The future of sustainable work — Using digital to developing resilience

I read a piece recently written by Toby Prestridge — the Creative Director of Createful, where he pondered over a way of using tech more inefficiently to support a potential reduction in anxiety in the workplace. He took two pretty constant aspects of modern life — stress and digital — and looked at how refining the use of one could positively impact the other.

It was a different way of thinking and one that has inspired me look into the future of work in an ever changing (and uncertain) global environment — where historical values of capitalism and working conditions are being challenged daily.

This was also highlighted in a great post by Lindsay Leigh — Client Manager at Creatful — where she looked at practical examples of workplace sustainability.

As two of the three core markets of Createful’s business focus are Sustainability and Education — I’ve set myself the target over the next month or so of looking at how digital can support new ways of working and societal and personal wellbeing for organisations and individuals within those sectors.

This piece looks at a core area of physical and mental wellbeing — the area of emotional resilience — and how digital may support a way of work that helps individuals create their own levels of resilience to an ever changing working environment.

Now, this is not only important for individuals it is increasingly important for organisations of all types. How, in a world where individuals are beginning to become more aware of their own physical and mental well-being, where they have an increased sense of their own value and skill-set — can organisations ensure that they position themselves as ‘places to be’, for whom people want to work?

This is where digital can be an enabler in making that connection between empowered, resilient individuals and forward thinking, people focused organisations.

Let’s look at the area of remote and ever more increasingly nomadic working. I personally, spend a considerable amount of my time away from client offices — simply because I don’t need to be there and they don’t need me there. I can work from anywhere — creating articles, supporting and working on strategies and helping develop proposals. Sure, I need to make sure I am in the office regularly to work closely with clients but being able to balance both remote and local work is important to me as an individual and for my own emotional and mental well-being — it provides balance.

Obviously, technology supports that hugely — I have constant access to the web, email and video conferencing. And as ever, tech is actually the easy part. The challenge is the mindset and joint (between the organisation and the individual) emotional resilience.

For a considerable amount of time (maybe 18 months or so), despite working relatively remotely at times, I found myself ‘always-on’ — feeling as if I always needed to justify being seen to be ‘on-line’. The emotional impact on me was exactly the same as if I was in the office!

But, through building trust based relationships with clients and individuals (like Createful) who understood the role that flexibility of time and location can have on their staff, partners and their business I’ve been able to spend less time in front of a screen (specifically less time constantly checking for emails) — which is more productive and (I hope) more beneficial to all.

By focusing on specific deliverables and objectives with clients and then being allowed the time and flexible space to deliver, read, research and engage back with the team (who may also be flexible) — in my experience — ensures that objectives reached quicker and more successfully, with a fully engaged and emotionally confident team of individuals.

You notice the word engaged.

Engaged people are trusted people.

Engaged people deliver.

Engaged people are able to work in a way that supports them.

Engaged people respect the people they work for and with.

Engaged people create successful organisations.

Engaged is different to ‘always on’. Engaged is a result of having built emotional resilience supported by digital technology.

And it’s a two way street — right? Organisations build up their own emotional resilience by feeling the need not to hassle staff every five minutes, they understand that they don’t need to know exactly what everyone is doing every minute of the day (ok they’ll some exceptions in the blue light area — but you get my point).

Why? Because they trust their staff and they use digital to connect in a respectful and engaging way.

Now I know that some roles require office based work and certain projects (likely in my sad experience those that are badly scoped) require teams sitting next to each other — but this is changing — I mean what is an office really? Starbucks? WeWork? Your kitchen?

So, I don’t check my email every five minutes, I don’t spend all day on Slack, if I need to contact a client I drop them a line or give them a call, if a client needs to contact me — they do the same. We don’t ignore each other because we trust each other, we are mutually engaged in each other’s wellbeing and we’re building emotional resilience — which means when we need to be — we can be equally blunt and supportive of each other.

Its grown-up, its respectful, its resilient and it uses technology to support a growing appreciation and awareness of modern ways of working and individual and organisational wellbeing.

In the next piece I’ll be looking at how the changing digital environment is altering the skillset and capabilities that we all need to have in the workplace and how to quote Bruce Lee — we may all need to ‘Be like water’ a little more.