The most important facts about New Work at Content Garden

The most important facts about New Work at Content Garden

New Work – there is probably hardly a term in the working world that everyone has heard so often and yet can explain so little clearly. Many are familiar with the term from the phase in which the initial switch to the home office slowly worked out during the Corona lockdowns and people began to seriously consider whether remote working might not actually become the standard even after the pandemic.

The concept is not at all new

What for many of us is a relatively new movement actually goes back to the 1980s: At that time, the Austrian-American social philosopher and anthropologist Frithjof Bergmann coined the term, then still known as “new work”, as a counter-model to socialism. The aim was for employees to recognize the meaning of their work and therefore enjoy doing it.

According to Bergmann, the extent to which companies or organizations implement “new work” can be measured by five central principles and their degree of development:

  1. Freedom: in the sense of a corporate culture free of fear, strong networking within the organization and freedom to experiment.
  2. Self-responsibility: This includes self-organization, assumption of responsibility, but also participation models for employees.
  3. Meaning: not merely creating value, but enjoying one’s work and thereby recognizing its meaning for one’s own person
  4. Development: self-reflection, further training, making decisions together for the organization
  5. Social responsibility: such as environmental and social sustainability.

All this shows one thing above all: New Work is much more than the possibility of working remotely!

Establishing New Work in the company – what is it like at Content Garden?

How do you bring New Work to life in your own company – adapted to the characteristics of your daily business?

First of all, it is of course enormously important that the management level breaks away from old-established working models that – it has to be said so openly – have lived strongly on control. In our case, too, the Corona pandemic was the impetus for evaluating new ways of working – initially with regard to the possibility of home office and the more flexible approach to working hours.

“Quite honestly, you have to admit that under the pressure of the initial lockdowns, there was more movement in the way we worked than we initially imagined. The learning from this should be that when it comes to (New) Work, what is needed above all is courage and trust,” explains our COO Stefan Huber.

Of course, it was also crucial for our management’s openness to new ways of working that productivity and efficiency did not decrease in the home office – the opposite was the case.

What is certainly also a success factor in the implementation of New Work is a person in the company who is dedicated to the topic – in our case, many initiatives for the new way of working come from our People & Culture Manager Patricia. In line with the guiding principles of “freedom” and “development,” however, it is always possible to contribute suggestions regarding everyday work, which are evaluated and implemented by her and the Leadership Team.

“New Work is created by doing, by experiencing, and that’s the beauty of it. For me personally, it’s not a new work concept, but one that is built on appreciation and honest interest in the other person. Especially in the workplace, there is so much potential for development – professionally and personally. It would be a great pity if it remained unused. Also because it has long been clear that there can be no long-term success without a “we” feeling,” says our People & Culture Manager Patricia Höreth.

How we live New Work: Our 10 principles for working together

New Work can look different in every company – this is simply because the daily structures and tasks depend entirely on the business in question and the needs of the teams are completely different.

That’s why we would like to give you an insight into how we live New Work at Content Garden.

#1: How many days do you want to work? After a test run to the 4-day week in 2022 (it has since been proven that this model offers productivity benefits), we were able to choose whether we would like to continue to keep our working hours reduced in favor of a 4-day week or prefer to return to a 5-day week. Some colleagues stayed with 4 days, while others opted to return to a 5-day week (overall, the team is 60% full time and 40% part time). Both models have a place with us and can be reconciled.

#2 Remote or in the office – we have the choice. If you want, you have the option of spending up to 50% of your working hours in a home office. This suits many people in terms of flexibility, family life and leisure activities – at the same time, there are always phases when more team members are present in the office and enjoy the company of their colleagues – after all, there’s nothing like a personal exchange at the coffee machine in between 😉 .

#3 What do we need to work well? Enhancing the workday of team members through easy-to-implement but very effective measures has an enormous influence on the motivation with which we approach our work. The needs are as individual as each team member: For many, it’s the small energy suppliers such as fruit, sweets, coffee or tea that enrich their working day and thus push their commitment. And for others, it’s the shared trip to the beer fridge after work. Either way: For us, meeting individual needs in the team also means New Work.

#4 Working hours – flexibly adapted to business. Today, of course, flexibility is also required when it comes to working hours – for example, for many of our parents on the team, it is unavoidable to work “around” weekly fixed private appointments. Our workday typically starts with stand-up meetings in the morning. When these take place depends entirely on the unit in question; at the same time, they also mark our latest work start time.

#5 The working relationship is a give and take. Here, too, flexibility is a key word. For example, scheduling our working hours as flexibly as possible sometimes means that we have to adapt to the rhythm of our customers, so that team members – if necessary – invest an extra hour in a project on one day. In return, these colleagues know that they can start work earlier on another day. We understand the cooperation among each other as a constant give and take – it is important that over time a balance is achieved with which everyone is satisfied.

#6 Empathic leadership is a must. For us, leading a unit means being able to empathize with the team members and know their needs. It also means not being an advocate of “control and command”, but the exact opposite: In our opinion, good heads create the ideal conditions for their team members, remove obstacles for them (or better yet, show them how to get around them themselves) and in this way support them in their further development. Or as management consultant Simon Sinek puts it:

“A leader’s job is not to do the work for others, it’s to help others figure out how to do it themselves, to get things done, and to succeed beyond what they thought possible.”

We are proud that we live this leadership culture.

#7 We work on a one-to-one basis and as equals. That doesn’t mean we don’t have official hierarchies in the company. We have them – because we know from practice that it always takes one person to take the organizational lead of a unit, as described in the previous point. But what hierarchy doesn’t mean for us is acting from the top down. It doesn’t matter whether you are “Junior”, “Senior”, “Head of” or “Chief XY”: In our dealings and communication with each other, we are all “gardeners” and everyone in their position is equally important and valuable to the company.

#8 We share responsibility. Even though there are hierarchies within the company, responsibility for each:n individual is important to us. According to the principle of “own it”, we want everyone to take responsibility for their own projects and stand up for them. Help and support is always available from the team as well as from the respective team leader. We do not want to see constant control and micro-management in our company culture. For us, responsibility also means making suggestions for improvement – whether, for example, we notice that avoidable problems keep cropping up in the daily work process, or whether the office is in urgent need of a makeover so that everyone feels comfortable and can work well. It is particularly nice that we have a lot of long-time colleagues in our team. Their experience helps us to assess many situations, to recognize opportunities and to avoid repeating past mistakes.

#9 Teamwork – focus on what we have in common. This New Work pillar also goes hand in hand with the last point. Although we focus on individual responsibility, no one is left alone with his/her own situation. In formats such as our daily stand-ups (both across units and within units), there is room to talk about creative breakdowns, difficult situations or other hurdles. By the way: After successful onboarding, we hold a feedback development meeting after the first and third month of work to determine where the new team member’s skills lie, where support is still needed, or where special potential is emerging. Even outside of various meeting formats, the general motto is: Together we have mastered every challenge – from difficult initial situations such as the pandemic, to tight deadlines, to demanding customer requests or content-related topics that we first had to work out together.

#10 We pursue a common sense. “But what you like to do, you do well,” is a quote by journalist, philosopher and writer Prentice Mulford, which corresponds to Frithjof Bergmann’s principle of “meaning” for New Work. It is also important to us that all employees:inside are convinced of our company philosophy: To make advertising that people enjoy consuming again because it is unobtrusive, informative, entertaining and offers recognizable added value. Every day, this starting point gives us the basis for the way we do our work and usually provides the right answer to the question of how we want to develop as a company and team.

“One of the most important points for a job that I like to do and do well: trust. It is definitely conducive to motivated and productive work if you are shown this and can also have it in your colleagues. The appreciative, collegial and flexible atmosphere allows us to take personal responsibility and take it seriously – and that in turn makes us unbeatable as a team and in our output,” says our colleague and Senior Content Manager Bernadette Graf, describing New Work at Content Garden.

The important thing is that these 10 pillars that make up our New Work are not set in stone – how could they be, when our way of working is geared to the needs of the team and the business and everyone can always make suggestions for change? New Work is also a process for us – and one that we continue to develop together. Together, we create a working environment that motivates and inspires us, and at the same time is a place where we can feel good. In short: a workplace that we always enjoy coming to (most of the year 😉 ).

 

Sources and reading tips:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frithjof_Bergmann

„On The Way To New Work“, Swantje Allmers, Michael Traumann, Christoph Magnussen

„New Work Needs Inner Work“, Joana Breidenbach, Bettina Rollow

„Arbeiten auf Augenhöhe“, Lena Marie Glaser

What can a content audit actually accomplish?

What can a content audit actually accomplish?

2022, we have expanded our service portfolio and, in addition to the production and distribution of native advertising campaigns, offer some additional services related to content marketing. One of them is the content audit.

Who needs a content audit?

From the customer’s point of view, the initial situation before a content audit can be compared to a well-stocked closet: You look inside, wear mostly the same pieces, often have a poor overview of the rest of your wardrobe, and have a hard time thinking about what you could actually wear differently. And that’s despite the fact that the outfits of others always seem fresh, creative and varied.

3 scenarios can be the starting points for booking a content audit:

  1. You don’t have a good overview of your own pool of content – which may have grown over the years – you are looking for structure and would like to have analyzed which topics and formats you actually already cover, how potential target groups might perceive this content, and so on.
  2. You want to compare your own content with the content of the competition and find out where there is currently a need to catch up (thematically or in the preparation).
  3. You want to compare your own content with the content of your competitors and find out which topics are not yet covered by anyone (or not in a certain form) in order to tap into completely new potential.

Applied to our business, we can say that content audits can be useful for anyone who does content marketing – with the aim of creating content not just for the sake of it, but also to pursue a clear strategy with it.

