Publication Is a Joint Project of Microsoft, YIT & Miltton / REMOTE

Publication is a joint project of Microsoft, YIT & Miltton

/ REMOTE WORK / SPACE / DIGITALIZATION / WELLBEING / TIME / HUMANITY / CREATIVITY YEAR ZERO FOREWORD 7 LESSONS ON FUTURE OF WORK

The preparedness of organizations to start working remotely during the covid-spring varied greatly. Some had already adopted remote work at their offices as an established practice, others had close to zero experience from running work remotely. The crisis in spring 2020 equalized the different starting levels: organizations that were stuck to working at their premises in traditional ways needed to quickly transition to remote working. But what happens after the crisis is over? It seems likely that differences between organizations’ work cultures will start to polarize again. For some, the possibility to develop remote work presents a strategic opportunity to increase productivity and wellbeing. Many major global organizations have declared significant changes in their company and leadership cultures that are meant to be permanent. Others view telework as a passing phenomenon and call for a quick return to the office. Year 2020 will go down in history books as the year when work of white-collar workers changed for good. The turbulence we are currently going through will have profound impacts on every organization employing knowledge workers. Work itself is observed on more levels than ever before: mental and physical health, business continuance, combining working remotely and onsite, smooth adaptation of digital tools, remote collaboration, workspaces at home, safety at office premises, and so on. This publication is a product of collaboration between Microsoft, YIT and Miltton. As leading experts of our own fields, we wanted to create shared understanding of the change that is happening in working life and ask how that change looks to experts who are following it closely. The publication is based on 20 expert interviews and many articles, blogs and other releases written about the subject. Interviewees come from wide-ranging backgrounds, representing different parts of society from business world to academic research. Finally, we created this publication to help you in orienting to the future and making better choices for your organization and employees. We identified seven forces of change that will transform our way of thinking about work. We strongly believe that the ones who come out of this crisis as winners are the ones who put people first, adopt ways of working that increase their wellbeing, and make this their strategic competitive edge.

Enjoy the read! YEAR ZERO CONTENTS 7 LESSONS ON FUTURE OF WORK

Remote work Time Remote work is Goodbye to nine-to-five 1 here to stay 5 thinking Space Humanity Demand for advanced Humanity will increase 2 office spaces will increase 6 the productivity of knowledge-workers Digitalization 5-year leap forward Creativity 3 in one spring New ideas need human 7 interaction to thrive Wellbeing Future leaders 4 lead emotions 1. Remote work is here to stay. Remote work Regardless, people need each other. Think about what the optimal combination of remote and in-office work would look like in your team. 2. Create common guidelines for remote work. 3. Remote work is a challenge for leadership. Be present, set clear goals and trust people. YEAR ZERO

