New Ways of Working

New ways of working examines the nature of the work done in an organisation and seeks to optimise the working practices and the whole context in which the work takes place. It is more about promoting the best ways of doing things than simply cost driven change. Although it emphasises the importance of business and organisation, it spans the concerns of people, property, technology, community and environment.

Holistic schemes give benefits in all areas:

* Business (goals, cost, service)
* Organisation (clarity, simplicity)
* People (flexibility, personal life, attitude, productivity)
* Property (fit for purpose, huge savings)
* Technology (clearly linked to work)
* Community (people in the community, local economy, family)
* Environment (energy, travel, planning, paper)

Once the changes have been introduced, surveys show that people are very positive about the work environment: 'Apart from a major disaster, nothing would drag me back full-time into the office'.

Schemes do tend to take on one or other aspect of new ways of working initially; and can be expanded into the holistic view over time.

Keywords: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / General BUS000000