This is how the content audit works

Step #1: Everything starts with a briefing session in which we get an overview of the initial situation and the available material and discuss the customer’s overall goal.

Step #2: Now it’s time to capture the content. What this content is, is determined by the customer. The customers provide us with lists of links (to company websites, blogs, social media, etc.) or concrete text documents as a basis. Ideally, we also receive reports or analytics data on the content.

Step #3: Now it’s time to review the content – using a systematic catalog of questions that we have defined in advance in consultation with the customer. We examine the content on a content, thematic and design level and record both individual findings and emerging patterns.

Step #3a: Depending on the objective of the audit, Step #3 is now possibly also implemented for the competition in order to be able to make comparisons.

Step #4: The evaluation of the results follows. The key takeaways and recommendations for action are summarized in a document for the customers.

Step #5: The most important learnings and recommendations are discussed with the customers in a joint meeting.

What can’t a content audit accomplish?

Everything at the same time. As with pretty much everything that has to do with (well-functioning) content, the content audit must also start from a clear question or a clear goal. So: do I want a stand-alone analysis of my existing content? Do I want to know my need to catch up with the competition? Or do I want to know which topics I can completely revamp? Only if it is defined in advance what I want, can I get satisfactory answers with a content audit.

What our customers say about content audits

… is the greatest praise for us. Because the phrase “putting your finger in the wound” could probably be used synonymously for conducting a content audit. Why? Because the results of an audit hold up a direct mirror and make many a “construction site” visible.

And the best thing about it is that our recommendations for action give you the tools you need to eliminate these construction sites – with our help in terms of content creation and editorial plans. So, are you ready to explore your existing content potential?

Creative together (remotely): 4 simple techniques for content managers

Creative together (remotely): 4 simple techniques for content managers

Whether you are currently stuck creatively or are looking for a lot of new impulses for a project: Harnessing the creative power of the team has enormous potential!

Of course, in terms of resources and deadlines, joint brainstorming and creative sessions are not possible for every project. But every now and then, content managers should still seek creative exchange.

The best thing is that with the right techniques, it’s not even necessary to be in the office together. In our Creativity Toolkit, which we already mentioned in the article “5 Strategies content managers can use to boost their creativity”, you’ll find 4 creative methods that we can use together and remotely.

1. change of perspective: the headstand method

Do you need a new perspective on things? Then let’s use the headstand method. Remotely, we use a special Creativity Channel in our Slack communication tool.

Here’s how it works: First, the person who starts the joint creative process must formulate the starting point in a question. So, for example, “What do we need to do to attract more visitor:s to region XY?” Using the headstand method, this question is now turned around into the opposite, i.e., “What do we need to do to attract LESS visitor:s to Region XY?” This question is posted (with information about how long the brainstorming may run) in the channel. All answers that follow serve as a basis for approaches that are supposed to solve the original problem. Often it is simply easier for us to find answers to the opposite questions.

2. from car to living room: analogy technique

This method is well suited when it is a matter of reducing mental blocks or finding a solution quickly through a changed context. The great side effect: content managers create a special reading experience for readers through unusual “images” and parallels.

Here’s how it works: A content manager calls up the analogy technique via Slack and names a specific feature of a topic. For example, he or she wants to find a new approach to the topic of space volume for a car campaign and states something like: “A car for a family needs a lot of space and room.” Now it’s up to the other team members to find associations and analogies to this statement. This could be, for example, “A living room for a family also needs a lot of room and space” – and an analogy is created between a car and a living room, supplemented by the feel-good factor of the living room.

The important thing with the analogy technique: Everything is allowed – because what seems completely exaggerated or crazy at first, perhaps even too provocative, could end up being spun into the most exciting new idea.

3. speculations welcome: what-if technique

Time for thought games: With the “what-if” technique, we approach questions in a completely new way. This method is a hot tip when you want to describe a product in a new, fresh way.

Here’s how it works: A new creative session is opened in the Slack channel, this time with a question such as, “What if product XY didn’t exist?” In a time-limited setting, all team members are now invited again to share their thoughts on the question. The collection that results is likely to be a pool of problems that would exist in people’s everyday lives without the product in question. Et voilà, we already have material for new product descriptions.

4. keep ideas flowing: Collective notebook

Generating new ideas and inspiring each other in the process: In a nutshell, this is the principle of the “collective notebook”. Ideally, content managers should have a little more time for this technique so that they can keep contributing to the idea generation process.

Here’s how it works: A document is created via GoogleDocs, on the first page of which a specific problem is outlined. Now we make the team aware (via our Slack channel with reference to the GoogleDoc) that a creative session has been opened. In the next step, each:r, after reading the problem statement, can record spontaneous inspirations at any time – and always be inspired by the previous entry. It is also conceivable that each member is required to add an idea every day.

With a specific communication channel, defined methods and clearly communicated timeframes, it is also possible to be creative together, regardless of whether part of the team works in the office or in the home office. Why not give it a try – in the worst case, a few fresh ideas will come out of it.😉