What challenges are there in terms of practical implementation?
Rebekka Schmidt: At the beginning, there is a great euphoria, as for example with the "Green CoP". We have come together in presence. Many female and male employees have come to brainstorm together. What do we want to achieve? How do we want to organize ourselves? What issues do we want to tackle? Quite a lot of Post-Its were stuck. Then, unfortunately, Corona came and many things that were naturally important at the site in terms of sustainability, such as oat milk, lost importance. In addition, and this is my personal impression, one has to be careful that such a CoP does not degenerate as a kind of "popcorn cinema". The participants should not go in with an expectation that they will be informed and entertained. That is certainly also a nice format, but for me not the claim of a CoP.
For me, a CoP is very much driven by solutions. Doing what? Get together, solve problems? And there you can already observe that over time some participants take on the recipient attitude and simply consume. This is what I personally learned from this CoP, and we have to see how we can break this up. What gives me new hope right now is the fact that a lot is happening right now at DATEV and premises are being redesigned.
The goal is to make the workplace more attractive again, and to lure employees out of the home office. For example, there is now a coworking space, DATEV intern, with a nice barista station, with phone whispering cells and much more. The employee in charge said about it, "This is your clubhouse, use it for that". I found this picture with the clubhouse very nice and also very usable for CoP meetings. A colleague is currently casting our "Green CoP" logo in wood. This logo will then be placed in this "clubhouse". So it will become a place where people like to gather and work together. I am sure that other communities will also use this coworking space.
Do you use certain methods such as design thinking or are CoPs method-free?
Rebekka Schmidt: This is a good impulse, because it is exactly these methods that take us away from the so-called popcorn attitude. We need such methods to bring not only entertainers, monologues, speakers in these meetings. We ve already tried a few things, such as the "Golden Circles" with the three simple questions "Why", "How" and "What". The CoPs use different methods. Which ones and with which goal I can't say exactly, because I'm not in all CoPs. But in principle, as a participant, you get to know different methods and can apply them in your everyday work with different questions. That is a clear added value.
You are curious and would like to learn more?
Our ZD.B theme platform Working World 4.0 will further deepen the topic "Double Transformation" in the coming months. As a highlight, the Conference "Future of Work - Shaping Transformation Processes Together" from 13 to 15. January 2023 together with the Protestant Academy in Tutzing Castle, called.
The interview was conducted by Dr. Petra Blumenroth, Project Manager Technology I Frugal Innovation at Bayern Innovativ GmbH..
Listen to the full interview as a podcast: