Everyone works with!

The trend has been going in one direction for years: A. ll should participate in the company and so far companies have always managed to do better. Driven primarily by digital technologies. When people talked about the “interactive web” in Web 2.0, apps and the Internet of Things made it much more interactive. Now there are numerous other possibilities through, among others, CloudServices. The goal of Futurework is now to adapt the workplace and work to this “hands-on culture”.

Work wherever you want (futurework)

Most of the articles on Twitter on futurework deal with the new workplace design. The articles speak of a result culture instead of a present tense culture. Under the topic: Activity based working, an “ultimate workplace” is defined, which is suitable for any type of work and in which there is a culture of trust and permanent networking. The illustration shows the idea behind the hashtag futurework and activity based working.

Futurework – a collection of office concepts?

Overall, the investigation of the hashtag shows a strong focus on room and office concepts to promote agility in the company. Sure, there is also talk of a cultural change and this is also dealt with in great detail, but mainly office concepts are evaluated. The following sentence sums up the topic very well: “The office is changing into a place of communication and networking. For this purpose, situation-oriented rooms are required that promote creative exchange or project work as well as offer retreats for concentrated and confidential work and optimally support routine activities. ” (Source Detecon ).

Is that agile?

Companies want agile employees. These should deliver high quality work, be creative, flexible and deliverable. I think the thesis that this is an important property in today’s knowledge society, I do not need to go into further. But are these new concepts really a factor in structural change in companies?
I have found many articles about concepts but have not yet found any direct case studies as to whether such a concept has really improved the work. Sure, these concepts in themselves promise really great work, but does every employee really want to work like this? To answer this question, I will conduct a case study with a company that has implemented such a concept and evaluate exactly whether and how this open space has changed the way we work.
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AGILE WORKPLACE

“Home office, free choice of work place and the like – is that just the way it is?” Many employers ask themselves. What if my employees ask to work from anywhere and how is home office actually regulated?
There is a passage in the book that the employer is always authorized to issue instructions with regard to the place of work. Of course, there are exceptions here too, but this also applies specifically to the home office. Legally, a home office is a permanently set up computer workstation in the private area of the employee that is equipped by the employer. However, this represents the case that an employee is forced to work from home in the case of teleworking or for other reasons. In practice, however, it is the other way around, says Redmann. Most of the time, employees want a home office. In any case, a passage about this should be specified in the employment contract.
The situation becomes far more complex as soon as the employee can and should / want to work from anywhere. As a rule, the employment contract stipulates a place from which the employee normally has to work. On the one hand, this protects the employee from an improper work environment and, on the other hand, occupational safety laws prescribe the work environment. Therefore, a special clause in the employment contract is necessary for mobile working. The assumption of costs for the home office and mobile work devices should also be clarified. The works council can and should also be involved, according to Redmann, when it comes to protecting the protective rights of employees, e.g. health protection, occupational safety and data protection. In certain cases, mobile work can even be rated as a transfer, which means that the works council must give its consent. Data protection should also be clarified when working on the move. Detailed information and checklists can be found in Britta Redmann’s book.

AGILE WORK SPACE

New office concepts and open spaces are often the result of the design of New Work or Work 4.0. According to most of my practice partners, the office should be just as agile as work, and you can see that it works! But what should you watch out for? There is also information on this activity-based work (example: relaxation areas, team areas, …) in Britta Redmann’s book.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act always applies across the board and, in the case of established rules such as B for rest areas, the works council and employees are also entitled to co-determination. Of course, environmental protection always applies. Changes to office space require the involvement of the works council and if the change in the environment also has concrete effects and changes to the activity, the works council may even have to agree. He also has a right of co-determination, insofar as rules of conduct are drawn up, for example in open-plan offices.
It is important that the works council is involved in any change in the workplace, says Redmann. In particular, an agile workspace can also change the activities of the employee and the works council might even have to agree to this.

AGILE WORKING HOURS

Agile working hours go hand in hand with the flexibilization of the workplace. “Work when you want,” says the New Work demands and is therefore an important aspect of the digitization of work. This topic is also included in the book.
According to the current state of knowledge, flexitime, trust work and the like definitely require an individual agreement between employees and the company. Especially with the variants flexitime and trust-based working hours, there are already numerous legal options for structuring working hours flexibly, says Redmann.
What many of my practice partners from medium-sized companies are striving for is a completely open 24/7 working time under the premise “The main thing is that the results are right”. Here Redmann points out that the Occupational Safety and Health Act must be observed and that there is also a labor law duty of care towards the employee. Many collective agreements also contain a ban on Sundays and public holidays, as well as break times and night shift regulations. The company must definitely ensure the protection of the employee against overload. Nevertheless, there is already the possibility of making individual agreements in, for example, employment contracts that are compliant with the Occupational Safety and Health Act and still enable mutual needs for flexibility. There are also numerous existing company models for flexitime and trust-based working hours.

AGILE ACTIVITIES

From corporations to startups – agile working dissolves rigid positions and employees can, in extreme cases, even take on new roles in the company on a daily basis. It is also evident in my roundtables that this leads to high speed and flexibility in the company. But here, too, the question from my practice partner arises: Can I just do it like that?
Redmann points out in her book that the right wording in an employment contract can facilitate and support the flexibility of roles. Existing employment contracts can be reformulated with the employees and new employees can get relevant passages directly into the contracts.
In such a passage, an operational framework must be determined that is compatible with an existing collective agreement. Forms of temporary employment have also changed significantly in recent years and numerous new forms of work can be found in companies. In addition, Redmann points out that in the case of temporary workers and freelancers, it is essential to avoid pseudo self-employment.

AGILE WORK METHODS

Scrum, Kanban, XP: There is a wide range of agile methods. These should become state-of-the-art especially in IT and are also being tested by my practice partners in non-IT departments. So there are approaches of agile HR , distribution , production or marketing in the companies of my practice partners. But what does the German law say? Can I just introduce Scrum?
First and foremost, Redmann shows that agile working methods can be introduced by the employer. Here, however, it is just as important to convince the employee of the introduction and not simply order it “by order mufti”. If necessary, the works council’s rights of co-determination can be affected, e.g. if the agile methods change work areas and processes so much that a legal change in the company can be assumed.
When agility is introduced, not only the work steps change, but also the organizations and the collaboration. Here, especially in collaboration systems, the employee’s personal rights must be respected. He himself can decide which private information he wants to put on it. A special instruction on the networked exchange of information can also violate the employee’s rights. Clear framework conditions tend to support a collective exchange and help to avoid misunderstandings. Here, too, the credo of conviction applies to win employees over to a networked exchange instead of motivating them to do so through work instructions.

AGILE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Annual appraisals, performance appraisals and feedback discussions shaped the digitization of work. But what about when retros, dailies and reviews replace them and networking generates real-time feedback? Can I just abolish the annual appraisal because the employee automatically receives feedback every 2 weeks through Scrum?
Performance management in an agile context is different because the focus here is on the team and collaboration. This has an effect on the “concept of performance”, according to Redmann, so that companies should grapple with what, for them, everything includes performance in the context of agility. The employee’s personality must be protected, especially when it comes to feedback and performance measurement. In particular, bullying and discrimination against employees must be ruled out. Here it makes sense to establish clear rules as to how and for what purpose feedback is used.
One possibility is to communicate clear requirements for culture and performance to the employees and to set up clear rules that clarify the use of feedback. Especially when it comes to team decisions such as B. The works council must be involved in the bonus structure.

CONCLUSION on the digitization of work

Work 4.0, agility and the digitization of work are not an easy undertaking. Even the implementation in the company through renovation and the necessary change management makes managers sweat.
The article shows that in addition to the points mentioned, there are numerous legal questions that must be considered. It is clear that these laws are primarily there to protect the employee and not to prevent Work 4.0.
In this article I was only able to cover part of the content of the book for a very short time. My goal was to give an overview of all dimensions of agility in the workplace and an initial orientation of what needs to be considered in each area. If you want to know more about the individual points, I recommend reading the book or contacting Britta Redmann directly.
For me, I have learned that in addition to the numerous framework laws, a lot can also be covered by an individual agreement with employees. So it is worthwhile to convince them of the concepts of work 4.0 and agility, because as Britta Redmann says: “Agile law follows agile culture.”
Reading tip: Book by Britta Redmann
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Work 4.0 – act in today

According to the study, work 4.0 should be established in companies today. The study sees 6 important pillars as drivers for the implementation of this so-called megatrend.
A Culture of innovation should encourage employees to get involved – open spaces should encourage creativity. There is also talk of intrapreneurship. In the block Future work one speaks of time and place sovereignty as well as a culture of results instead of presence. The guide should strengthen networks and dialogue skills – Labor policy is characterized by digital breaks. The organization of the company is characterized by flat hierarchies and communities – the Skills are creativity, entrepreneurship and ICT skills.
Tip: For more information on this, read my articles that I have under the hashtags Digital work and Future work have gathered.

Work 4.0 – act in tomorrow

Even if you could guess it, Work 4.0 is not just about the technological component. The most important thing is how people integrate into the world of work 4.0 – which skills are required for this. However, the technology in the new world of work is of course the decisive driver of the entire change (source: Cebit). Because without digitization, “Work 4.0” would not even exist. So: What are the prerequisites for the new digital world of work? What should the new thinking look like in this context? What changes will digitization result for the individual employee? And what new rules are we talking about?
The study also provided some answers to these questions. I would like to address some of the points here. The first thing that caught my eye was “child prodigies and nerds as top decision-makers” and “superiors as feel-good managers”. An approach that supports the distribution of responsibility and “serving leadership”. The creation of digital breaks is also becoming very important, as many studies in particular predict high burnout rates. “Commissioning” instead of hiring will also become more relevant, as external experts will gain in importance again – the “ Consulting 4.0 “Is thus confirmed.
It will also be exciting to see how companies want to train employees to become “hobby recruiters and entrepreneurs”. I am also curious about the importance of the framework Holocracy, Sociocracy and Democracy will take. Overall, there is a change in our working world that seems irreversible if companies want to survive (FAZ). One thing is certain: it will complex in management and companies will be challenged to carefully plan this new work. The increasing number of management frameworks alone shows that researchers see a lot of need in this area and that organizational development has become a top topic again at conferences. It remains exciting to see how this trend will work and how German companies will interpret it for themselves.
Reading tip: For more information, please read my article Leading digital in connection with the work of the future .

Machines will be colleagues – 25 theses on work 4.0

Networked work – people in harmony with robots and machines. What does this mean for the work of tomorrow? The real revolution ultimately takes place in the offices: Artificial intelligence and machine learning determine the new work, as many office jobs still manually copy data from left to right. The problem of “Boredom at work “will then probably be cleared from the world. In the further course of the study, 25 theses were compiled, which I would like to list here individually. In summary, it is clear:” Digitization does not come as a mild breeze, but as a storm. “I got the theses from of the St. Gallen Shareground Study .

