In this episode, my guest is Kristin Reed. Kristin is a senior consultant at Veldhoen + Company, where she co-creates strategies for a better world of work through activity-based work. “I’m all about making work as exciting as possible, or at least suck less,” she says.
Kristin and I discuss a strategy called activity-based working, or ABW. ABW is a nuanced take on how we establish work structures, and Kristin discussed the concept in a recent article. The basic idea is answering who owns how, when and where work happens in this new environment.
This strategy is about working in a way that benefits you and your work. It requires you to think about such things as space, facilities and IT, but in a more inclusive way. It’s a strategy that focuses on being more accessible and helping workers have a great experience while doing the work they’re meant to do.
Listen in to understand how Kristin is helping everyone, regardless of status or title, do their best at work.
Punk Rock HR is proudly underwritten by The Starr Conspiracy. The Starr Conspiracy is a B2B marketing agency for innovative brands creating the future of workplace solutions. For more information, head over to thestarrconspiracy.com.
Understanding Activity-Based Work
Kristin works for a company committed to helping other companies instill activity-based work (ABW) strategies. That might not be a term familiar to many listeners, so what does it mean? Kristin sees ABW as an approach that benefits employees and companies alike.
Kristin says it’s a simple concept. “We really believe it boils down to creating a better holistic world of work,” she says. Kristin says to think about this strategy like a “four-legged stool,” each representing improvements. The first leg is about better culture, the second about greater choice about where to work, the third about better connection with people and information, and the fourth represents the willingness and drive to make those changes.
You might not hear many workplace leaders talk about ABW. Instead, most people go straight into a discussion of remote, hybrid and in-person. But in the wake of the pandemic, the conversation should change. We shouldn’t be looking at work as just a place but also seeing it as something people do.
“COVID, beautifully and in a scary way, undid all of that. We have to think about, much more, work as a thing we’re doing and a way that we’re behaving our organizing work rather than, ‘This happens here’ or ‘This happens here,’” Kristin shares.
Embedding a New Strategy in Company Culture
I see how ABW benefits the individual worker in their experience. However, from a manager’s standpoint, trying to implement ABW means releasing some control. This is uncomfortable for many managers who might not know where to start with ABW.
Kristin says that ABW requires trust, communication and thinking about outcomes “rather than, ‘how are we going to do this step by step?’” She encourages client companies to think about how they’ll work as a team to meet goals while supporting individuals through their work.
And at Veldhoen, they practice what they preach. “My team spans the globe. We span from the West Coast of the U.S. to the East Coast of Australia and everything in between. So we really had to spend some time this year to understand the basics,” Kristin says.
ABW is a concept that is essential for human resources leaders to understand. All departments could benefit from this, especially because of ABW’s potential impact on company culture.
“Because ABW, activity-based working, is a way of behaving and thinking, at its core, it should be part of a culture. And maybe that sounds very basic, but it really is a mindset, how we believe we can work,” Kristin says. “How we can trust each other, how we can get things done. It’s the visibility. I see people moving around, here or not here, meaning in the office, but also, it’s a way of thinking very flexibly in all forms.”
How HR Can Drive ABW
Kristin and her company are helping companies and workers make the mindset shift to letting people simply work within the organization. HR leaders are in a great position to push this concept forward.
“I think HR has a very unique capability to help with one of the very basic principles of activity-based working,” Kristin shares. “And that’s understanding how people are working. What are the key motivators for those groups or the needs? What are the drivers of engagement, the drivers that make people say, ‘This is a great place that I want to work’?”
Having HR gather and create the necessary personas will help to understand what people need to do their best. This exercise also helps HR leaders support the concept throughout the organization.
“The second thing that I would recommend as HR, I’m thinking through the lens of learning and development. I play a key role in giving — not just managers, really every person — a framework to help them understand, ‘How do I decide how to do my best work?’” Kristin says. “‘How do we decide as a team how to work flexibly but still meet the needs of our internal or external clients?” Lastly, I’ll say that HR has to be a champion for testing, failing, learning and testing again, especially in times of flux.”
[bctt tweet=”Activity-based work isn’t just ‘about place or real estate. It’s more about a way of thinking, a way of behaving and a way of organizing work, more than anything else.’ ~ Kristin Reed of @VeldhoenCompany. Tune in to the latest episode of #PunkRockHR!” via=”no”]
People in This Episode
- Kristin Reed: LinkedIn, Veldhoen + Company
Full Transcript
Laurie Ruettimann:
This episode of Punk Rock HR is sponsored by the Starr Conspiracy. The Starr Conspiracy is the B2B marketing agency for innovative brands, creating the future of workplace solutions. For more information, head on over to thestarrconspiracy.com. Hey everybody, I’m Laurie Ruettimann. Welcome back to Punk Rock HR. My guest today is Kristin Reed. She’s the senior consultant at Veldhoen + Company. Kristin co-creates strategies for a better world of work for everyone.