REMOTE WORK REMOTE WORK IS HERE TO STAY SPACE DIGITALIZATION WELLBEING TIME HUMANITY CREATIVITY

None of us saw it coming. One On March 17, 2020, a state of emer- annual working conditions barometer winter morning, we all woke gency was declared in Finland, and it published by the Ministry of Economic up to a situation where around just happened. There were no lengthy Affairs and Employment, 23 percent of one million Finnish employees negotiations between labor market Finnish salary earners telework regular- would suddenly have to start organizations, as is usual in Finland. ly while 14 percent telework occasion- working from home and There were no discussions about rules ally. In March 2020, one million salary continue to do so for months. and arrangements between employ- earners and tens of thousands of entre- ers and union representatives. No preneurs started working from home. questions were asked of individual Nearly 60 percent of all employees in employees. What had been subject to Finland started working remotely due to intense bargaining for years suddenly pandemic, according to Eurofound, the became irrelevant and pointless. European Foundation for the Improve- Admittedly, remote work has been ment of Living and Working Conditions. done for decades, and it’s a common The number is the highest in EU. practice in hundreds of Finnish orga- At first, it was chaotic. Many organiza- nizations. Nonetheless, the change tions lacked experience in using virtual 5 was drastic in March. According to the tools, not all employees had personal YEAR ZERO computers, people disappeared behind ployees will work from home than ever creased. According to the company, it REMOTE WORK their computer screens all across the before in the history of working outside is a step towards the “new normal”. As SPACE country, workdays became an endless the home. for German Siemens, they decided it DIGITALIZATION stream of virtual meetings, it was diffi- It took a pandemic to change the sta- is okay for their 145 000 employees to WELLBEING cult to prioritize between tasks, and all tus quo of work. permanently work 2 to 3 days a week TIME this took a toll on concentration, pro- “After this experience, it’s terribly dif- “wherever they want”. Simultaneous- HUMANITY ductivity and psychological wellbeing. ficult to justify why you can’t work from ly the company aligned that instead of CREATIVITY However, things soon began to run home or why you’re only allowed to monitoring hours spent at the office, smoothly. People adopted different do so on Wednesdays. Employers will their leadership culture will strength- technologies, learned the etiquette have to think more carefully about what en their focus on results. Twitter stated for online meetings, and noticed that makes people come to the workplace,” their employees can continue working they can work just as efficiently as be- says brain scientist Minna Huotilainen remotely for as long as they want, and fore. Organizations that had been set from University of Helsinki. so on. against remote work for decades had Above all, remote work got an image While the pandemic taught us the to admit that the arguments against boost. pros of remote work, it also showed us telework suddenly sounded ridiculous. “The pandemic busted some myths the cons. One of the most significant It became obvious that the opposition regarding telework. In a post-COVID losses is the lack of human interaction, to remote work was rooted in culture, world, more and more people will con- which is a basic need. Speech is only not technology. sider remote work an equally valuable a fraction of interaction. To understand “This was the moment that finally way of working and engaging with each other better, we need facial ex- proved to leaders that they could trust others,” says Harri Mikkanen, Product pressions, gestures, body language people after all,” says author and in- Marketing Manager at Microsoft. and eye contact. All these are disrupt- ventor Perttu Pölönen. Many global corporation giants did ed in the world of remote work and vir- Almost six months have passed since change their approach to remote work tual meetings. the beginning of the most widespread overnight. Information technology The pandemic has planted new ter- spell of remote work in the post-indus- company Fujitsu announced that their minology into our language: we use trial era and returning to the old ways of 80 000 employees in Japan will main- concepts such as “remote work apa- working seems unlikely. Remote work ly work remotely in the future and that thy” and “Zoom fatigue”. According to 6 is here to stay. In the future, more em- flexibility in working hours will be in- social and behavioral scientists, they YEAR ZERO ”The work community to them, there are several pitfalls in vid- ty to receive and process information. REMOTE WORK is vital in regard to eo meeting services when it comes to Second, the lack of nonverbal commu- SPACE interaction: there is no body language, nication, and third, the “share screen” DIGITALIZATION one’s happiness. Very faces move around the screen, the chat feature that blocks other participants’ WELLBEING few of us can come function allows for side notes and de- faces so that the presenter can’t see TIME up with something lays in transmission interfere with tak- their expressions. HUMANITY interesting alone. ” ing turns. In video meetings, the partic- These and many other reasons still CREATIVITY ipants must continuously estimate how unexplored lead to the experience – Jari Hakanen, the Finnish much and when they can talk. Their shared by many that creativity and de- Institute of Occupational Health comments often go without reaction veloping new things feel difficult while from others. All this is very stressful to working remotely. the human brain. “The work community is vital in re- Microsoft’s latest Work Trend Index gard to one’s happiness. Very few of from July, 2020 also indicates that vir- us can come up with something inter- tual meeting fatigue is real. Human Fac- esting alone. Creativity and new ideas tor Labs studies interaction between have always been results of collabo- humans and technology, and in one of ration and exchange of thoughts be- their study they monitored the brain- tween people, and I don’t think any waves and electrocardiograms during technology can replace them,” says video meetings for one month. Results Research Professor Jari Hakanen from are results of a massive adoption of reveal that people feel collaboration the Finnish Institute of Occupational new technology, which interferes with is significantly harder remotely than Health. normal, instinctive and fine-tuned in- in face-to-face situations. Stress lev- All interviewees for this report believe teraction – which we have relied on els are also higher in video meetings that the future of work will encompass for thousands of years in order to stay and people feel more burdened com- not only remote work but a more natu- alive. pared to writing an email, for example. ral combination of working at the office Wall Street Journal interviewed sev- There are three main reasons for this. and from home. eral interaction researchers in their arti- First, continuous and long-term screen Charles Héaulmé, President and 7 cle published in June, 2020. According watching decreases brain’s capabili- CEO of Huhtamäki, thinks one to two YEAR ZERO days of remote work per week will be REMOTE WORK the new normal for white collar work- SPACE ers. Joonas Tamminen, Studio General DIGITALIZATION Manager at multiplatform game devel- WELLBEING opment studio Ubisoft RedLynx, esti- TIME mates that up to 40 percent of all work HUMANITY will be done remotely at RedLynx. CREATIVITY “Nearly all technical issues have been solved, and we’re now planning on our ways of working,” Tamminen says. Productivity is under strict scrutiny at Ubisoft RedLynx. According to Tam- minen, the productivity levels dropped significantly during the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, but the number quickly rose back to the pre- covid time. “Once we really get going with the holistic development of remote work and office work, we will exceed one hundred percent in productivity compared to the pre-pandemic levels. But to make remote work run smoothly, the whole organization must appreciate it. Trust must be undisputed,” Tamminen says.

8 Photo: Microsoft 1. Value people’s time and presence. Space Build spaces that are inviting. 2. Square meters at the office need to answer higher demands in the future. 3. Each space must have a function. A company’s premises reflect its culture and ways of working. YEAR ZERO