THE DISCLOSURE OF THE ORGANIZATION

1. LIQUID INSTEAD OF RIGID
The new world of work is shaped by networks. Standardized back-end processes are in between
Company shared without this being visible to customers or employees. This creates
Workplaces without a clear organizational affiliation and products, without a clear sender.
2. PEER-TO-PEER INSTEAD OF HIERARCHY
Highly specialized professionals communicate in special interest communities around the world. Loyalty is no longer guided by organizational affiliation, but only by professional expertise. The loosened bonds also lead to the end of the ability to organize. Trade unions are already feeling this today: Commitment to general issues only takes place selectively.
3. ORDER INSTEAD OF HIRING
Companies rely less and less on the dem for the provision of specific services
Firmly connected workforce back. Global transparency of skills and availability
highly qualified specialists lead to “hiring on demand”. The employment relationship is changing
for work.
4. SAP INSTEAD OF MCKINSEY
Organizations are no longer structured along organizational charts; instead, complex IT systems provide standardized processes and forms of organization. It is cheaper to adapt the organization to the software than to individualize the software. Software standardization makes organizational forms more homogeneous.
5. OPEN INSTEAD OF CLOSED
Accelerated demands for transparency and the need for co-creation with customers (open innovation) lead to the opening and delimitation of previously closed company structures. Transitions between inside and outside become fluid, mastery knowledge such as patents lose their value. The ability to scale quickly and openly becomes the silver bullet. The “crowd” becomes part of the added value.
6. PROSUMENTS INSTEAD OF PROFESSIONAL PRODUCERS
Instead of employees, companies always rely on customers who, in addition to consumption, also provide many (digitizable) services for the company – often voluntarily and free of charge out of sheer enthusiasm for the product. With prosumerism they are blurred
Boundaries between producers and consumers. Voluntary digital work replaces professional employment.

WORK IN DIGITAL NETWORK ECONOMY

7. FROM EXECUTION TO MONITORING
The role of people in the production process is transformed from the provider of the work into
the supervisor of the machines. Routine processes and also physically demanding activities become
handled by them independently. Humans only control and intervene in an emergency.
8. MACHINERY AS COLLEAGUES, COOPERATION PARTNERS, CONTROLLERS
New forms of interaction between man and machine are emerging. Various types of game will coexist in the future. From people who control machines to machines as colleagues of people, to the merging of machine and person or even the complete takeover of the machines.
9. CLOUD AND CROWDWORKING AS TRANSITIONAL PHENOMENA
Digital services are broken down into smaller and smaller parts and delegated to “virtual laborers”. Big data analyzes can be used to precisely assign value contributions to individual employees. Cloud / Clickworkers provide their services in piecework. It is foreseeable that many of these activities will soon be fully digitized.
10. THE DATA READERS
With Big data Sufficient data is available for all areas of life. The ability to combine and interpret these in a meaningful way is a key qualification in digital work and cannot be substituted. Working with big data differs from traditional data analysis, however, because hypotheses are no longer required (“end of theory”).
11. WORK WITHOUT LIMITS
Highly qualified specialists perform work around the world as part of project work. Qualifications are global, transparent and comparable. The physical location of the service provider no longer plays a role. For the first time, work has the same mobility as capital.
12. PROFESSIONAL AND PRIVATE INDUSTRY
The traditional places and times of work are disappearing. For employees, this results in individual design potential, for example to better combine family and work, but also to new burdens (“always on”).
13. NON-LINEAR THINKING AS A HUMAN DOMAIN
The automation of work is finite, since creative activities remain that cannot be foreseen to be replaced by machines. These can mainly be found in very specific niches. Entrepreneurial skills, creativity and mastery of machines are considered difficult to substitute.
14. STRENGTHENING PERSONAL SERVICES
In high-wage countries, jobs with direct human interaction are upgraded. These jobs grow on a percentage basis. Standardizable and anonymous processes, on the other hand, especially in the field of ICT, are becoming the subject of offshoring and further efficiency pressure.
15. SELF-MANAGEMENT AS A CORE QUALIFICATION
Due to the flexible and needs-based awarding of orders to labor entrepreneurs, traditional work relationships and processes dissolve. The working time is made up of micro-working hours of various tasks, which the employee can adjust according to need and ability
put together.
16. CREATIVE AND PRODUCTION WORK GROWING TOGETHER
More and more often the providers of creative or intellectual performance are required, also materially
to implement. 3D printers and other tools are favoring this trend.
17. WE WONDERFUL CHILDREN
The increasing importance of IT opens the way for the “nerds” to the top floors of the company. What the musical child prodigies were in the past are now the precocious app tinkerers and data experts. This generation will make a significant contribution to the disruptive change in corporate cultures. From now on it is not formal qualifications, but exclusively technical skills that determine employability.
18. DIGITAL INCLUSION
Distance work, the anonymity of crowd and clickworking working relationships and the flexibilization of working hours also integrate social groups into the labor market that are not available for the classic normal employment relationship. This applies – as can be observed in Berlin, for example – for startups, but also for clickworkers in emerging countries.

