Uses of Time

Last Tuesday, March 26, the NUST Network held a workshop under the name "Beyond the policies of time: A new way of working", where the working model of the Open University of Catalonia was presented.

The aim of the workshop was to get to know and deepen the experience of the organizational change of work at the UOC, as well as to create a space for exchange about the challenges that this change poses and how the UOC has formulated it.

"The new way of working" is the basic model that the UOC has structured in order to become a digital university, taking into account different dimensions of interest for the members of the Network.

The expertise of Mònica Sosa, director of Organizational Culture and Talent at the UOC, was used, and she presented the work of conceptualization and concreteness that the university has done, and that many of these principles have often been raised in The net.

Thus, the organizational principles of the University's open work were presented:

• All people can work indiscriminately in person and by teleworking, depending on the tasks and needs of the teams.
• Principles of autonomy and responsibility in the organization of work.
• Flexibility in schedules.
• Equal opportunities for participation, access to resources and people regardless of the percentage of telecommuting and flexible schedules.
• Leadership based on autonomy, trust and support by managing teams according to objectives or activities and acting to enhance the well-being of people.

Along these same lines, the main methods for implementing the organizational principles proposed were presented:

1. Establishing and implementing new policies, criteria and processes.
2. Giving resources to promote people's well-being.
3. Providing specific training plans.
4. Counting on a wellness and health plan.
5. Fostering connection and a sense of belonging.

After the presentation, a dialogue space was opened, and the mentioned methods were also assessed through an online survey.

More than 80% of the attendees rated the tools to implement these proposals more than 8 out of 10, such as the creation of a digital skills training plan with the aim of training the entire team in the new hybrid work model.

The workshop served to group and understand how the different flexibility measures can be structured in a successful reformulation project of an organization's ways of working.