This is Lesson 1 in the boot camp 'How to help your team ‘build back better': A boot camp on flexible working’.

In this week’s lesson, you will explore how other people have worked to date, and what’s changed over the past few months.

What flexibility do you have now?

  • Formal, informal, and ad hoc
  • Flexibility in (when, where, how, who)
  • Has your approach to flexible work evolved? (how/why?)
  • Do you have a culture of flexible working?

The purpose of this first lesson is to get you thinking about the way your work has changed, and how your approach to flexibility might have changed. You can do this on your own or as a discussion with team mates who are taking the boot camp. We’ve found people may have worked primarily from home over this period, but they have divided up their days differently to when they were in an office, for example.

This week's activities

1: Watch video (7 mins) Watch the week 1 video to hear from Catherine Coghlan, Senior Advisor on the flexible working team at the NSW Public Service Commission, about what to expect from this boot camp. You'll hear about the different kinds of flexibility, and consider what has changed due to Covid-19, and how that change has been handled.

2: Get your team involved (3 mins) Many of the activities in this boot camp are even more beneficial when completed as a team. Take a moment to communicate with your team that you're completing this course, and ask if they'd like to take it with you. You can schedule time to work through the exercises as a team, or complete them individually and put aside time in a team meeting to discuss.

3: Poll (3 mins) Set up a quick online poll (you can duplicate this poll using Microsoft Forms, or you can use another software to make your own) and send to your colleagues to measure if your organisation has a culture of flexibility. If you're completing this boot camp as a team discuss the results next time you get together.

4: Complete activity (7 mins)

Fill out the questions on this worksheet. You can print the PDF, or write your answers down.

5: Compare your answers (10 mins)

If your team members are taking the boot camp with you, compare your answers with theirs. You can also compare your answers with this example for reference, or if you're completing the boot camp on your own.

6: Additional reading (5 mins)

Review this list of the different types of flexibility available. People may often use flexibility without realising it (e.g. flexi days/RDOs), or assume it’s just working from home. This can be a useful prompt.

Picture Credit: Unsplash

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