CHALLENGES FOR LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION

19. CHALLENGE LATTE MACCHIATO WORKPLACE
The place of work of people in flexible employment relationships is spreading to the public space
out. Physical offices are temporary anchor points for human interaction, especially the
Serving networks. People work everywhere – just not at their own desk.
20. BREAD AND GAMES
Employees long for distraction and rewards, especially with standardized activities. Gamification and intuitive usability of IT interfaces are becoming more and more important and the work environment is approaching a virtual playing field. Employers are required to integrate playful design principles into standardized IT applications.
21. JOB-HOPPING AND CHERRY-PICKING AS A CHALLENGE FOR HR
The bond between employee and employer is loosening. Instead, flexible forms of work and cooperation mean that employees always have one foot in the labor market. This makes systematic personnel development more difficult. At the same time, expectations and increase
Employees’ demands for directly usable qualifications.
22. LEADING AT DISTANCE
The farewell to the spatially located work goes with a change from presence to
Result culture goes hand in hand. Managers have to learn that they are motivating more than controlling
become. The trick is to create personal ties through impersonal technical channels
build and maintain.
23. EXPLORE NEXT TO EXPLOIT
An increasing pace of innovation forces the constant replacement of promising new positions
Business areas and the transformation of existing business models (explore). Simultaneously
the core business, which is still profitable today, must be pursued as efficiently as possible
(exploit). Management becomes “two-handed” and acts equally in the present and in the future.
24. MATCHING WITH A CLICK OF THE MOUSE
Digital workers are quantified in the form of individual data packages – skills, experience, capacities. This makes it easier to assign orders precisely. However, disruptive factors in the data profile can also prevent matching. Personnel selection will be less intuitive, but also less oriented towards cultural adaptation.
25. GOOD DATA, BAD DATA
Sensors shape the “office of digital work”. Properties of the environment, the processes, the work results and the workers are continuously recorded in order to provide both the employer and the employee with information about the quality and improvement potential of the work. Practical benefits must be weighed against ethical considerations.
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Leading digital

Leading digital means market leadership through digital transformation of the company and / or the business model. The article deals with why companies are striving for this and how this change manifests itself exactly and which steps are necessary to implement it.

The trigger of the digital transformation

The digital transformation is called  the rapid growth of technology launches in German companies. Through global markets and a high level of competition, companies strive for differentiation (leading digital). Since 1970 the dynamics of the markets have increased sharply due to globalization and even large corporations like Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW are now threatened by IT giants like Apple and Google. It seems to be a race to digitize the automobile. In other industries, the conditions don’t seem to be any different. For this purpose, Niels Pfläging published the following illustration in his book, which shows the increase in complexity after 1970. For more information on the complexity of digital transformations, read my article on Complexity in management .

From settlers back to pioneers – leading digital

According to Brandes et al. “back to the risk”! The example of automobile manufacturers shows that it is no longer enough to just improve the established, but that new markets such as electric mobility must be opened up with the digital transformation. So from settlers to pioneers or to the “departure” to innovation.
So settlers rely on predictability, i.e. infrastructure such as rails and strict guidelines. So you have already founded a city and are trying to improve it permanently. Here lies the difference to the pioneer, who, on the other hand, creates new markets or cities and “makes something work”. According to Brandes et al. not overnight, but you have to approach it step by step. According to the authors, this is chaotic and aims to develop something new in order to survive. An example can be cited here when a city is threatened by a long ice age and the residents will all freeze to death sooner or later. For the pioneers, the idea of “get out of here and survive” counts while the settlers try to withstand the Ice Age as long as possible and to optimize the city accordingly.
But how can this be implemented in the digital transformation and how can companies create such a departure and fulfill the vision: “leading digital”? The digital work should provide information on this. Take a look at Brandes’ book  or read mine Article on Management Y .

Digital work

It felt like the great lightness of being. The workplace, no longer in an anonymous office tower. The working hours, no longer controlled by a clock, but designed by yourself. The notebook as an office, the network as a bridge to the world. The work as great freedom ( Friedrich Ebert Stiftung ). This is how the aforementioned foundation defines the project of digital work. This type of work could be an answer to digital transformation and leading digital.

People and digital work

As early as 2010, Appelo examined modern knowledge workers with its Framework Management 3.0 and found that these are a bizarre combination of management frameworks and are actually specified from front to back as a kind of “Frankenstein” monster about theories. Take a look at the book Appelo!
Back in 2016, authors called for “companies to be revitalized” (Pfläging) and provided various approaches such as Management Y, sociocracy or holacracy . All approaches are agile and evolutionary in their own way. However, one thing is certain for the authors: “Frankenstein’s Monster” does not seem to be able to cope with the digital transformation. Instead, they call for a new form of work and employees. Sattelberger et al. define them as “designers” in “agile networks” and realize that many organizations have many employees in the implementation role and are therefore increasingly overloaded. So this does not seem to be a sufficient answer to digital work and the vision of “leading digital” will hardly be fulfilled with it. Take a look at Sattelberger’s book!

Employees as “designers” and digital work

At current HR conferences, the topic of agile or digital HR is increasingly being dealt with as the main focus of German companies. Together we consider how to find and retain such employees. The former  however, should not be addressed in this article and can be found in an extra Article on agile HR can be read.
The figure below clearly shows that such employees demand and need a lot. According to many companies, you are asking too much. Certainly this statement can be correct in many cases. However, the figure by Brandes et al. Shows that some requirements also seem to make sense. in the Course of the roundtables It has been shown that companies make every effort to take on such demands and thereby become one “Agile” and “evolutionary” companies to walk. According to the first statements of the managers who work with me in the course of the research project, they even appear to be more successful and sustainable. More on this can be found in mine Article on digital leadership.

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Change in society

Our society is changing from an industrial to a knowledge society. Correspondingly, corporate structures and work spaces are also changing: service, information and creative workers are moving into the center of global economic activity, and while the work-life balance is being evoked, the boundaries between professional and private life are blurring. As creative workers, we are becoming increasingly self-employed, even if we are permanently employed (source Zukunftsinstitut). Take a look at mine Article on work 4.0 .

