SHAKING UP THE WORKPLACE – You are the leader that everybody needs
Raise your hand if you are in the club of 2020 roller coaster riders! Who isn’t, right?
My not so favourite words of the year are “unprecedented” and “new normal”. My tolerance for seeing another email with those words are getting lower each week. However, it also reminds me of how resilient human species are.
This piece of article is not about yet another, remote work hacks. By this time we gathered enough under our sleeves of those hacks.
Rewinding back to a rather calm 2019 early spring, we agreed, collectively with my team, to do “something” about where we are going. In our business, we focus on teams of the workplaces. We heard enough about the complaints, busy schedules not to fit in a meaningful conversation, how all the work became digital, increasing job losses, unsolved team problems with the underlying facts of adaptation to the organizational changes aka impact of the high pace of technology and supply-demand shifts in the world. You know what? ALL ARE CONNECTED.
ONE PERSON VERSUS THE WHOLE ORGANIZATION
The reality is we don’t know whether we are excited about the Future of Work or fearing with all the changes what might happen to us. The I in the equation feels lonely. Because we don’t know enough about the Future of Work. The more we read the more we feel we need to equip ourselves, embrace for impact. Even more so we don’t feel that we have the power to influence the Future of Work of our organization. One person versus the whole organization? Who am I?
On the organization’s side, they are taking different approaches to the high pace technology changes, realizing that they need to upskill their employees but not so much realizing what is in it for their employees. Or how important to communicate the take for the employee. As a result, employees are becoming the ones on the receiving end of the MULTIPLE changes.
For us as a startup on a mission to change workplaces, one team, at a time, we are aware we need a revolution in how workplaces are managed. Shake them up so that the PEOPLE are not on the affected seat but in the driver seat. The question is how do we do that?
WHAT IS THE FORMULA TO BRING CHANGE
The formula is simple. Bring the bright, most passionate people within a startup, academia, or a rooted organization and changemakers in NGOs and governments together. Create an ecosystem where they can share the best case studies and create a force to influence locally. Because “WE” in a local community (e.g. Switzerland or Canton Zurich) can have a quicker and sustainable positive impact overall than just “I” in a huge organization.
Being based in Zurich, we researched associations or even meetups to be part of an existing solution. Well, we didn’t find one. We CREATED one. SHAKE UP THE WORKPLACE! A Future of Work Unconference, to kickstart an ecosystem with an extraordinary platform to promote equal discussion.
SHAKING UP THE WORKPLACE!
What topics would we cover? It is decided together with the participants. You can have a look here at what “future dialogs” we would hold and what kind of breakout sessions were emphasized by the future attendees. Networked organizations and leading with vulnerability are only two to name.
Just the search for the right location took us 3 months. As you might know by now, the event will take place in the famous Kunsthaus Zurich. 80% of the day will be spent on the breakout sessions. People will be able to interactively decide their most pressing goals for FOW. In the art galleries, we believe we can bring the best out of people being in their most creative state surrounded by historical and contemporary art.
While the original date for the event was March 9th, we patiently decided to postpone it to another date a week left for the event. We are more excited than ever that our new date is approaching, October 19. We are taking all the precautions to ensure a safe environment to feel the energy of one another face to face.
YOU ARE INVITED TO DARE
COVID has shaken up the workplaces in an unimaginable way already! Looking from pink glasses, we appreciate this fact, because we see a lot of positive changes. For example, research done by IE Business School, Center for Corporate Learning and Innovation shows that 18% of the companies’ joined their study said their #1 priority is the wellbeing of the employee.
To put it bluntly, more people are worried about what the future holds for them at the moment. Therefore I invite you all to be the leaders the world needs and join the conversation at the UNCONFERENCE live, or join our virtual sessions which take place once a month with influential thought provokers for Future of Work.
Please get in touch with us if you have a collaboration idea or a contact who might like to support the initiative.
To leave you with more thinking check out the latest survey results done with Shake up the Workplace! community regarding how their workplace priority topics changed after COVID.
