspace has been felt, no longer is there any question for many employees to put an end to recent gains, namely: being free to drop off or pick up their children from school, no longer taking public transport on a daily basis, feeling at home at the end of the day and being able to enjoy their loved ones... In short, reinforcing individual time at the expense of collective time. Let's face it, the company will have to adapt!
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Develop a new working relationship based on trust
Smart Workings are based on trust. The autonomy of managers towards their teams, and more widely of the company towards its employees is crucial. The companies which opted for the Smart Working will all confide to you that it allowed them :
- To gain in productivity
- To reinforce the involvement and the feeling of belonging of the employees
- Drastically reduce sick leave and absenteeism
- Reduce real estate costs
- To benefit from a more attractive image
Thus, as in human relations in general, trust is the key to longevity and shared pleasure. So when will you switch to Smart Workings?
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How can the flexible office reconcile real-estate costs and employee expectations?
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For decades, the office has been seen as an immutable anchor: an assigned position, a fixed desk, a space designed to accommodate every employee from Monday to Friday, between 9am and 6pm. But this model, long considered indisputable, is now faltering under the impact of profound transformations in the world of work. Massive telecommuting, renewed employee expectations, the search for balance and meaning, and economic pressure on real estate are all forcing organizations to rethink their approach.
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From cost reduction to cultural transformation: the real challenges of the flexible office
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Giving up personal office allocation was no longer seen as an upheaval, but rather as an obvious way of reducing costs, improving real estate efficiency and adapting spaces to contemporary uses. However, the companies that have taken the plunge recognize that the reality far exceeds this initial justification. A genuine cultural transformation was underway!
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Does coworking restore the value of work?
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Today, many organizations see Coworking as more than just a real estate service; they see it as a space capable of restoring value to work itself and re-engaging teams. But what exactly is this "value" that coworking claims to restore?