On today’s show, we’re talking about something you may not have heard of, called activity-based working, or ABW. ABW is all about working in a way that benefits you and the work. It requires you to think about space and facilities and IT, and all of that — but in a way that’s more inclusive, that’s more accessible and that really focuses on helping the worker have a great experience and do the work they’re meant to do. So it’s kind of a nuanced and different take about, do we send people to work at home? Are they remote? Are they hybrid? We’re past that on Punk Rock HR. Today, we’re talking about ABW with Kristin Reed. I hope you sit back and enjoy it on this week’s podcast.
Hey Kristin, welcome to the podcast.
Kristin Reed:
Hi Laurie. Thanks.
Laurie Ruettimann:
I’m so happy you’re here today to talk about who owns work. But before we get started with that conversation, why don’t you tell everybody who you are and what you’re all about?
Kristin Reed:
Sure. Kristen Reed and, in my professional life, a senior consultant with Veldhoen + Company. I’m all about making work as exciting as possible, or at least suck less.
Laurie Ruettimann:
All right, that’s more accurate.
Kristin Reed:
Yeah. But really, focused on helping everyone, whether you’re leading an organization or whether you’re brand-new and just starting a new work life, really how to understand how to do your best.
Laurie Ruettimann:
Well, you work for an organization that’s really helping companies bring to life an idea called activity-based working strategies. I just wanted to define that because there’s a lot of buzzwords out there, right? But this may be a new concept to many human resources leaders, entrepreneurs, executives. So what is an activity-based working strategy?
Kristin Reed:
When we talk about activity-based working or ABW — and by the way, we’re the originals. We’ve been talking about this for 30 years. But we really believe it boils down to creating a better holistic world of work. Think about a four-legged stool for a minute. That four-legged stool being a better culture, a better variety in choice of where to work, the environments. And third, a better way to connect with people or the information that you need. And then finally, and most important leg in my opinion, the willingness and the drive to make those changes. ABW, it’s not just a thing about place or real estate. It’s more about a way of thinking, a way of behaving and a way of organizing work, more than anything else.
Laurie Ruettimann:
Well, I was attracted to it because you and your colleagues have written about it, and it’s definitely an ethos. We’ll talk more about this in a second. But I wonder why we don’t talk about ABW, but we automatically go to remote work, to hybrid, to in-office, right? I mean, why are we programmed to be so myopic? Please, tell me more about humanity.
Kristin Reed:
It’s been interesting to me is, for a long time we talked about, I’m going to work. I’m going to go to work — as a place rather than a thing that we’re doing. To me, that’s the difference. And now COVID, beautifully and in a scary way, undid all of that. We have to think about. much more. work as a thing we’re doing and a way that we’re behaving our organizing work rather than, “This happens here” or “This happens here.”
Laurie Ruettimann:
Well, I like that you’ve been thinking about this for a long time. In that way, you were ready to meet the moment of COVID and the pandemic. So before we go into how ABW affects real estate, how it affects human resources, how it affects finance, could you really get crystal-clear on exactly what it is? We’ve talked about how it’s an approach to work, but what does it look like? What does it feel like? What is the experience for the average worker?
Kristin Reed:
For the average worker, activity-based working should be like muscle memory. In an ideal world, you don’t have to think about it. Activity-based working is being able to know where to go, or what you need, in order to accomplish the activity that you want to do. So thinking in the very basic terms of, I have to spend this hour to focus. I have this deadline, I have to get something done. I know that I have a choice of places to do that. It can be a very quiet room. It can be a quiet space and an open — it could be in my home. It could be in the coffee shop because I focus best with a little bit of buzz about me. The same with collaboration. I am doing this type of deep co-create work. I need to be inspired, and I am going to choose these kinds of places to do it.
Laurie Ruettimann:
I can see how ABW benefits the individual worker in their experience. Because it’s focused on the work, the thing, getting it done, and getting it done to the best of their abilities with integrity. If I’m a manager, even a progressive manager, how do I even start to think about ABW? Because it requires me to release some control if I get this right.
Kristin Reed:
It does. It requires trust. It requires communication, and it requires thinking about the outcomes rather than, “how are we going to do this step by step?” One of the things that we’re talking with a lot of companies about is team agreements. To me, that sounds a little bit like a rule type of work, but it really is about, how are we as a team going to work? How am I as a leader going to help my team work with the right kind of flexibility that we need to meet our goals, but also to support what individuals on part of this project or work team need.