REMOTE WORK PEOPLE WILL EXPECT MORE SPACE DIGITALIZATION WELLBEING FROM OFFICE SPACES TIME HUMANITY CREATIVITY

Is this the end of open-plan If strict rules for hygiene are here to a major shift has been simmering for a offices? Are cubicles and stay and remote work increases sig- long time. private offices making a nificantly compared to the years be- According to Klemetti, now is a good comeback? What will happen fore the coronavirus, will huge office time to think of how working spaces to conference rooms? What buildings become redundant? The ex- should be developed in the long run. about hip co-working spaces, perts we interviewed for this publica- Remodeling an office should always break rooms and lounges? tion are almost unanimous in thinking start with an examination of the com- that private offices and personal desks pany’s culture and ways of working. are history, despite of corona. How- “When a company starts to plan an ever, a big change may lie ahead for office remodeling, it should challenge the use and number of office spaces, its own processes and rethink both meeting rooms and open-plan offices. good and bad practices. What kind of Tuula Klemetti, Director and Vice work is done in the premises? What is President in charge of Business prem- the path that employees in different ises leasing services at YIT, says that roles take every day, and what do they although a debate on open-plan offic- need to make it a smoother experi- 10 es was initiated by the spring’s events, ence?” YEAR ZERO New ways of working mean new “In the long run, we will need 20-50 different zones of the city. This allows REMOTE WORK challenges for leadership. As work percent less space in our head office,” employees more flexibility in choosing SPACE becomes more mobile, shared goals he says. where they work from and with whom, DIGITALIZATION should be defined clearly enough so Another perspective is the health according to what fits their current WELLBEING that a community dispersed across re- and safety aspects of space design work situation best,” says Juha Kosti- TIME mote offices, home offices and the -of that have been highlighted during the ainen, Director of Urban development HUMANITY fice can work together efficiently. pandemic. Even when the number of segment at YIT. CREATIVITY The trend for the need of office employees working at the office is The spaces that remain in use will go square feet has been downward for lower than before, they will need more through a metamorphosis. They must a long time, but the coronavirus pan- space around them. Especially open support the goals of the work and in- demic may speed up the fall. space solutions need rethinking. spire people to spend time in them. “I can already tell our headquar- “Desks and people can’t be packed Therefore, working spaces should be ters is too large,” says Jaakko Eskola, in as tightly as we have done so far. approached from a quality point of President and CEO of Wärtsilä. It was When part of the people gets used to view instead of the quantity of desks. only in 2018 that the technology group working at the peaceful home envi- What is the function of the space? moved to new premises in the Salm- ronment, the requirements for working How does the space contribute to the isaari district of Helsinki. The premises spaces at the office increase,” says organization’s goals? What is the ob- support working together, agile ways Esa Neuvonen, EVP, Partnership prop- jective of working together? of working and self-direction. erties segment at YIT. “A meeting room with a table and “If even a third of our employees “Need for office spaces will contin- eight chairs is a dead idea. The space work remotely in the future, we won’t ue to decrease slowly in the long run, must support creativity; it should be need this much space. I believe we’ll but the quality requirements for offic- an inspiring experience. It needs to see an expansion in a partner model es change drastically. Instead of the have facilitation tools, light and a good where our business partners and other quantity of desks, working spaces will feel to it. Time has become a precious players working in close collaboration be approached from a point of view resource, and when people give each with us move to our campus.” that supports creativity and inspir- other their time and spend it in a con- Charles Héaulmé, CEO and Pres- ing atmosphere for the employees. It ference room, it’s almost like a cele- ident of Huhtamäki, shares Eskola’s might be that instead of one large of- bration,” says Eija Hakakari, Director 11 view. fice there are multiple different ones in of Human Resources at Yle, the Finnish YEAR ZERO ”The human brain Photo: YIT REMOTE WORK needs transitions from SPACE DIGITALIZATION one place to another to WELLBEING avoid work becoming a TIME blur with no beginning HUMANITY CREATIVITY and no end. ” – Timo Ritakallio, OP

Broadcasting Company. What’s more, virtual meeting platforms present a challenge to office architecture and interior design. In the future, open-plan offices need to feature the kind of spaces they rarely have now. “Current open-plan offices have received a lot of critique because they are not perceived safe. In the future, these offices might be re- placed by dozens of working cubicles meant for one person, where 12 you can smoothly concentrate on YEAR ZERO your work or video meetings. Or the creativity of employees. Hakanen also place to work, whereas now, you go to REMOTE WORK open-plan office may be readjusted finds it important that an individual a place to work and meet other people. SPACE to work as a collaboration space that employee is not surrounded by differ- For years already, Timo Ritakal- DIGITALIZATION enables social encounters and cre- ent people every day. New encoun- lio, President and Group CEO of OP WELLBEING ative interaction without compromis- ters are valuable, but people are most Financial Group, has observed the TIME ing on the safety requirements. A need creative when they trust the people downward trend in the need for office HUMANITY for studios that allow both internal and around them. space. He thinks the increase in re- CREATIVITY external webinars and online-events “Remote work brings an increase mote work is a challenge especially is also apparent. Finally interior de- in flexibility and freedom in one’s life, for designing homes. At the moment, sign, electricity, ventilation and solu- which is a good thing. Nevertheless, a very few homes have been designed tions that promote health and safety total eradication of offices is rather a with teleworking in mind. from customer-centric approach merit dystopian idea. If multipurpose spac- “This era is teaching us to pay more consideration as well,” says Esa Neu- es and open-plan offices feel uncom- attention to the rhythm of the workday. vonen. fortable and lack functionality, people Our daily routines require different “Bringing nature to the working en- simply won’t show up at the workspaces and transitions between them. vironment has been a growing trend place. It’s a grim vision where the fact You do some of the work at the office, long before COVID. For instance, new that people enjoy remote work leads some of it at home, and some in a third buildings are designed to feature na- to companies minimizing the amount location. The human brain needs tran- ture paths. We may see more of this of office space and turning offices sitions from one place to another to after the pandemic,” says Salla Eck- into anonymous places where nobody avoid work becoming a blur with no hardt, Director of Transformation Ser- knows each other.” beginning and no end. It also means vices at Microsoft. She works at the Outi Sivonen, Director of Culture and that homes must be designed in an Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash- Employee experience at Finnish tech- entirely different way. This is some- ington. nology, strategy and design company thing that construction companies ha- Research professor Jari Hakanen Solita, notes that after all, people don’t ven’t paid attention to yet,” says Rita- from the Finnish Institute of Occu- show up at the office because of the kallio. pational Health points out that com- premises but because of other people. fortable premises have a remarkable We are experiencing a shift in thinking: 13 impact on the wellbeing, energy and in the past, you would go to the work- 1. Thanks to technology, a networked Digitalization way of working is becoming more common. Nurture collaboration across siloes and organizational boundaries, even with competitors, to increase understanding and diversity. 2. Almost anything can be done online. Give careful consideration to when physical attendance is really necessary. 3. Invest in people and their wellbeing. YEAR ZERO

REMOTE WORK DIGITALIZATION TOOK A 5-YEAR SPACE DIGITALIZATION WELLBEING LEAP FORWARD IN TWO MONTHS TIME HUMANITY CREATIVITY