Idea from Newwork

“Work in a fixed place, at a fixed time, in fixed structures,” is how Petry describes the classic world. According to Petry, the newwork is: “Work where you want, when you want and with whom you want.” Practices such as temporary work, flextime, trust, mobile work, co-working, cloud work and much more are used here. So there is a shift between fixed time, place and structure to flexible place, time and structure.

Benefits of the NewWork

New Work , The working world of the future – everyone is talking about this topic: How will the digitalization change the office and industrial landscape? So the blog gives: Career bible a first look at the new world of work. The new work defines itself as

• Independence,
• Freedom and
• Participation in the community.

So change seems to be in full swing. You can read the news from home office and mobile work everywhere. After the introduction of the personal computer, highly flexible technologies such as the cloud enable such mobile and flexible working. “Mobile, flexible and decentralized” is the headline of the blog. However, offices should not be completely abolished but differently: freely movable tables, open spaces and virtual reality instead of Skype. Overall, this new work is characterized as:

• No more commuting
• Work phases and leisure phases could take turns and
• what would speak against it to work in the morning, to spend the afternoon with the child and if in doubt, log in again in the evening? Or at the weekend?

Criticism of the NewWork

There is criticism, among other things, from the WiWo : “Feelgood managers, work-life balance and invitations to the boss to grill tofu. The new world of work is being sold to us more beautifully than it is. Because not much has changed in the past 30 years. “. She criticizes the fact that flat hierarchies lead to far more power struggles. The business magazine writes: “ When processes go wrong and mistakes are made, the responsibility is often not that far off “.
According to the magazine, the topic of mobile work also has its downsides. “It’s difficult to train new colleagues when everyone is everywhere, just not in the office. And it’s also difficult to create a working atmosphere when everyone is everywhere, just not in the office.“Employees need contact points and carers to whom they can turn, even if the boss cannot be reached.

Conclusion: NewWork Yes, but without change

Many employees love their fixed structures, they know exactly what to escalate to where (in order to hand over responsibility) and know the relevant work instructions by heart ( Bernd Slaghuis ). Many companies and people are critical of change. New work costs habit. For many of today’s employees – and also for many managers who have been firmly in the saddle over the past few years. Slaghois continues to judge: New work primarily costs security: knowing what will be on your desk tomorrow. The challenge will be to get the different generations with their very different values and demands on their own life and work under one roof.
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Statements about the world of work 4.0, which are likely

The role of people in the production process is transformed from the provider of work to the supervisor of the machines. Routine processes and also physically demanding activities are handled independently by them. Humans only control and intervene in an emergency.

I think this thesis is especially correct for IT. Many scripts and Excel macros make up a large part of our work to this day. Even mine Portal Projektify all possible activities are also automated. Here we follow the thesis of the decentralized autonomous company. So a company without people. The current focus is on automating all daily tasks. We are now also talking about chatbots and intelligent helpers. So I think that this thesis is already very true.

With Big data there are sufficient data for data for all areas of life. The ability to combine and interpret these in a meaningful way is a key qualification in digital work and cannot be substituted. Working with big data differs from traditional data analysis, however, because hypotheses are no longer required (“end of theory”).

We have currently collected a lot of data, but we are usually not able to evaluate all of them or we evaluate them and then ask ourselves: Well and what do we learn from it now? Even at the beginning of my doctoral thesis, I have 14 interviews for the Study agility in management carried out and when I have evaluated the data, I ask myself: “What does that tell me now?” A high level of key skills is therefore required in order to evaluate a large amount of unstructured data.

The departure from spatially located work goes hand in hand with a change from the presence culture to the result culture. Managers need to learn that they will motivate more than control. The trick is to build and maintain personal ties even through impersonal technical channels.

Home office, flexible desks, mobile work and even distributed teams as well as complete home office workplaces demand a new type of leadership from managers. Control is less possible and must be replaced by trust. How do I guide an employee via email and Skype? How do I manage the balancing act between controllability and control? I cannot currently find a common management method that gives an answer to these questions. In agile leadership in particular, the elements are missing, which is why we are now talking about digital leadership. I think this thesis is absolutely correct. Read more about this in digital leadership article.
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Top 3 statements about the world of work 4.0 that are not likely

Companies are relying less and less on the company’s workforce to provide specific services. Global transparency of skills and the availability of highly qualified specialists lead to “hiring on demand”. The employment relationship turns into a labor commitment.

When I addressed the topic in the roundtable, it was immediately viewed with skepticism and I, too, cannot imagine that we will only consist of external parties. Above all, the trend is currently more towards in-sourcing than out-souring. An agile corporate culture can often only happen on the basis of permanent employees. This was also confirmed to me by my participants in the round table. External people simply do not have a close bond with the company, which will soon be gone anyway.

The increasing importance of IT opens the way for the “nerds” to the top floors of the company. What the musical child prodigies were in the past are now the precocious app tinkerers and data experts. This generation will make a significant contribution to the disruptive change in corporate cultures. From now on it is not formal qualifications, but exclusively technical skills that determine employability.

Leadership is still a supreme discipline. The quality of the work often depends on the boss and every second dismissal should even be because of a boss. I would therefore argue that empathy and agile values are becoming more important for a leadership role every day. Read more about this in Article on leadership in digital change .

