Mid-pandemic last year I reported growing Smarter Working know-how but lagging adoption from an employer perspective, stressing the urgent need for leadership education. Reading the ongoing debates around 1, 2 or 3 days in the office, I am rather concerned about ongoing oversimplified approaches. But hey, Rome was not built in a day.

This year, I focus on Smarter Workers of all sorts, including freelancers and entrepreneurs. During the pandemic all were blessed with more autonomy, had to learn about new tools & technology plus new workspace settings... kicking off the new worklife. Many quickly realised fundamental shifts were occurring, prompting reflections on the meaning, purpose, value and essence of work. Their voices were heard loud and clear, per Leesman Insights: 75% not wanting to return to their office workspaces and 60% admitting their homes didn’t support focus or virtual teamwork, lacking privacy and suffering poor acoustics.

The hybrid work debate around Space Flexibility is unabated: how many days should one spend in the office versus at home, on average. How many times do we have to repeat that it depends on the type of job and personal situation? And yes, it’s hard for facility managers to plan for that. It’s obvious that much less office space will be needed. But professionals better get their act together for proper distributed work, driven by disciplined rituals, performed in optimised studio spaces, ideally set in places with abundant nature.

The other hot discussion is around Time Flexibility: how much and often do we work?

A 4-day workweek? or fast forward to just 4 hours? Surely the debate should be around how the time is spent, with solid productivity and good value generation.

That’s relatively easy to measure for blue collar and transactional administrative work, but tougher for know-how efforts. Whatever the outcome of those never-ending diatribes,

Smarter Workers must shape up to become VIPs (Virtual Interactive Professionals) performing really well as Value-Add Ninjas, catching good pay. You don’t want to suffer questions about your contributions, let alone suffer the consequences of out of sight, out of mind.

So what’s smart work all about then? Let’s distill know-how work activities and their artifacts down to Smarter Working Rituals where great value is realised consistently. Not just creating and sharing it, but getting it used by colleagues and customers to great satisfaction.

Here are the typical professional know-how rituals:

Authoring is about your individual focus work, where the outcome of 1 hour work can greatly vary, compare:

· An early morning hour writing a business proposal inspired by nature, with

· A social media distracted fuzzy afternoon, chained to an office desk suffering writer’s block

Sharing is about presenting ideas to colleagues or customers, where an hour can generate rather different value, compare:

· An energetic TED style 20min presentation just before lunch, versus

· A dreary after lunch pitch to a sleepy audience in an uninspiring meeting room

Interacting is about genuinely teaming up to take each other’s work to a next level, compare:

· A half hour sparring walk (called Weeting) with a colleague or a customer, against

· A sitdown in a windowless small room in a stuffy office

In all these there is a night and day difference in what the hour is worth and what it means to you and others. Of course, each ritual is more effective when you’re curious, paying attention, passionately conveying ideas and genuinely engaging with others. You’re in flow, time flies and amazing things happen. But it’s also demanding and taxing on the brain and body, so performance declines after half an hour. That’s where Energising comes in as the new and potentially most important work ritual.

So be careful about where and when to work. Critically: go for short sessions and allow for plenty energising in between and during work efforts. And yes, that needs explaining to your boss, colleague and customers: tell them frequent breaks are essential for your best work.

And what should a great work studio facilitate?

To Author is about creating & learning with your mind & body to generate personal value: studying, reading, writing, coding, crafting, building, designing. That requires concentration, inspiration, and being in 'flow'. Best done with height adjustable desk and ergonomic chair in a private and inspiring space.

Smarter Workers Share in order to communicate their ideas as value to others by presenting, pitching, selling, podcasting, teaching in webinars. Such sessions must be captivating and impactful. So bring in studio lighting, quality microphones and cameras and that all important stage background.

Professionals Interact (‘meetings’ no longer feature in Smart Work vocabulary) to truly collaborate with others, mining and leveraging team value in brainstorming sessions, workshops or standups whilst whiteboarding . That can only happen with undisturbed engaged collaboration that propels and bonds where entertainment studio settings are no luxury.

Distributed Share and Interact rituals can be substantially impacted by poor network connectivity. Sadly, the poor UK track record is continuing, as I experience time and time again in sessions with Great Britain residents. It may well be the most painful stress contributor... and at what cost? 17,5 wasted working days per year as reported by Which?

So don’t forget to Energise, re-charging mind and body to restore and build vital energy. Stand up, stretch, relax, move, go for a walk, meditate. This cannot be done unless you have access to stimuli beyond work, ideally with nature. So yes, hammocks, yoga mats, exercise bands, relaxing chairs, weighted blankets, plants, pets are work gear too.

Get it? In order to shine at your work, you better have a dedicated closed and private space, especially at home, let’s call it a studio. That should not be rocket science... We have well equipped kitchens and bathrooms in most modern dwellings, but most home offices aren’t effective let alone appealing. Where is that Cockpit for great Authoring? or the Stage to do your dazzling storytelling presentation? And do you have a cozy or Snug workspace, where great inspiration amidst ergonomic furnishings lets your talent flow freely?

Great studios are rooted in well-being with biophilic design. Fresh air, suitable natural and artificial lighting, excellent acoustics and adequate temperature control should not be luxuries. And every opportunity should be taken to stimulate movement and exercise. And don’t just camp at your home. Find that new coworking space in nature, go the opposite direction, away from that urban jungle!

So what are leaders waiting for? More science, more evidence? Self-Determination psychology has been around for decades. There is a great deal of research that supports the value of having control over one’s own workspace and schedule. It is central to space and time-based flexible working patterns – it’s about autonomy and choice.

Smarter Workers are voting with their feet and watches. They have tasted the goodness of freelance work ethic which awakened their entrepreneurial spirit. Let them flourish! Go for the right HR: Human Realization.

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Guest blog: Smarter Working in Europe: Smarter Workers in Pole Position! - By Philip Vanhoutte, Author of the Smarter Working Manifesto and Co Founder of the European Smart Work Network

Work Wise UK