Laurie Ruettimann:
Do you do that at Veldhoen? Do you have team agreements to understand how you’re going to work, when you’re going to work, how to communicate? Do you drink your own champagne?
Kristin Reed:
We do. We do, and it’s hard. We found it’s easy to talk about, but it’s really hard to do. My team spans the globe. We span from the West Coast of the U.S. to the East Coast of Australia and everything in between. So we really had to spend some time this year to understand the basics, like, what are the hours we’re going to try and be available? How do we communicate? Is it email? Is it chat? Is it not WhatsApp or with WhatsApp, as an example. To other things like, how are decisions going to be made very quickly or also longer term?
Laurie Ruettimann:
So I feel like this is a concept, ABW, that’s really important for human resources leaders to understand, people in finance. Every department could really benefit from this. The one thing that people are driven by right now is this conversation around culture. So I wonder how you think ABW is connected to culture, and where is it going? How does it tie in with other departments within the organization?
Kristin Reed:
Because ABW, activity-based working, is a way of behaving and thinking, at its core, it should be part of a culture. And maybe that sounds very basic, but it really is a mindset, how we believe we can work. How we can trust each other, how we can get things done. It’s the visibility. I see people moving around, here or not here, meaning in the office, but also, it’s a way of thinking very flexibly in all forms.
Laurie Ruettimann:
Well, I was just thinking about how ABW could be an enhancement to your diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and belonging strategies, but also how it could show your glaring weaknesses. So how does activity-based work really aid your diversity, equity and inclusion activities, or how could it even be a means to audit them?
Kristin Reed:
Two different answers to that. First, from a recruiting perspective, we’re bringing in a diversity of thinking, of experiences and geographic locations. It’s a no-brainer. Activity-based working and choice and flexibility, and really focusing on the outcomes in the way work gets done, is important. Even close to home, people close to your office home, people wanting that choice and flexibility to be able to come into the office or not. I read an interesting report from McLean’s 2022 HR trends report that talked about the uptick in recruiting, that HR teams will spend — 25% more time will be spent on recruiting. That’s a big chunk of money in time recruiting and also for the candidates in their time spent on it. I think about how much more strength having a flexible or ABW approach could bring to attracting candidates into the organization, if you’re going to spend all of that time recruiting.
Laurie Ruettimann:
I also think it allows people to self-select out. Understanding, if you do have an organization that’s designed with these ABW principles in mind, maybe they like that, maybe they don’t. Or maybe they want that, and you don’t have that. So it creates this richer, more dynamic conversation where talented people can take the wheel of their own career. Is that right?
Kristin Reed:
That is. That’s exactly right. And talented people who may have never imagined themselves in an organization. Or just feel much more comfortable and feel a different sense of belonging, or to really nurture that sense of belonging by having some flexibility in where they work.
Laurie Ruettimann:
Well, I think about the human resources leaders who are listening to this podcast, and they’ve really had a tough couple of years, right? But many of them now have a pretty good legacy of stepping up, of being helpful, of providing aid and comfort to the organization, but also leading in a new and strategic way. I wonder if there are some things that HR can do to really cement their legacy as being thoughtful or really compassionate people who understand the future of work. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Kristin Reed:
I have quite a few. I’ve learned in my 22 years of jumping into the HR world, or the world of creating better places to work — what I found even before COVID is that we’re talking about a place very separate from HR. They’re always two very different things. And a lot of people are talking about it now, but I firmly believe there’s a strong leadership role for HR in place decisions. My curiosity is this — without HR’s leadership on place and strategies, are companies really making it more difficult than necessary to design a fantastic hybrid or flexible or ABW work approach? I think HR really has the opportunity to lead on this, not on their own, but with the right blend of the typical trifecta team — HR, real estate and IT. But HR really leading that question — “What is the purpose of place?” or ”What is the purpose of the physical environment?” There’s always that nagging — decades, maybe even more — a long question of, well, HR may be viewed as a strategic partner or that seat at the table. One of our clients laughed and said, “Oh, I can’t believe we’re still having this conversation,” but here we are still having that conversation. But I do believe there’s a very strong role for HR.
Laurie Ruettimann:
Well, I love that. I wonder if your optimism — I hope your optimism proves out going forward. But I also think there are some easy mistakes that are probably going to be made, right? There are some obvious mistakes that are going to be made in this process. Especially if there are economic challenges and we move into recessionary thinking, it almost feels as if some leaders are trying to will us back into a recession to level the playing field with talent. But if there are economic downturns, I think there are choices that get made. One of the difficult choices that might get made is around place, is around space. So first of all, are you thinking about the recession, potential recession, and its impact on ABW? Are you worried that some of the good attention that HR has historically focused on over the past couple of years, is going to go away? Does any of that concern you?