The place of work of people in flexible working relationships is spreading to the public space. Physical offices are temporary anchor points for human interaction that primarily serve the networks. People work everywhere – just not at their own desk.

Clear. Everything is becoming mobile, flexible and automatic, but when I did the first surveys, it turns out that everyone actually likes to go to their workplace. I also asked Generation Z for this and came to similar results. The round table also showed that people are creatures of habit and that they want a permanent job. For example, despite a free choice of seats, everyone was sitting in the same place in the team again. So there is currently hardly any argument why the classic office should die out and nobody goes there anymore. To me, the office as an anchor point for interactions sounds more like this: We just go to the office to chat and to evaluate the Bayern game from yesterday. Read more about this in Article on the Roundtable on Work 4.0.
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Conclusion: There is a lot of speculation!

The world of work 4.0 is coming and we are eagerly awaiting the innovations. The workplace is digitizing and everything is somehow becoming agile and mobile. We can currently only speculate what these changes will entail. In my Article on digitization in the workplace I have already pointed out opportunities and risks. Some things like more flexible work and more automation are clearly emerging and are understandable as theses. But on the other hand, for theses like: “Man will command a drone army at some point”, I currently do not find any valid arguments. Sentences like: “Everything will be totally flexible and everyone will get involved in the company” will, I think, hardly come across. Not every worker seeks total self-fulfillment at work. So there will continue to be wage work and even a motivated employee has a bad day or has looked a little too deep into the glass the evening before and just wants some peace and quiet. That is why we can currently only speculate what will actually be implemented in the world of work 4.0 and what will not. For example, I would not want the reception of a hotel to be digitized. I am happy to be welcomed by an employee there and also to be greeted with a handshake by my trainer laughing at the gym. We just have to understand more precisely: What do we expect from the world of work 4.0?
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Work-life balance

Home office and mobile work stand for free time management, a lack of commuting, greater personal responsibility and the compatibility of work and family. Demotivating the need to control and distrust. Anyone who sits in the home office can work more independently or at least feels that way says that Magazine CIO . The magazine also says: Many employees who work long days complain that they “get nothing else”. I mean shopping, washing clothes, repairing the bike. All of this has to take place on the weekend because between Monday and Friday the person concerned only drives to work, works, drives home, eats, sleeps, gets up … etc. This shows a significantly higher work-life balance through mobile work.

Automation of activities

“Digital automation does not stop at IT administration either. However, IT administrators not only see the danger, but also the opportunity for more efficient work processes and are driving automation forward themselves.” says she Computer week . Let’s be honest: how often do we do annoying and monotonous tasks at work that can be automated? In the context of digitization, there is the opportunity to set up some of the most common and monotonous office tasks such as setting up databases, updating databases, creating Excel reports or finally automating mail processing. This in particular would increasingly relieve busy employees. Below is a diagram showing the top office activities that could easily be automated.

Location flexibility of distributed teams

Especially for medium-sized companies in rural regions or employees who are based in rural regions and do not necessarily want to move, a home office could soon be found or they could become part of a distributed team.
Above all, a single employee also has access to potentially more exciting projects within Germany without having to move. A distributed team is also good for the further development of the individual. There are no geographical restrictions, so an employee has access to significantly more knowledge resources. If an expert for a certain topic is only available in another country, he can still become part of a team. This also saves travel costs.

Innovation and creativity from distributed teams

Another advantage of the digital world of work is the increased effectiveness and productivity through technology. Networking and supporting employees can help focus on the essentials. Thanks to the distributed teams, the work can even be spread across different continents and time zones. You could even work on a project 24 hours a day.
Working in virtual teams is also more complex and varied for the employees and rarely causes boredom. There is also the chance to work with the best. A virtual team should be put together according to professional criteria.

Conclusion on the digital world of work

Digitization offers numerous opportunities for automation, innovation and a better work-life balance as well as more fun at work. In particular, work-life balance, monotony and fun at work are serious issues that companies currently deal with. This potential should certainly not be left unused.
In this text I have deliberately only dealt with the opportunities and not the risks of the digital world of work. Read my about this Article on the dangers of the digital world of work. Here I explain what an # office factory is. Here is an excerpt: Everything is standardized: name tags, the incoming and outgoing mail concept, uniform labels for folders, tidy drawers and the use of roll containers. Monotony in the service of efficiency. What do you think? How is your workplace developing?
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Digitization of the world of work – the #office factory

In addition to many opportunities, the digitization of the world of work also harbors risks. In the following, I would like to present a few examples that show that the office can become a small factory with the highest level of efficiency.

The Lean Office …

Already the IG metal says: The new wave is taking hold of the office world. Lean office is the magic word that should make work more effective. Because the concept entails not only opportunities but also many risks, it is important that works councils are critical. In this way, the concepts from production are also introduced into knowledge work. The following quote illustrates the potential consequences:

“With us, the entire administration is affected. The HR departments, purchasing, accounting. There are no work steps, the work becomes more detailed, you lose track of the big picture. This also has an impact on pay. The simpler the job, the less you get paid. For example, our certificates are now written centrally. The HR department used to do this on site. Now there are people who do nothing but write testimonials all day. Before that, managers enter some information online about what the employee was like. And then text modules are cobbled together. They don’t even know the people. ” – A clerk at Siemens in the BrandOne .

Also the IG metal finds some cases with problems here: Everything is standardized: name tags, the incoming and outgoing post concept, uniform labels for folders, tidy drawers and the use of roll containers. There is a list of what belongs to the basic and additional equipment of a desk, personal items are only allowed to a small extent.

