The Series I Can't Hear Now: Free Address and ABW

Hello!
This is Shimojima, a writer.
Thank you for your continued support this time!

Last time, I wrote about the advantages and disadvantages of free addresses, but this time I would like to introduce ABW.
Here you go!

About Free Addresses and ABW

Free address is a free way of working within a company, but there is another way of working.
That is ABW.
To put it simply, ABW is a work style that you can freely choose according to the content of the job and the individual condition at the time.

In Japanese companies, it has been introduced by companies such as Panasonic and Recruit.
This way of working is said to have spread to the world after being introduced by Veldhoen + Company to support companies in the Netherlands. The differences from free addresses are as follows.

Free Addresses

• Work style You can work freely to some extent without having a fixed seat in the office.
• Location: In the office

ABW

• Work style You can work in the most suitable place and free time according to the circumstances of the worker.
• Location: In addition to the office, you can also choose from a wide range of homes, outdoors, cafes, etc.

What are the benefits of implementing ABW?

There are five benefits of implementing ABW

(1) Work-life balance can be achieved

By not coming to work, you will have less time to spend commuting and will be more likely to focus on your work.
If you have small children or family members who are caring for you, you can be flexible when you suddenly feel unwell and need to take them to the hospital.
By not going to work, you can make time for hobbies and study, and it can also be an opportunity to enrich your life.

(2) Create an environment that is easy to generate ideas

Thoughts that tend to be narrow in a closed environment in the office can also lead to opening up and generating ideas that have never been seen before.

(3) Work efficiency and productivity increase

When you do work that you want to concentrate on in the office, you may be worried about the voices around you and cannot concentrate. On the other hand, even if there is a private workspace, some people are too quiet to concentrate.
ABWs can work in an environment where it is easy to concentrate, such as at home or in a café space, which increases efficiency and productivity.

(4) Reduces Facility Costs for Companies

In previous companies, each employee was given a "place" and had to prepare computer equipment and equipment.
But with ABW, you can reduce that burden.
It is difficult to shift all employees to the ABW way of working, but if used in conjunction with free addresses, it can also reduce facility costs.
Employees can also feel comfortable working because they can work freely, which also has the effect of preventing turnover.

(5) As an opportunity to secure excellent human resources for companies

The introduction of ABW has the effect of creating a good image for companies and securing excellent human resources.

There are disadvantages to introducing ABW...

Introducing ABW isn't all good. There are also some disadvantages.
Here are three disadvantages.

(1) Labor management problems arise

Although ABW is a free job, it is not always managed, so it is easy for bosses to keep track of the work content and working hours. Some people may suspect that they are skipping.
As a result, the criteria for personnel evaluation may become ambiguous, which may lead to dissatisfaction among employees.

(2) Communication and management between companies become difficult

When implementing ABW, you will need to make an initial investment, such as introducing tools and reviewing the system.
If it is suddenly introduced, it will be difficult to communicate with members within the company, with superiors, and manage subordinates.
When developing an internal company, it is important to clearly create communication tools and rules.

(3) Return to your usual work style in the office

Even if you try to introduce ABW, the employees' work consciousness will not change as before.
In the end, it is a return to the conservative way of working in the same seat and with members of the same department.

Colorkrew Biz can solve such a problem!

With Colorkrew Biz, you can eliminate the disadvantages of ABW implementation.

Labor management problems are solved with Colorkrew Biz's clock-in linkage function!

Colorkrew Biz can be integrated with existing clocking services.
Employees can clock in attendance by simply scanning the QR code with the Colorkrew Biz app, so that attendance management is not ambiguous even in ABW's way of working.

Solve the problem of communication and management between companies with the presence linkage function!

Communication and management issues can be resolved with the Microsoft Teams presence integration feature.
It is convenient because you can narrow down users from the list function and check the status of team members in a list to understand the current status

The best way to start with the problem of going back to your usual work is to set a clear goal of "what will you implement as a company for?" before starting ABW and have a good understanding of it.
It is also necessary to raise awareness of work styles for employees to work independently.

Conclusion

In this article, we introduced ABW.
As a company, setting clear goals for implementing ABW is paramount, but Labor management and communication issues that can be problematic with ABW can be solved with Colorkrew Biz.
If you have a company representative who is considering working at ABW, please contact us.
Colorkrew Biz offers more than just this.

Next time, I would like to introduce the series I can't ask about now: DX promotion and free addresses.