The future of work

Today, it no longer matters as much what we still have to work on, but rather how we are allowed to work: freely, with self-determination and with a focus on personal growth – because that also promotes the growth of the company. Heute ist es nicht mehr so wichtig, was wir noch arbeiten müssen, sondern vielmehr, wie wir schon arbeiten dürfen: frei, selbstbestimmt und mit Fokus auf das persönliche Wachstum – denn das fördert auch das Wachstum des Unternehmens.

In times characterized by technological progress, digitalization and automation, and in which work is measured by key figures, the essential variable in the system must not be neglected, i.e. people and everything that makes them tick: feelings, influences, experiences. People want to be human even in a work context. Therefore, the WHAT of the work will not play a role in this article, but rather the HOW. 

Today, it no longer matters as much what we still have to work on, but rather how we are allowed to work: freely, with self-determination and with a focus on personal growth – because that also promotes the growth of the company. This is the new way of thinking that has long revolved theoretically around the term New Work. 

Most companies have been dealing with one facet or another of New Work since at least the coronavirus pandemic, when virtual collaboration, digital platforms and work from home became a requirement, and flexible collaboration became indispensable. Accompanying technology for New Work is therefore on the implementation agenda of an ever-increasing number of companies today. However, the fact is that this is also accompanied by an even greater flood of information and an increasing intensification of work. As a result, humans are being pushed into the background at work, perhaps explaining the many layoffs we are currently experiencing.¹ There is simply no time for topics that are not a top priority but are still important in an increasingly complex working world, such as exchanging ideas in a safe space, dealing with uncertainty or managing oneself – to name just a few. The VUCA world² or, more recently, the BANI world³, which is characterized by uncertainty and complexity, must also result in a different approach to work itself. And not to mention: Often, (technically) flexible work design is not even maintained – and for this reason alone, important future topics such as New Work are falling behind. A vicious circle.

What New Work means to me

What is New Work? I am often asked this question – perhaps because it is not easy to answer. Indeed, the term encompasses a wide range of fields. For me, New Work essentially means that the office (including the virtual one) is increasingly becoming a meeting place. It’s getting more colorful overall. But the cliché of a fruit basket and a foosball table for employees, which are already considered sufficient as a feel-good benefit, is not enough in this case! New Work is not just a New Office. For me, New Work specifically consists of the following points:

1. Flexibility (flexible working hours and locations, allowed to change in phases)
2. Digitization (more transparent work, networks and thus participation and co-creation)
3. Flat hierarchies (cooperation at eye level and decision-making together with those who have to work with it)
4. Individuality and self-determination (for performance and learning goals)
5. Agility (no rigid structures and processes, iterative work)
6. New office concepts (creativity-promoting work processes and the office as a meeting place)
7. Meaning (people want to be “part of a good story”)
8. Variety and diversity (appreciation, integration and participation of diverse people and inclusion of different perspectives)
9. Leadership (away from superiors and departments: first lead yourself, then others and the business)

Or to put it another way: What many people need is more freedom and more self-determination. They want to be valued for their achievements. They want to develop and evolve, see meaning in their work and act more flexibly (which also affects issues such as compatibility with family or sidepreneurship). They want a different kind of career – and to shape it themselves. This collective desire is so great that the term career is even undergoing a change in meaning: career used to be understood in a linear way, higher and higher, more and more power, more and more budget and personnel responsibility. Today, a career means having fun with the topics and the team, sometimes moving sideways in the corporate organizational chart, sometimes leading, sometimes not – and sometimes even taking a step back. Better to have less work and more satisfaction than be successful, highly regarded and overworked. Taken together, this is New Work for me – and thus the future of work.

How do we achieve New Work, the future of work?

No matter what the specific work topics might be, change starts with leaders. And not only because of their decision-making function, but also because of their function as role models. Leadership in the New Work context means: We know ourselves very well and can therefore lead ourselves better. This requires two essential skills that have become an indispensable part of the leadership repertoire: Self-reflection and unconditional honesty with oneself. Only then can we understand our own emotions – and more than that: even bring them into play, thus creating the space in which the most important of all leadership skills is activated: listening. And not in order to answer on reflex, but to understand the other person. Especially their personal relationship levels and other group dynamic processes that may need to be rebalanced. This is particularly important for another point, which I will explain briefly below:

Flatter hierarchies, agility and new forms of collaboration also require new forms of communication

Appreciative communication is the most important of all leadership skills. Because language creates reality, and in complex and uncertain times, environments are needed that are characterized by emotional security thanks to appreciative communication. The “fear-free organization”⁴ should be the primary goal and at the same time the most important management task. This is the view taken by Amy Edmonson, Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School. Employees need environments with flexible structures and flat hierarchies in which more communication takes place – at eye level. They need safe environments in which they are allowed to participate and where decisions are made by them for them. They need places where change is also allowed to happen, because otherwise nothing happens except that the marketing department gets a new communications briefing. It is not at all easy just to repaint the facade. 

The changes need to go deeper. Especially since managers not only have to worry about their own communication, but also about that between employees. Because what is needed between them is a genuine, professional exchange and thus real networking, in order to strengthen one thing above all: trust. The more virtually we work together, the more important it is to know each other well. Ultimately, it is the respective individual strengths according to which the distribution of tasks and roles takes place. What is needed, then, is an even more personal and empowering togetherness for a common, strong WE.

Resources and people

These two topics are much discussed and are on many corporate agendas. But my experience shows: There are not many companies that really, TRULY take this seriously and also put it into practice, because they are run based on old, hierarchical principles. Thus, the main reason for a dismissal is still the respective manager (who does not communicate in an appreciative manner). Agility and self-organization are often hailed as the bringers of salvation – but this is not the case. We have other proven methods of retaining employees: structuring work so that those who otherwise do not get a chance to speak are heard, can talk openly about mistakes, and make decisions together.

This is not about making leaders redundant (that still seems to be a fear), but about seeing them as enablers who can empower, especially psychologically.⁵ And those who understand this and live New Work will lead themselves, their team and the entire organization into sustainable growth. If only because such an environment is also interesting for new employees – an advantage that should not be underestimated in the so-called war of talents. And this brings us to the topic of resources and relations: People are not a resource and as such do not want to be managed. They are first and foremost multi-layered, complex beings full of knowledge. We have to take people seriously, listen to them, let them have a say in the decision-making process. Because only people who feel involved really get involved. That shows me one thing very clearly: New Work is most successful with companies that respect, understand and involve people. That sounds obvious – and it is. 

The future of work is networked work. Many things are mutually dependent: the manager, the environment, the mood in the team, the corporate culture, the change in work as such ... This sounds complex, like more work and more management tasks – and it is, because the world itself is becoming increasingly complex. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned through all this, it’s that there are no simple answers to complex issues. That is why the future belongs to active, vibrant networks characterized by diversity, which are full of opportunities precisely because of their complexity. One thing is also certain: The future does not wait and always begins right now. With ourselves. Let’s do this!