We\u2019ve been talking about the future of work for a long time now with very little innovation\u2026until now.\u00a0 The Coronavirus pandemic has unleashed its natural force on us humans and now it\u2019s our time to act swiftly.\u00a0 It is a massive disruption that requires compassionate and creative thinking.\u00a0 It is an opportunity to review and reconsider how and where we work.\u00a0 Rather than snap back we have been given a reset button.\u00a0 The genie has been released from the bottle.<\/p>\n
Can work be the same?\u00a0 Do we want it to be the same \u2013 as it ever was?\u00a0 This is a once in lifetime opportunity to re-imagine the world of work.\u00a0 I wonder how you are re-imagining and seriously reviewing how you, your team and your organisation will navigate the possibility of new ways of working.<\/p>\n
An article \u2018The Future has Begun\u2019 from the Melbourne Business School suggests \u201cas organisations emerge from COVID-19, it\u2019s important for leaders to reflect on what has worked and what hasn\u2019t during the lockdown\u201d.\u00a0 It is a time for recalibration.\u00a0 How can you design your business for a new future and economy?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s hear it for flexible working \u2013 there is so much to be gained.\u00a0 It can be a win-win situation.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to be all or nothing.\u00a0 Being more considered as to how you can re-structure your working environment has loads of benefits.\u00a0 Who wants the daily commute and sitting in an office when a lot of work can be done elsewhere?\u00a0 If you are going to be in an office, then make it count and make it memorable.\u00a0 Use that time together for social interaction or working on a project that requires dedicated face to face time. General business activity can often be done elsewhere.\u00a0 We can have the best of both worlds.<\/p>\n
Scott Farquhar Co-Founder of Atlassian advocates getting rid of the nine-to-five workday\u2026as he says\u2026that made sense during the industrial production line era. Technology won\u2019t replace human interaction it just gives us more options.<\/p>\n
Andrew Barnes is many things including a philanthropist, entrepreneur and CEO Co-founder of Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand.\u00a0 He also is a passionate advocate for a four-day week which is now embedded in Perpetual Guardian\u2019s business model.\u00a0 Andrew\u2019s epiphany arrived while reading an article in the Economist that showed studies of office workers in the UK and Canada were productive for 1.5 to 2.5 hours of a typical eight hour day.<\/p>\n
He was gobsmacked and from there the journey began to look at how he could set the wheels in motion to create a fundamental change in the way people work at Perpetual Guardian based on productivity.\u00a0 Andrew\u2019s book The 4 Day Week <\/em>is worth reading and you can listen to Jurgen Strauss\u2019s Innovabiz podcast.\u00a0 Jurgen interviewed me at the beginning of 2020 and asked who I would like him to interview and I suggested Andrew.<\/p>\n Be enlightened by Andrew\u2019s thinking:<\/p>\n Andrew Barnes, The 4 Day Week – InnovaBuzz 294<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n