When transparency escalates …

Transparency can also escalate: caution is advised when executives can invite retrospectives and monitor everything through digital technologies. Otherwise, any over-optimization could even be negative for the company.

“We now meet every morning at a whiteboard and have to report whether someone has had an accident at work – whether someone has stuck their thumb in a drawer, cut their finger on paper or fallen over their office chair. It’s like in the production hall. And we have a more stringent form, where near-accidents are reported. So things that could have led to an accident at work. And that in the office. I mean, what should happen here? ”- A clerk in the administration at Pentair in the Brand one

If Scrum doesn’t serve agility …

Scrum is an agile method, which is based on the agile manifesto and can bring greater added value to the customer and increase the work satisfaction of the workforce. At least that’s the theory. However, if Scrum is used incorrectly, it can also lead to frustration, demotivation and the exercise of strong control.

“Five years ago we programmers were relatively independent. Today our work is broken down into small features that can be completed relatively quickly. There are these meetings where you have to put yourself together in the morning and say what you did the day before. It’s like the circle of chairs in kindergarten, only for adults. That was also an expression of confidence that I was given a complex task and left me alone for the time being. Now this control network is being laid over us. And you do these little tasks in a day or two, and then there’s the next one. And so on and on and on. ” A programmer at SAP in the BrandOne

Administrative areas: “Working on the digital assembly line” ……

In the study of the Hans Böckler Foundation administrative areas are specifically examined and it is said: “In the administrative areas, the fundamental upheaval is primarily expressed in standardization and process orientation”. The following quote from the study also shows the situation well:

“We only work with numbers here.” Digital workflows and processes determine the workflow, often specify the individual work steps in minute detail and structure the division of labor and cooperation with colleagues along the value chain. The digitized work item “flows” from work step to work step like on a “digital assembly line” (excerpt from the study )

So there is talk of a digital assembly line, which is easy to work through and the employees are increasingly frustrated. This is certainly not a goal of digital change. At the end of the study, the study summarizes: The upheaval outlined here in mental work in the digital transformation is combined with far-reaching social consequences – that of an increasingly “burnt-out world of work”.

Consulting and temporary work in the focus of digitization

Especially in my article too Consulting 4.0 I lost my first words about a change in the consulting business. For example, consultants and temporary workers are usually not yet subject to the regulations and can be treated “differently”, so to speak. I too often hear sentences from consultants like: “We are billed according to user stories”, “I can write down 15 minutes per ticket” or “If that were possible, the programmers would bill us according to the keys we pressed. Believe they are even working on it “. In such cases, the complete transparency of digital change can particularly affect external employees. However, this is mainly due to the often high cost pressure in IT services.

Conclusion: digitization must not be an end in itself

In the end it sums it up Brand one well together: In fact, what is currently happening in German offices is not entirely new. In the 1920s, offices were redesigned after the model of the Taylorist factories. The tasks were broken down into small steps. There were employees who only opened letters all day, only typed, only archived or who acted as couriers only to bring documents from one desk to another. Standardization made it easy to measure and compare employee performance: all you had to do was check how many letters someone wrote, how many documents they archived, or how many errands they had behind them.
Also the study of Hans Böckler Foundation warns: To put it bluntly, the development is at a crossroads: On the one hand, there are concepts in which mental work should also be organized “like on an assembly line”; on the other hand, there are models that primarily focus on empowering teams and improving collective learning and innovation processes.
In this article, I purposely talked about the negative aspects of digitizing the world of work. You should therefore also read my article on the Opportunities in the digital world of work . Because it’s not all all bad or all good. What do you think about the topic? Tell me in the little poll:
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The more flexible the boss, the better the employees

This is the title of an article in of the world , which says: Managers are more successful, the more flexibly they react in day-to-day operations. Sometimes it is important to praise employees, sometimes to blame them. Sometimes active support is right, sometimes the manager has to consciously withdraw.
The magazine also says: In day-to-day operations, leadership is often reduced to giving instructions and giving feedback. The targeted development of employees falls by the wayside. And with that begins a vicious cycle. Because if managers do not encourage their employees again and again, they cannot transfer more and more complex tasks to them over time.

Situational leadership = digital or agile leadership?

This situational or agile leadership has 4 styles, between which the superior has to “jump” permanently.  So it depends on the level of maturity of the employee. There are 4 levels for this (source: the world ):

• Level 1: When confronted with a new task, the employee is neither able nor willing to solve it (for example because he or she lacks the necessary skills).
• Level 2: The employee is ready to take on the new challenge, but he lacks the necessary skills.
• Level 3: Although the employee has the necessary skills for the new task, he lacks the necessary motivation – for example because he is still insecure.
• Level 4: The employee has (for example, because he has already overcome similar challenges more often) the necessary skills to solve the task independently and is also ready to do so.

A manager should therefore choose a different management method depending on the employee’s level of maturity. That means gradually deviating from Command & Control and more likely to convince the employee. If you look in Wikipedia, the 4 styles are described as follows:

• Management style 1: If the employees have a low level of maturity, a high level of task orientation with a low level of relationship orientation is recommended. In other words: the supervisor should instruct (“telling”).
• Management style 2: If the employee has developed further (low to moderate maturity), it is advisable for the supervisor to use a strong employee-related and task-related management style at the same time. It is important to convince the employees (“selling”).
• Management style 3: With moderate to high maturity of his employees, the supervisor should lead strongly employee-related and at the same time less task-related and involve them in the goal setting or in decisions (“participating”).
• Management style 4: Very “mature” employees do not need special attention from their superiors, nor do you need to give them detailed guidelines regarding their tasks and behavior. In this case one should delegate responsibility (“delegating”).