Kristin Reed:
It does, because our immediate needs are going to come up first. And HR is so busy with lots of different immediate things that every single person in an organization needs, especially as you’re facing recession or facing these big things. Again, my very positive outlook or approach is for an organization to think about, how do we build this into muscle memory? How do we really think about the very basic elements of ABW that we can always remember or always have at our side as we’re facing all of these difficult things? A client that I was just visiting last week really challenged us with the question of, “We believe ABW, but it just seems like so much.” So rather than leaping to, perhaps — at the organization transformation level, there are very specific things you can do around, as I mentioned before, how do we really start to focus on, how do we think about things like strategically planning my day where I have these work activities and choices to work?
Laurie Ruettimann:
Well, that’s such an interesting way to think about this. Because you’re right, I mean, there’s this concept of ABW and people have been talking about “just let people work” for decades. Just let them work! And that never happens, and then the actual transformation that needs to take place within an organization. I know that’s where you and your organization and your expertise come in and help people think through this. But I wonder what — and not that I could ask you to boil down a transformation project into four steps, right? But if I were a human resources leader and I think, oh yeah, I really want to move on this ABW thing, what are some things that I would be thinking about as I would go through this journey?
Kristin Reed:
I think HR has a very unique capability to help with one of the very basic principles of activity-based working. And that’s understanding how people are working. What are the key motivators for those groups or the needs? What are the drivers of engagement, the drivers that make people say, “This is a great place that I want to work”? So HR having an active role in helping to gather, create the story around that data — perhaps personas, as some companies call it, to really understand what people need to do their best. How can we start to support that through space, through technology, through culture, through having great leaders or great development opportunities?
The second thing that I would recommend as HR, I’m thinking through the lens of learning and development. I play a key role in giving — not just managers, really every person — a framework to help them understand, “How do I decide how to do my best work? How do we decide as a team how to work flexibly but still meet the needs of our internal or external clients?” Lastly, I’ll say that HR has to be a champion for testing, failing, learning and testing again, especially in times of flux.
Kristin Reed:
What we’re finding a lot of people are talking about, with our clients particularly, it’s much more about the quick pilots, experimentation and learning our way, because none of us had the answer.
Laurie Ruettimann:
Well, I love that we are ending on a note of HR being brave enough to test, and being brave enough to face failure, because I think that’s a really interesting point. I just wonder historically, have we made it too difficult to offer choice and flexibility to employees? And if we have, how do we fix that in the future?
Kristin Reed:
I believe that the conversations over the last year or so have been so focused on cadence or frequency of visiting the office and thinking about flexibility through, “How often do I?” rather than, “When are the moments that matter when I work in a place?” or “What are the moments that matter where HR can support the organization to really connect with employees and what they need, and their drivers and their motivators.”
So I think taking away that two days a week at the office, three days a week at the office, whatever it is, should go out the window. It really is about through the conversations of team agreements — although I don’t like that word, but through those conversations of, “When are those moments where we should be together and use the office?” Let’s start there, and less about trying to define flexibility through something that really isn’t tied to how we work or how we get things done.
Laurie Ruettimann:
Well, I love it. I love being more intentional about gathering. I love being more thoughtful about the way we dip into one another’s day. So all of this is really my jam. I’m so excited to learn about ABW, to learn about the work that you and your organization do. And if people want to learn more about this whole entire concept around activity-based working, where should they go?
Kristin Reed:
They can visit us at veldhoencompany.com. That’s quite a long word.
Laurie Ruettimann:
We’ll put it in the show notes. It’s all good.
Kristin Reed:
Or send us an email, Our general email box is usa@veldhoencompany.com. Our team in North America is happy to answer questions.
Laurie Ruettimann:
I know there have been some really great articles on the topic, so we’ll make sure we include those in the show notes, as well. I’m just really pleased you came onto the podcast today to introduce the concept of ABW and tell us a little bit about your journey, as well. So thanks for being a guest, Kristin.
Kristin Reed:
Thanks Laurie.
Laurie Ruettimann:
Hey everybody. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Punk Rock HR. We are proudly underwritten by the Starr Conspiracy. The Starr Conspiracy is the B2B marketing agency for innovative brands, creating the future of workplace solutions. For more information, head on over to the starrconspiracy.com. Punk Rock HR is produced and edited by Rep Cap, with special help from Michael Thibodeaux and Devon McGrath. For more information, show notes, links and resources, head on over to punkrockhr.com. Now, that’s all for today and I hope you enjoyed it. We’ll see you next time on Punk Rock HR.