Dynamic Work : workplace

Working Environments

brucelynn — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:02:42 GMT

One of the strongest points to the Microsoft New World of Work approach is its recognition of the diversity of work places, work roles, and workers themselves. The Microsoft Netherlands joint research piece with Erasmus University laid out a helpful grid to distinguish across 2 fundamental dimensions (see above). The report comments...

“Of course, mobile working is not a dichotomous variable. People work mobile to a greater or lesser degree. As we can learn from the mobile work quadrant below, telework is just one alternative. In the quadrant, different types of mobile working environments are distinguished based on two dimensions: frequency of changing worker location and location (fixed vs. multiple) (Schaffers et al, 2006).”

Great Places to Work

brucelynn — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:47:47 GMT

Microsoft has just won the #1 spot in the 2009 Europe’s Great Places to Work survey. President Jean Philippe Courtois called out a number of New World of Work initiatives that really showcased Microsoft’s exploitation of technology to enable dramatically new approaches to business...

“Our new office in the Netherlands is a flagship example of how we are creating a New World of Work with employees. The Amsterdam office is no longer a 9am-5pm destination – rather it is a ‘meeting place’ for when people need to come together. Underpinning the roll out of new working practices is Microsoft’s own Unified Communications technology. Equipped with a mobile phone, laptop and UC software, employees have the freedom to work anywhere and anytime that suits them. In addition, with UC Microsoft is saving more than $212 million annually in reduced travel and better productivity.”

The commendation cited a Belgian staffer’s commented on the impact of Microsoft’s ‘New World of Work’ vision...

“The New World of Work gives us complete flexibility to determine in a creative way how to do our projects and when we want to work. This gives me energy every day. It allows me to treat my family the way I want. It gives me the opportunity to do a number of things regarding my health and sporting activities. The way things are delegated allows me to work in a flexible way and to combine my job at Microsoft with my tasks as a mother.”

Gensler’s Modes of Work

brucelynn — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:24:41 GMT

One of the observations Edelman’s Robert Phillips notes is the segmentation into different workstyles. He speaks of the ‘podists’ and the ‘benchists’ describing sub-groups that have formed based on personal preferences for where and how they work.

The design firm Gensler who engineered the Edelman London offices, has also published its own segmentation of work modes (see attachment below)...

· Focus – 59%, thinking, reflecting, analysing, writing, problem-solving, quantitative analysis, creating, imagining, reviewing, assessing.

· Socialise – 6%, talking, laughing, networking, trust-building, recognition, celebrating, interacting, mentoring, enhancing relationships

· Collaborate – 22%, sharing knowledge and information, discussing, listening, co-creating, showing, brainstorming.

· Learn – 4%, training, concept exploration and development, problem-solving, memorising, discovery, teaching, reflecting, integrating, applying knowledge.

This appreciation of the diversity of both the workforce and the workplace is central to the notion of Dynamic Work. Too often when I speak to people about Dynamic Work they try to pigeon hole it from one specific mode (office work) to another (home working, mobile working). Actually, Dynamic Work encompasses all of the modes of working aligning the mode with the person with the task to be done.