Is that digital or agile leadership?

After this model has been explained in detail, the question arises again and again: Is it agile and does it make us fit for the future in digital transformation? The first one can certainly be answered with yes, since a framework has now also been created for the manager. There are 4 styles a leader can move in. Whether it makes us fit for the future cannot be said for sure, but it shows that employees also become more flexible through flexible leadership. So it can go on  definitely not be counterproductive.
In the course of the next few months I will publish a few follow-up articles with concrete examples of how such a tour can take shape. I also explain Leadership 4.0 and the term digital leadership. Also take a look every now and then in the category “ Digital leadership “whether there are new articles.
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Overview of the terms

First I would like to give an overview of the many terms. I define work 4.0 as an umbrella term for the influence of digitization on work. In my opinion, other terms describe certain aspects of this new digital work. The table is from the source (Lindner 2019).

WHAT IS WORK 4.0

As a term, “Work 4.0” deals with the future of work in the digital age. The background is above all the problems (but also opportunities) that are causing progressive mechanization in the labor market and the general structures of companies. in the 3. Round table discussed what the term means in the context of the participants. The following characteristics of Work 4.0 were adopted by consensus:

• Work 4.0 has to be agile!
• Agility needs freedom!
• Good work is voluntary!
• The term “leadership” has to give way to “guiding”!
• Work will be more dynamic and short-cycle in the future!
• Work 4.0 is supported digitally!

In the context of Work 4.0, the focus is no longer on technical expertise, as it was many years ago, but on people. Sentences such as technology as a helper to humans and humans as “monitors” of technology underline this thesis. Overall, they have Participant in my roundtable Three approaches to work 4.0 were presented, which could shape Work 4.0.

THE DIGITAL WORKPLACE

According to many magazines, one enabler of Work 4.0 is fast and progressive digitization. The workplace is increasingly being supported by tools and other technologies and is therefore “somehow digital”. These changes result in new possibilities such as mobile or remote work as well as a high degree of networking of employees. In one Roundtable said one participant In addition: You can now work up to 3 days a week from your home office without losing touch with the team.
But it seems that this development is still in its infancy. In the Study by WiWo on digitization in the workplace shows: “ Digitization is more advanced at home than at work in the office – this is shown by a study among German office workers. “ So the full potential of the digital workplace does not seem to be available yet. Read more about this below Articles on the digital workplace .

NewWork – definition of work 4.0?

The New Work concept was developed by the Austro-American social philosopher Frithjof Bergmann, based on his investigation of the concept of freedom. Of the NewworkBlog says the following: The classic “nine-to-five job” in the office will soon be a thing of the past. The ties to fixed workplaces as well as standardized times and organizational structures continue to dissolve. Instead, work is becoming multimobile: Home office, remote work and trust work are the models of the future that blur the boundaries between work and leisure.

Overall, Petry’s graphic shows the vision of Newwork. So it means: work when, where and with whoever you want. One thing is clear: the “where” dimension indicates mobile work and “when” indicates an easing of core times. Currently, however, the dimension “with whom you want” is still in open dialogue and can be interpreted, among other things, through the idea of the hashtag Futurework. Have a look at mine too Article on NewWork for a detailed explanation of the idea.
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Futurework – work 4.0

Overall, the investigation of the hashtag shows a strong focus on room and office concepts to promote agility in the company. Sure, there is also talk of a cultural change and this is also dealt with in great detail, but office concepts are predominantly evaluated. The following sentence sums up the topic very well: “The office is changing into a place of communication and networking. For this purpose, situation-oriented rooms are required that promote creative exchange or project work as well as offer retreats for concentrated and confidential work and optimally support routine activities. ”(Source Detecon). In the illustration you will find an arrangement of the idea with different office spaces. These should make it possible to work in different teams in different places. Have a look at mine too Article on the topic of futurework .

Agile methods and work 4.0

Many magazines and experts call for increased agility in companies and increased work with agile methods. Although numerous agile methods currently exist, Scrum has largely established itself as best practice. In combination with the new flexible work in the course of NewWork and new work environments (Futurework), a new form of work with agile methods could increase productivity. The principles and values of agility were laid down in the agile manifesto in 2001, which is the basis for all agile methods. In contrast to classic methods, agile means an orientation towards added value, ie achieving the “best” result at a fixed point in time with the available budget.
Now the following is not intended to explain the methodology behind Scrum, but rather the challenge of working with an agile method such as B. Scrum, because Gloger et al. (2016, p. 2) already stated: “The knowledge of methods is not the biggest hurdle when converting to the agile model, but the internal corporate culture and the change in internal processes.” Working with agile methods requires, above all, a high level of self-organization on the part of employees. Many employees are used to long-term, plan-oriented and homogeneous work. However, the new form of work requires a continuous speed orientation and heterogeneity. In line with these new flexibility requirements, which go hand in hand with agile methods, it is therefore important to protect employees from inappropriate and excessive stress by means of appropriate agreements and to ensure a work-life balance.

Conclusion: what is work 4.0 – definition

So in this text the question: What is Work 4.0 dealt with? It turns out that the term is the background for a collection of concepts. Work in the context of this work 4.0 is technological, more agile, faster and more short-cycle. The enabler for Work 4.0 is the digital transformation of the workplace, which, however, is often only just beginning. Work 4.0 can be designed with the vision of NewWork (work when, where and with whom you want) as well as with new office concepts.

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