On Wednesday, March 18, Remote learning affected the lives of er, on the last day of March, the use 2020, decades’ worth of at- not only students and teachers but a of Teams had multiplied to 2.3 billion tempts to digitalize schools and multiple number of people. It meant minutes per day. other institutions of education extra work for parents and therefore “Organizations that had already ad- succeeded overnight. The had a strong impact on everyday life opted tools for knowledge work on the brevity of the time to prepare in companies. Hundreds of thousands basis of a carefully considered strate- the transition meant that it was of parents had to juggle between paid gy were able to start remote work in an a harsh one: 1.3 million students work, remote school and household agile manner and work according to from the first grade to vocation- work all at the same time. their strategy after the official nation- al school and universities, and The abrupt change is also reflected al recommendation on extensive re- their 80,000 teachers, had to by a sudden spike in Microsoft Teams’ mote work was given in Finland. How- start remote learning abruptly. growth. One day after the WHO de- ever, many organizations and schools clared the coronavirus outbreak a in particular adopted many different pandemic, Teams was used globally tools simultaneously, which made it for 560 million minutes per day. Four chaotic and even stressful to transition days later, the number had grown to to remote working or learning. Team- 15 900 million minutes. Two weeks lat- work is more than just video calls, YEAR ZERO ”When technology “This was an epiphany for me, too: tities will expand, and a more net- REMOTE WORK comes this close we can build a robot in two weeks! worked way of working will proliferate. SPACE In the old world, this would not have It’s no longer about who pays your DIGITALIZATION to us, it means that been recognized as a priority. The salary – it’s about which project you’re WELLBEING professional identities starting point for our thinking would working on.” TIME will expand, and a have been finding large volumes, and A giant leap in the adoption of digi- HUMANITY more networked we would have missed the fact that tal technology – or a harsh and abrupt CREATIVITY the volume is large here,” says Group transition – taught companies at least way of working will CEO Timo Ritakallio. the following: proliferate” “In a couple of months, we saw de- 1. Virtual working disrupted the fa- velopments in connections and ways miliar social structures of the work- – Eija Hakakari, YLE of working that would normally have place. Remote work revealed some taken 3-4 years. The use of Teams ways of yielding power and making grew exponentially, and we imple- decisions that were difficult to see at mented a 3D remote desktop system the office. People have shown new designed especially for game devel- sides of themselves. For example, the and it would benefit organizations to opment,” says Joonas Tamminen, Stu- quiet types that usually stay silent in consider how they share and work dio General Manager at Ubisoft Red- the conference room have begun to on information, discuss and genuine- Lynx. shine. ly work together across teams,” says The Finnish Broadcasting Compa- 2. With the exception of human in- Harri Mikkanen, Product Marketing ny’s Director of Human Resources Eija teraction and its fine nuances, almost Manager at Microsoft. Hakakari believes the exceptional sit- anything can be done online. Even Innovativeness and agility were also uation speeds up the development large conferences, stakeholder meet- shown in companies – out of necessi- that had been discernible in ripples for ings and sales trips work out virtually ty. At OP Financial Group, a robot was a long time. The siloes between var- and can be very efficient as long as created in just a couple of weeks to ious professional roles are bound to the event has been prepared carefully. handle applications for loan repayment break. 3. In a digital world, it’s very import- holiday, the number of which grew “When technology comes this close ant to define the organizations goals 16 twentyfold due to the coronavirus. to us, it means that professional iden- and what matters. What is the basic YEAR ZERO task of the organization, and what REMOTE WORK are the things that should at least be SPACE done? DIGITALIZATION 4. Virtual meetings are cognitively WELLBEING straining. The more digital the work, TIME the more important it is to pay atten- HUMANITY tion to human-oriented leadership and CREATIVITY psychological wellbeing.

”In a couple of months, we saw developments in connections and ways of working that would normally have taken 3-4 years.”

– Joonas Tamminen, Photo: Microsoft 17 UbiSoft RedLynx 1. A sense of control is the essential Wellbeing element of wellbeing at work. 2. Dare to trust the invisible. 3. Invest in knowing your people. Everyone is an individual. YEAR ZERO

REMOTE WORK FUTURE LEADERS LEAD SPACE DIGITALIZATION WELLBEING EMOTIONS TIME HUMANITY CREATIVITY

According to an old wisdom, a For Karoliina Mellanen, a Finnish busi- were already used to it, while others crisis will bring to surface the ness psychologist, the COVID-19 pan- have been horrified at the change. internal turmoil in a company. demic revealed some strongly polar- “Primarily the increased flexibility of The bigger the crisis, the more ized workplace phenomena. Superiors work is a good thing. I’ve been follow- problems will become visible, have either excelled or disappeared ing the discussion around telework, and the harder it will be to clean from sight. Communications have worried about people raving over their up the mess afterwards. been either ample and able to create increased productivity at the home a sense of security, or they have been office. I’m sure it’s true for some, but lacking or nonexistent. in the long run, missing lunch breaks, In corporate cultures that believe in commuting and random encounters is trust and people, the transition to re- not good for you. This has been tough mote work has been mind-blowingly especially for people who tend to smooth, while organizations that are overachieve and have had problems focused on extreme performance and in limiting and controlling their work- internal competitiveness and ridden load,” says Mellanen. with distrust have struggled. Self-di- The lack of a sense of community is 19 rection has gone well for those who another risk. Being together and do- YEAR ZERO ing things together is very important to Photo: YIT REMOTE WORK people, and young people in particular. SPACE For some, the work community DIGITALIZATION may be the only community where WELLBEING they feel like they belong. Identify- TIME ing the risk of loneliness and isolation HUMANITY and finding solutions to mitigate it are CREATIVITY some of the biggest challenges for companies. According to Mellanen, the pandemic has proved to business leaders that people are individuals with unique conditions, capabilities, hopes and dreams.

