Smart Working
Being at your best
Smart Working is a set of practices that add greater flexibility to ways of working. Flexible location, schedule, hours worked and shared responsibility are some of the markers of Smart Working. United-notions' "I-We-Work" model helps you reflect and improve engagement and efficiency, by looking at 3 elements -I, We and Work- that need to be satisfied in a Smart Working environment.
Let's have a closer look at each element.
I
"I" is all about your individual needs
It starts with reflecting on your well-being in a Smart Working environment, including your working conditions at home, and how you are affected by the physical and psychological distance with colleagues.
People need people in different ways and to different degrees. How much do you need people at work? And why do you need them?
Is it about inclusion (sense of belonging, teamwork, contribution, networking)?
Is it about care ("I need people to care about me at work")?
Is it about control ("I need structure, rules, direction")?
In a Smart Working environment, no one can guess what your needs are, you need to speak up about them.
Think about your resilience, adaptability, and your confidence in self-organization and self-management.
Now think about how much care and focus you give to the "I" element; once done, go to the "We" element.
We
"We" is about your relationships and range of influence, how you stay in touch and feel connected with others
It starts with reflecting on the relationships you care about: your team, your line manager, your peers, your stakeholders...
Think inter-dependencies, think network (strong ties with few, weak ties with many).
Who are the people you need to maintain a high level of trust with, to achieve mutual gain, operationally, strategically, and personally?
Shared responsibility is at the core of the Smart Working model, it starts by clarifying the intensity, and depth, of the working relationship with your line manager.
Staying in touch, feeling connected is about using the power of informality.
How much do you create and use informal spaces of communication, whether virtual or physical? How frequent are the opportunities to get together, without an agenda to follow?
Fit the technology to the communication need: assess the tools you have, how and when you use them, and for which purpose. Can it be improved?
Now think about how much care and focus you give to the "We" element; once done go to the "Work" element.
Work
"Work" is about execution and performance
It starts by assessing the clarity of what is expected, your objectives, and the clarity of your role, who does what.
Are you enabled? Do you have what you need, to do your job without close supervision?
A key "Work" facet is the ability to manage your own performance: are there goals, sub-goals, and relevant measures that help you remain focused and track how you are doing, without being micro-managed?
Without timely and accurate information, you are working in a fog of uncertainty; how do you filter out junk and highlight what's relevant? Who or which channel can help you?
Now think about how much care and focus you give to the "Work" element just listed.
As a final exercise, draw 3 circles, one for each element I, We, and Work, with the size of each circle proportional to how much care and focus you give to each element.
Is it balanced? How could it be more balanced?
Is there any part you should care and focus on more?