lifelab on focus: New Work on Relationships and Networks

By Yanna Solace Adofina

This is the first out of a four-part series on how we employ the concept of New Work here at lifelab. For an introduction to New Work, we encourage you to read our previous article, Doing Work That You Love.

We believe that New Work is about collaboration, with a focus on the people in each business; this encompasses a variety of values and a particular mindset. Openness, respect, personal responsibility, attention, and courage are all held in the utmost importance. However, our main anchor is the value of appreciation, which is all too often lost in everyday life and with what we have been conditioned by prior decades' work cultures. We find it essential to embed this profoundly in our structures and procedures, and to remind each other of it regularly. Genuine appreciation and fair treatment in the workplace means that New Work must be meaningful and purposeful for both the business and the individual. Work that isn't meaningful simply does not work for us. While we are already pursuing New Work at different working levels, we are still in the process of learning and improving as a young, global, startup company. In this four-part series, we aim to talk about the different levels on how New Work is implemented at lifelab.

We asked two of our team members to help us break down how relationships and networks are valuable in New Work. Nora is our social media maven: she produces and manages the content on our Instagram account, and also prepares and co-hosts other events in the space. On the other hand, Mimi works her magic on website maintenance and content design.

WORK AS SELF-ACTUALIZATION

Work, we believe, should not be viewed as a means to an end, but rather as a vehicle to help people achieve their goals. We are not too concerned about specific abilities as long as the potential team member shares our beliefs; they believe that working on our vision makes sense for reaching our own life goals.

Nora: "Just now thinking about it makes me smile actually. I often underestimate the stuff I am doing load-wise but especially the events I help organize just fill my heart every time again and again. Lifelab is slowly growing into a community of like-minded people who fill the room with an indescribable energy".

Mimi: "I started at lifelab with the main focus on customer service, but I felt my skill set grew throughout the years — my skill set grew as Hannes and Lisa (lifelab co-founders) encouraged my creativity and passion to flourish. As a result, my overall confidence grew and I have gradually conquered my impostor syndrome and inferiority complex."

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY

We are a global team, with almost half working from Southeast Asia. Currently, eighty percent (80%) of our team is female. Our cultural differences enrich each other, and we continue to learn from each other every day.

Nora: "Inclusivity is very important for us at work. As we are a very small team, it is easy to stay in one-on-one contact with each other, which enables us to understand each other's standings in life and where one might touch a base the other has not even heard of. We learn from each other whilst respecting the path the other is on,"

Mimi: "I love how we champion diversity at work because we wholeheartedly embrace different perspectives as our team is made up of individuals coming from a range of demographic groups"

LIFELONG LEARNING

Learning never ends for us. This involves further technical training on skills needed for our day-to-day operations, as well as mentoring and study on inner work.

Nora: "I am aiming to widen my horizon on videography and editing videos, as well as planning and getting adequate funding for future events."

Mimi: "Before anything else, I'd like to master front-end website development first, as I feel like I can learn more from experts. But in the future, I'm leaning towards back-end website development."

We believe that New Work is not just a future-oriented work concept; it is here and now, and it is here to stay. The New Work concept is deeply embedded in the lifelab lifestyle, and it is employed in a wide range of fields. It highlights individuality, appreciation, and the importance of the work. We think that it has great potential, and we hope that we inspire other organizations to fully realize it.

Watch out for our next article, as we talk to Nora and Mimi on how working hours, location, and digitalization play a big impact on how we do New Work.