”Replacing lunch breaks, commuting and random encounters with extra work is not good for you.”

20 – Karoliina Mellanen, psychologist YEAR ZERO ”Raise your hand if and now is the time to focus on peo- At the same time, it has become REMOTE WORK you can say you’ve ple? I don’t think so,” she says. clearer that face-to-face encoun- SPACE Research professor Jari Hakanen from ters are crucial to fostering innovation DIGITALIZATION laughed until you cry the Finnish Institute of Occupation- and new ideas, creating team spir- WELLBEING in a virtual meeting.” al Health shares this view. According it, increasing a sense of affinity and TIME to him, a lack of understanding of how passing on tacit knowledge. We’ve all HUMANITY – Marja-Liisa Manka, people are really doing is one of the had the experience that it’s difficult University of Tampere CREATIVITY weakest spots for many organizations. to reach a shared flow state remotely. “I’m not familiar with a single orga- This is due to the simple fact that we nization that would systematically ask are at our most creative and most en- its people how they are really doing.” ergetic when we are having fun. Hakanen points out that insecurity “Raise your hand if you can say and a sense of control are very strong- you’ve laughed until you cry in a virtu- ly tied to occupational wellbeing. al meeting,” urges Marja-Liisa Manka, “Insecurity is like quicksand with no docent in leading wellbeing at work, solid ground underneath your feet. For and laughs. many organizations, it will be tough to “We find this idea amusing as it’s so manage employees’ motivation, pro- absurd. We all know it is difficult to ductivity and flow amid such great in- create a genuine connection remote- “Many organizations have this idea security.” ly. Working is less joyful when we can’t that once they’ve reached the point of On the other hand, many people see people, talk to them and ask them maximum efficiency in their process- share the experience of having more questions spontaneously. There’s es, their people can finally start to de- hours in the day when commuting and an important level of humanity that’s velop themselves. I would encourage interruptions have been eliminated missing there,” she states. everyone to be honest in estimating and they can work in a more focused This great disruption is a fundamen- if that point can ever be reached. Is and efficient way. Remote work has tal challenge to leadership and well- there a single business executive in increased flexibility and given people being at work. What matters is that the the world who can honestly say that the opportunity to follow a daily cycle organization has good structures and 21 their business is productive enough that suits them best. fosters a sense of control. YEAR ZERO ”I’m not familiar with a single organization that would REMOTE WORK systematically ask its people how they are really doing.” SPACE DIGITALIZATION – Jari Hakanen, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health WELLBEING TIME HUMANITY CREATIVITY

“People need to know what is ex- norms and practices for leadership and it is challenging. But for me, that pected of them. From an individual’s and ways of working. In this new re- is true leadership – prioritizing and fo- point of view, it’s essential to have a gime, organizing your own work, re- cusing on right things,” says Pölönen. sense of control. If you collapse under covery, creating and building trust, a workload that’s too heavy, it’s not a strategic goals and guiding the way, a personal problem in self-direction but sense of community and personal re- a leadership problem,” Manka says. sponsibility are essential.” Manka has studied Finnish working Inventor and author Perttu Pölönen life for over 40 years. The coronavi- thinks the greatest leadership chal- rus pandemic brought about some lenge of the future is trusting the invis- changes that she had been looking ible. Things that are difficult to grasp forward to for a long time. in your everyday life are also difficult “For years I’ve waited for working to develop in a results-oriented way. life to change. Suddenly, a window of Such things include curiosity, creativi- opportunity appeared, and we saw ty, trust and compassion. things we thought would never hap- “Leaders need to trust that these in- 22 pen. The time has come to create new visible things are worth investing of, 1. Self-direction and remote work Time easily bring about ambiguity and chaos. Create some common guidelines and clear goals. 2. Make space for breaks. The brain needs them. 3. Creativity and productivity are nurtured by the opportunity to work in a place and at a time that are optimal for the employee. YEAR ZERO

REMOTE WORK GOODBYE TO NINE-TO-FIVE SPACE DIGITALIZATION WELLBEING THINKING TIME HUMANITY CREATIVITY

Much like attitudes towards Most salary earners go to the office had happened in the labor market and going to work to a physical between seven and nine in the morn- in working life, such as the increasing workplace, attitudes towards ing and leave about eight hours later. share of work that is independent of working hours have been very We keep doing so despite knowing time and place. The Act gives employ- puritan and conservative for that especially knowledge work can ers tools for creating tailored solutions decades. be done basically anywhere, anytime. in terms of working hours, such as a We also know that different people wider time frame for flexible working have different circadian rhythms and hours, flexitime and the use of a work- situations in life. From the perspective ing hours bank. The Act introduced of efficiency, motivation and commit- the opportunity for employees to ment, it might be smarter to adapt our pause their work for a while in the mid- work to our personal lives and not the dle of the day. They can now choose other way around. to work, for example, four hours in At the beginning of 2020, the new the morning, do sports for a couple of Working Hours Act entered into force hours at noon and continue to work for in Finland. Legislation was adjusted three to four hours in the afternoon. 24 to accommodate some changes that Nonetheless, the Act still defines a YEAR ZERO maximum of eight hours per day and Photo: YIT REMOTE WORK 40 hours per week for regular working SPACE hours. DIGITALIZATION Regarding white collar and knowl- WELLBEING edge work, the Act has its upsides and TIME downsides. On the one hand, it pro- HUMANITY tects employees from working in ex- CREATIVITY cess. When there is a law dictating the number of weekly working hours, employers will strive to organize work in a way that allows the work to be done in the hours available to avoid extra costs.

