New Work seems to be the future. But this inevitably raises the question of how leadership can function in a dissolving hierarchy system and what must happen so that employees are motivated to work on new projects? A New Work leadership style is needed, that’s for sure!

Basically, the New Work is about dissolving old familiar boundaries and meeting each other on an equal footing among colleagues. This is an important criterion for a functioning community, and yet it brings with it a number of problems. After all, if no one really leads and directs anymore, this can inevitably lead to chaos, or at least to strong dissatisfaction and unfinished tasks. So the solution cannot and must not be to completely dissolve old hierarchies, but to loosen them up and rethink the type of leadership style. So how does a New Work leadership style work?

More attention must be paid to individual skills

The question for everyone involved is: Who am I, what do I have to do, and where can I get help and guidance? First of all, it is a matter of sounding out the abilities and skills that lie within each individual. In terms of content, this relates in particular to work processes that create meaning, promote creativity and at the same time are loyal to the company. In order to create a kind of collaboration between the individual and the tasks of the company, it is important to define the new role of leadership. Employees definitely need and want guidance, but not strict and ruthless “from the top down.” Instead, they want a kind of coach who assists them with questions but otherwise exercises restraint. It’s a balancing act and one that can only succeed with a lot of practice and enjoyment. Commitment is required on all sides.

New Work Leadership Style means being interested and supportive

In terms of content, the supervisor in New Work is seen as a “facilitator” who supports all of the employees’ work processes and focuses on the right priorities. He or she should inspire, awaken creativity and motivate. At the same time, he or she must act as a “provider” who provides tools, methods and time to ensure that all projects are completed on time. It is important that the teams learn to organize themselves, completely detached from long-established fixed forms of work. Only in this way can creativity develop, only in this way can joy in the creative process be awakened. This automatically sets in motion the last important characteristic of the leader: the “communicator”. This person offers the desired support and assists when there is a need. Otherwise, he remains on the sidelines and limits himself to occasional checks on the progress of the work.

What skills are in demand in the New Work?

As soon as the topic of the many advantages of New Work comes up, it almost automatically turns to the core competencies of employees. And these are very diverse:

• Change competence (means the ability to face new challenges individually again and again, thus not supporting fixed structures, but giving space to individual solutions and methods).
• Media competence (modern media help not only to present content better, but also to work on it together in the group. Those who do not have the time or the desire to work directly on site together with their colleagues can easily add their content to existing documents at any time thanks to modern programs. In this way, work remains flexible and still always on time).
• Methods competence (This is about defining New Work in terms of content and providing employees with different working methods and tools in order to be able to complete projects efficiently)
• Communication competence (Communication is the key to success. However, this is where a lot of mistakes can creep in. It must always be about motivating, praising and approaching problems in a positive way. This is the only way to keep employees “on task”)
• Creativity competence (Many different fields of work can make it necessary to show creativity in order to find new solutions and ways to work on tasks together. All the better if value is placed on this)
• Emotional intelligence (This is about the keyword community life. Those who work together with others should have a high level of Emotional Intelligence in order to assert themselves on an interpersonal level and ensure a good working atmosphere)

Thus, the New Work leads to a New Mind(set). It is about developing new places, new ways, new methods and one’s own competencies. In this way, the leadership personality, which used to be regarded as very stiff, is given a completely new key role. It is a matter of learning this role and accepting it for oneself as best one can. Inevitably, a new New Work leadership style is needed!

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