Working smarter
When approaching the challenge of promoting health and wellbeing, designing better work is not normally the first option organisations consider. We definitely can lose ourselves in a lot of speaking about wellbeing and by having an offer of individual wellbeing benefits, in most cases severely underused.
Looking at the way work is designed in an organisation demands a divergent and reflective exercise from management (and from all) with a clear lens on specific work characteristics that could and should be changed.
First of all it means questioning the status quo. Nothing in an organisation ‘just happens’ and work and the way it is defined in each team, in each job role, shouldn’t be set in stone but reviewed and updated regularly.
We shouldn’t assume that work can’t be questioned and blindly ignore any feedback we receive from people that are actually doing the work.
Results are achieved consistently when work is well designed. And even very talented people will have mediocre results if the work they are asked to complete is poorly designed and lack the proper support day in and day out.
Changing tasks, processes, tools seems demanding if done individually. We now know that this process should be done collaboratively, with a clear overview of different characteristics of work.
Also, in the current context of accelerated change redesigning work has become an imperative. If an organisation would like to address the root causes of exhaustion, workload and unsustainable demands this is the closest shortcut for achieving positive impact on people and on business.
But, where to start? First understand that there is a validated process to review the work design in an organisation and particularly there is a smart way to do it that builds resources in people and enables them to actively engage in job crafting their smart work.
So in this edition of our review we will invite you to learn about smart work design on our blog post. We also suggest a great book by Prof. Sharon Parker and Prof. Toby D. Wall, and to watch an inspiring great intro video by Prof. Sharon Parker to “The Theory of Work Design”.
Creating conditions for smart work design in organisations is part of many projects we implement with our clients in order to enable healthier workplaces. Building health@work starts with ensuring work itself is engaging and well designed, empowering people and organisational results.
Do take part in this conversation by leaving a comment on our blog or replying to hello@bound.health
Liliana Dias (she/her) Managing Partner @ Bound.Health
