It has been a bit more quiet lately regarding flexible working conditions, a bit snowed under in the storm of adapting to the new reality with Working from Home and all that goes with it. There has been a lot of lugging around of office chairs, screens etc and fortunately most now have a nice place to work from home, but unfortunately not all.
And just now would be the right time to pay attention to adjusting the (flexible) working conditions that contribute to flexible working. This is not only related to regulations and facilities but above all about good agreements on what we expect of each other now and in the future. How are we going to divide the time between the home workplace and the office in a flexible way, and how flexible can that be, how do we guarantee team cohesion, what else do we need to facilitate?
I hope that this discussion will start in more organizations, in any case we have put it on the agenda to discuss with everyone, to gather input and to find solutions together.
Together is also the key word here, let’s not fall back into old habits without considering what the added value is, what provides more happiness at work, where we are all better off, etc. Essential questions to get to a flexible new reality.
As with almost all change, flexibility of mind and an open mindset is the primary key to success. We have all experienced a crisis, the end of which seems to be in sight, the resilience we have all shown is admirable, let’s also use that strength in the flexibilization of working conditions and labor relations.
By Bas Ossewaarde on April 1 2021