Working Style Research

Redesigning work styles in the age of hybrid work

The impact of work style reforms and the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how people work faster than ever imagined, and remote work, where people work from home or other places outside the office, has become more prevalent. At the same time that it has become clear that remote work improves individual productivity and well-being, the advantages unique to face-to-face work have been reaffirmed, and the hybrid work style, combining offline and online to work at the most suitable places for different purposes, is drawing attention.

In this method, we will research individual working environments where working styles are diversified and not shared daily. Through a dialogue starting with objects, we can uncover the true desires sought in how we work and look for clues to redesign new ways of working.

Keywords
Team Building, Well-being, Work Style

Why Choose CoMADO

  • Share their working environment with each other and understand their needs for working styles
  • Gain insights into new ways of working and the services that support them
  • Increase understanding and empathy with presenters by learning about their working environment, which they cannot usually see

Suitable for

  • Those who are considering future ways of working
  • Those who want to support the way their employees work as an organization
  • Those who wish to strengthen the relationship between team members
  • Those who provide products and services that support the way people work

Program

In this program, several presenters will take turns showing their working environment (desktop, tools, bookshelf, room, etc.) on CoMADO and talk about related working episodes. Other participants will ask questions while pointing to things they are interested in. Using objects as a starting point, the presenter’s values about the way of working, issues they are facing, and practical innovations they are implementing will be revealed, and by repeating questions, the desires behind them will be explored. Finally, all the participants will discover clues for new ways of working from the research results.

Typical Duration
About 120 minutes (Assuming 2 to 3 reports)
Typical # of Participants
3 to 6 people
Equipment
CoMADO room, Miro board, Internet, Stabilizer (for reporters), Smartphones, PC

Workflow

  • 01

    10 min.

    Greetings and icebreaker

    • Communicate the purpose of the workshop
    • All participants share their current feelings
  • 02

    60 min.

    Working style reports and questions

    • Several reporters take turns talking about their daily working style, showing their working environment on CoMADO
    • Other participants ask questions while pointing to things that caught their attention
    • At the same time, while conducting the reports, all participants note down facts and findings on color-coded labels
  • 03

    40 min.

    Reflecting on research results

    • Look back at the research notes on Miro, and group the findings to answer the question: “what do you want in the way of working?”
    • Finally, give each group a title
  • 04

    10 min.

    Share Impressions and next steps

    • All participants share their impressions of the day
    • Communicate next steps

Author

Kahoru Tsukui

津久井 かほる

She is a service designer conducting design research and co-creation workshops for projects in various fields to create new values that enrich not only customers and employees but also society. She is currently studying behavioral design methods to enhance well-being.

Agency: ACTANT, Inc.

Comment

I found it interesting that even people I had never met before could get a sense of their personality just by sharing their working environment through this method. In addition to research on working styles, it may also be a good idea to quickly conduct only “02. working style reports and questions“ in this method to kick off a team or to enhance the relationship between the members. Another advantage of CoMADO is that anyone can become a presenter. Give it a try!

Tips & Tricks

Presenters should briefly simulate the sequence of broadcast before going live. You can present chronologically starting with the morning hours, or by area.

“03. Reflecting on research results” can be replaced with a simple work session of sharing impressions, or an idea generation can be added at the end. Please arrange the process to suit the purpose of your event.


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Need a facilitator?

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