“When does the workday start and when does it end? It takes a whole lot of discipline to define this for yourself.”

– Anni Vepsäläinen, Messukeskus Helsinki, Expo and Convention 25 Centre YEAR ZERO On the other hand, work that re- Same conclusion was reached in a being in a more holistic way. For in- REMOTE WORK quires creativity and focus can sel- survey jointly conducted by LinkedIn stance, the extra minutes of sleep in SPACE dom be done efficiently and mean- and Marie Claire magazine where they the morning awarded to many by the DIGITALIZATION ingfully from nine to five, Monday researched the opinion of over 2,000 absence of commuting have yield- WELLBEING to Friday. What if you come up with British white-collar workers. Accord- ed us more energy and productivi- TIME a good idea or a solution to a prob- ing to the results, over 60 percent of ty. Some prefer to take a break from HUMANITY lem in the middle of the night, on a both directors and employees felt that work when the children come home CREATIVITY Saturday evening while sitting in the there is no going back to the old 9-to- from school and go spend some time sauna or while you’re on a Sunday 5 model. The purpose of time-con- outside with them. When the children stroll – are you off work or should you suming commuting in urban traffic start doing their homework, the par- mark down the hours it took to do the was questioned strongly. On the other ents continue with their work. thinking? hand flexible working hours and being “Insights like this are very important “When does the workday start and able to plan your own day cycle were as they teach us more about ourselves when does it end? It takes a whole lot seen to create positive effects on both and help us find a way of working that of discipline to define this for your- work efficiency and general wellbeing. suits us best. I hope the lockdown self,” says Anni Vepsäläinen, Manag- Brain scientist Minna Huotilain- will result in people and organizations ing Director of Messukeskus Helsinki, en calls for more active discussion starting to develop ways of working Expo and Convention Centre, which is about flexible ways of working in Fin- that support a holistic wellbeing,” says the largest event venue in Finland. land. She points out that, for example, Huotilainen. The experts who were interviewed a midday outdoors exercise boosts Researchers studying wellbeing at for this publication are unanimous in wellbeing and productivity. work have been talking about the sig- thinking the COVID-19 pandemic will “We’re stuck in the idea that you nificance of breaks for a long time. As result in the waning of nine-to-five should do your hobbies in the eve- working life requires more and more thinking. As the arguments against re- ning, although there’s no rationale for self-direction, people must take more mote work have been refuted, the idea that. It’s much better for your circadian responsibility for drawing up their dai- that everyone should show up at the rhythm if you exercise outdoors during ly schedule, creating a rhythm and pri- office at the same time and leave in a daylight,” she says. oritizing their tasks. This is difficult for synchronized manner is also begin- Huotilainen wishes the COVID era many, especially if there are plenty of 26 ning to feel odd, to say the least. would inspire people to see their well- digital communication channels and YEAR ZERO “Agreement- the concept of tied autonomy which models that help people to work in a REMOTE WORK based models and refers to a paradox often experi- way that’s optimal to them. For exam- SPACE enced by people who are employed in ple, agreement-based models and DIGITALIZATION best practices for knowledge-intensive jobs: they have best practices for remote work must WELLBEING remote work must great autonomy over the substance be developed based on the learn- TIME be developed based of their work and their way of working, ings from this covid-crisis,” points out HUMANITY on the learnings from but it is very difficult for them to con- Jaakko Eskola, President and CEO of CREATIVITY trol their own time. Digital channels Wärtsilä. covid-crisis.”” and platforms have freed knowledge Psychologist Karoliina Mellanen -Jaakko Eskola, Wärtsilä workers from the chains of time and agrees. In her opinion, finding the opti- place but also rendered them more mal way of working shouldn’t be total- dependent on others’ schedules and ly up to individual employees – the or- messages. They are drowning in a ganization must have a common set of schedules that are made by others. In flood of messages that requires con- guidelines and clear goals. Ambiguity addition, remote work entails a big risk tinuous monitoring and reactiveness. creates problems in the atmosphere of workdays dragging on for too long, Therefore, workplaces, and large or- very quickly. because it’s more difficult to create ganizations in particular, would do well Mellanen notes that a crisis brings out boundaries that mark the beginning to agree on a more specific set of rules the differences between individuals. and the end of the day. or guidelines for working together. “The chaos that currently prevails “At the office, breaks are sponta- Soon after the coronavirus outbreak, might actually give organizations a neous. You spend half an hour togeth- OP Financial Group agreed on leaving chance to start building new struc- er standing by the printer and won- a gap of at least fifteen minutes be- tures of working – people first. At long dering why it won’t work. If you spend tween each meeting. Charles Héaul- last, I dare say! Perhaps companies half an hour standing next to the dish- mé, President and CEO of Huhtamäki, will finally understand that a person is washer, you’ll start to feel guilty,” Huo- says he only accepts meetings of 45 or most productive when working in an tilainen explains. 90 minutes in order to give himself a 15 environment that is optimal for that in- Researchers Ari Väänänen and Min- to 30-minute break between meetings. dividual.” na Toivanen at the Finnish Institute of “If an organization genuinely wants 27 Occupational Health have launched to care for its people, it must create 1. Let trust, curiosity and compassion Humanity lead the way. 2. Measure the mood and make good vibes one of your prerequisites for success. 3. Weigh your values. Be honest in judging their authenticity. YEAR ZERO

REMOTE WORK A HUMAN APPROACH NEEDED TO SPACE DIGITALIZATION WELLBEING INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY TIME HUMANITY CREATIVITY

Measuring white-collar knowl- Non-fiction writer Perttu Pölönen human contact, peace and closeness. edge work is difficult. How states that what is left outside the ac- Moreover, human beings will always much is enough? When can we celerating pace of technological de- be curious,” Pölönen says. say we have succeeded? How velopment is emotions and humanity. Pölönen believes that this means a to measure things that can’t be These are the things that give work – deeper understanding of the signifi- added to an Excel sheet? and life itself – meaning. cance of emotions in workplace cul- Pölönen thinks that leadership often ture, organizational structures, rela- focuses on the wrong things. Econom- tionships between people and ways ic meters define if people are doing of working. The importance of manag- well or not – end of discussion. Ac- ing emotions may also be seen better cording to Pölönen, economic condi- than before. There will be no results if tions should be the start of discussion the leader only manages things, num- since numbers can’t tell what makes bers and substance. The leader must life meaningful. be able to lead people holistically and “Leaders should be asking questions have the courage to show their own about what do people want in their humanity as well. 29 personal life and workplace? Security, Eija Hakakari, Director of Human YEAR ZERO ”There will be no In the future, human-oriented leader- ership cultivates optimism and relays REMOTE WORK results if the leader ship will be an ever more important as- a sense of trust. Managing emotions SPACE set for companies that want to attract means that the leader senses how peo- DIGITALIZATION only manages the best talent. Young adults in partic- ple are feeling. What emotions are they WELLBEING things, numbers and ular value a humane corporate culture. experiencing and why? An annual sur- TIME substance.” Karoliina Mellanen and her husband vey on wellbeing at work is not enough HUMANITY Atte Mellanen have co-authored a to figure this out. The leader must feel CREATIVITY – Perttu Pölönen, inventor book titled Hyvät, pahat ja milleni- the people’s pulse all the time. aalit – miten meitä tulisi johtaa, “The Marja-Liisa Manka would add mea- good, the bad, and Millennials – how suring the mood in every leader’s per- we should be led”. According to the formance targets. Bad vibes could Resources at the Finnish Broadcasting authors, Millennials expect work to ad- result in getting fired, just like a bad fi- Company, thinks we are facing a revo- just according to an individual’s needs nancial result would. lution of human-oriented leadership. – not the other way around. The better “They’re like two sides of the same “In the cruelest way possible, we’ve organizations and leaders can respond coin. You need good vibes to make come to realize that leadership must to employees’ needs and create a good results.” consider employees and their skills successful employee experience, the A crisis often transforms our person- holistically. This is a tough lesson to more likely they are to earn Millennials’ al values. Several of the interviewees learn for many leaders. The compa- commitment to the organization. think the current pandemic will result nies that take leadership forward in No hocus-pocus is needed – small in such changes. Once we’ve learned terms of psychological safety will be gestures of caring are enough. For in- that international conventions and successful,” she says. stance, video game company Ubisoft sales meetings can be done remote- Psychologist Karoliina Mellanen RedLynx promised to its employees at ly, we’ll begin to question the need for agrees. “Human-oriented leadership the beginning of the COVID-19 pan- continuous traveling. An empty cal- has been a hot topic for long, but only demic: “If your children are distracting endar has made many of us stop and few examples have been shown. In my your work, do as much as you can. We rethink our values: am I doing what I view, we’ve now entered the acceler- will pay you in full anyway.” want and what makes me happy? Is ation lane towards the beginning of a Marja-Liisa Manka, docent in lead- this how I want to use my time? Is my 30 new, more humane era,” she states. ing wellbeing at work, says good lead- job meaningful to me? YEAR ZERO Such soul-searching can result Photo: YIT REMOTE WORK in many good things. People usu- SPACE ally won’t change their ways until DIGITALIZATION they have to. Now, a global crisis WELLBEING has made us change our ways and TIME shown us that we can live a good HUMANITY life in a much more sustainable way. CREATIVITY Similarly, organizations will have to be honest in judging if their values are genuine or just a bunch of empty words that sound hip.

”Human-oriented leadership has been a hot topic for long, but only few examples have been shown. In my view, we’ve now entered the acceleration lane towards the beginning of a new, more humane era.” 31 – Karoliina Mellanen, psychologist 1. Creativity requires randomness, Creativity interaction and a connection between the body and the mind. 2. Ideas won’t come about when you’re sitting still. Knowledge workers, too, need opportunities to use their embodied wisdom. 3. Work spaces are essential for creativity and wholesome wellbeing. YEAR ZERO

REMOTE WORK NEW IDEAS NEED HUMAN SPACE DIGITALIZATION WELLBEING INTERACTION TIME HUMANITY CREATIVITY

Working from home and using Virtual meetings with many partici- researchers are united in thinking that various virtual tools has re- pants are especially demanding. Inev- non-verbal communication plays a vealed to us the complexity and itably, the situation creates several de- bigger role in interaction than speech. diversity of human interaction: lays in communication, during which Facial expressions, eye movements, it’s not all talk. It’s straining for a participant can go through many small nods, and body language as a the human brain to interpret lines of thought. Just two seconds whole, including all the fine nuances, another person, if the person’s are enough to analyze what the oth- build meaning between people more face isn’t visible. er person meant, if we are allowed to than just words. Many of us recognize speak, if we should wait, if anyone un- a situation where a speaker’s words derstood us, if what we said resonated and body language give out two en- with the recipient, whose turn is next tirely different messages. and so on. Non-verbal communication and our Non-verbal communication has perception and interpretation of the been studied for decades in top-rank- world around us also involve a kinet- ing universities and institutions around ic dimension. People communicate the world. There is no shared univer- with the world by touching things and 33 sal understanding about its role, but each other. Our sense of touch helps YEAR ZERO us to perceive the shape, tempera- REMOTE WORK ture, material and other characteristics SPACE of things, objects and people, and to DIGITALIZATION make interpretations of the world ac- WELLBEING cordingly. TIME All this is fuel for creativity. We need HUMANITY physical movement to produce new CREATIVITY ideas, solve problems or give a beauti- ful shape to an object. “To be creative, you need the experience of touching. Our endless curiosity is fueled by being able to touch, feel, twist and turn things with our hands, to smell with our noses, taste with our mouths. All this is extreme- ly difficult to do remotely or virtually. Therefore, I don’t think we could continue working remotely forever. In- stead, employers would be smart in offering their knowledge workers a lot more opportunities to use their embodied wisdom,” says brain scientist Minna Huotilainen. According to Huotilainen, the line at the lunch cafeteria is an amazing concept of social and kinetic encounters. While waiting for their food, people run

into random acquaintances, chat with Photo: YIT 34 strangers from other departments, YEAR ZERO ”Creativity requires “What’s difficult about remote work REMOTE WORK randomness and is putting up with that certain kind of SPACE boredom and monotony. Creativity DIGITALIZATION encounters with requires randomness and encoun- WELLBEING different people.” ters with different people,” says Outi TIME Sivonen, Director of Culture and Em- HUMANITY – Outi Sivonen, Solita ployee experience at Solita. CREATIVITY Giving employees the opportunity to interact and make use of kinetic ex- periences pose a challenge to interior design. Nonetheless, even amid a turmoil of change, restructuring should be given careful consideration. Tuula Klemetti, Director and Vice President and do things with their bodies while in charge of business premises leasing helping themselves to food, walking to services at YIT, notes that it’s not only their table and eating. a question of the future of open-plan “All of a sudden, you might come offices, but a question of organizing up with a new idea or meet someone and leading work and creating safe, who can help you with an unsolved healthy and conscious solutions that problem in a matter of minutes, with- support it. out bombarding people with emails. “It takes a lot of skill to make solutions What’s essential is that you haven’t that work well into the future and don’t interrupted or disturbed anyone. Em- rule out any future needs or changes ployers must create space for these that those needs bring about. From the random encounters. At best, the work perspective of a company’s operations, community and the physical work- it makes sense to design flexible prem- place make an important source of ises that serve the company in the long 35 wellbeing,” she says. run,” Klemetti summarizes. EXPERTS INTERVIEWED

Salla Eckhardt Karoliina Mellanen Director of Transformation Services, Microsoft Organizational Psychologist

Jaakko Eskola Harri Mikkanen President & CEO, Wärtsilä Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft

Eija Hakakari Esa Neuvonen CHRO, Yle Finnish Broadcasting Company EVP, Construction and Building, YIT

Jari Hakanen Perttu Pölönen Research Professor, Finnish Institute Author, Inventor, Keynote speaker of Occupational Health Timo Ritakallio Charles Héaulmé CEO, OP Ryhmä CEO, Huhtamäki Tapio Salo Minna Huotilainen SVP, Head of Project Tripla, YIT Professor, University of Helsinki Outi Sivonen Ville Karkiainen Director Culture & Employee experience, VP Leadership and Talent Development, Solita Cargotec Joonas Tamminen Tuula Klemetti Studio General Manager, Ubisoft RedLynx Director, VP, YIT Antti Vasara Juha Kostiainen CEO, VTT EVP, Urban development, YIT Anni Vepsäläinen Marja-Liisa Manka CEO, Messukeskus Helsinki Docent, leading well-being at work, University of Tampere SOURCES

The future of work—the good, the challenging Siemens to let staff ‘Work From Anywhere’ permanently & the unknown Sightsin Plus, 17.7.2020 Microsoft 365 Blog, 8.7.2020 Work Trend Index, Microsoft Koronakevät käynnisti keskustelun avokonttorien tulevai- suudesta, mutta suurempi murros on ollut käynnissä The real reason open offices won’t go away any time soon jo pitkään Fast Company, 23.6.2020 YIT Uutinen, 16.6.2020

What leaders are learning about themselves from the pandemic Suomessa kuusi kymmenestä kokee työn imua Fast Company, 11.6.2020 – ja sitä kokemusta kannattaa työpaikoilla vaalia Työterveyslaitos, 15.6.2020 It’s time to build a more thoughtful work-from-home strategy Fast Company, 5.8.2020 The end of the office? How COVID-19 crushed the 9-5 Marie Claire, 10.8.2020 80 000 Fujitsun työntekijää siirtyy etätöihin – yhtiö aikoo puolittaa toimistotilansa Japanissa Menevätkö avokonttorit uusiksi? Isojen neuvottelutilojen Helsingin Sanomat, 6.7.2020 suosion ennustetaan karisevan – tilalle vetäytymistiloja Kauppalehti, 9.6.2020 Etätyöapatia on tunne-elämän uusi ilmiö, joka uhkaa nyt monia, sanoo asiantuntija – Näistä merkeistä tunnistat, että etätyö alkaa Covid, hysteresis, and the future of work vaikuttaa mieleen Vox.EU, 29.5.2020 Helsingin Sanomat, 20.5.2020 We will miss the office if it dies Zoom on korvannut perinteisen kokouspöydän, johon on Financial Times, 15.5.2020 kiteytynyt työpaikan nokkimis-järjestys – Miksi etäkokoukset uuvuttavat meidät? Läsnä etänä. Seitsemän oppituntia tulevaisuuden työelämästä Helsingin Sanomat, (Wall Street Journal), 7.6.2020 Kati Haapakoski, Anna Niemelä, Elina Yrjölä. Alma Talent, 2020.

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