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15/8/2018 0 Comments

The Future Of Work: Does Flexibility = Productivity & Creativity?

Photos: @queserser_official
The Queserser team experimenting with virtual reality hardware in their Tokyo office

Companies in Asia typically have very hierarchical organisational structures, with a linear path from junior roles to the senior positions.  That’s why I was so intrigued when I came across Queserser (pronounced que sera sera) a design-based solutions company, established in Japan with offices in Asia and Europe.  With a flexible four day working week, Queserser has fostered a non-traditional company culture to encourage increased creativity and productivity for both the organisation and the employees. 

I spoke with Nathalie and Josh to learn more about their unique company culture.
“We are a design-based solutions company that addresses customer challenges, whatever they may be, by harnessing the collective resources and networks both within and outside our organization,” Josh begins.  “We try to put the people first and believe that good design comes from an individual’s lifestyle,” Nathalie says. “Queserser is a creative company not only in what we do but in the way the company and its employees behave.” ​
A Queserser creative industry client photoshoot in Tokyo

INSPIRING Missions & Values

The company’s philosophy is based on three pillars:

Freedom:  The liberty to be able to choose one’s working hours, projects and collaborators.
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Creativity:  The team members all have a unique approach to work and life. Championing the premise of work/life blend, the company believes that creativity and lifestyle are connected.

Fun:  The cliche of ‘do something you love and you will never work a day in your life’ rings true with Queserser.  Team members who invest most in themselves bring the company the most value.

be good

Although Google removed their “Don’t Be Evil” clause from their code of conduct, the Queserser CEO still believes in the importance of being a good person.  “The belief that any creative person is a good person brings us to the conclusion that if you work with good people, the happiness loop will continue.” Nathalie explains.  

​This ethos stretches to incorporate the clients that the company works with too. “Every client we choose to meet and work with, are typically happy people.” Nathalie says.   This doesn’t mean that the company isn’t profit-focused as well, recently locking in their first multi-million dollar contracts, but the culture and outcomes are more balanced than in traditional companies.  “We believe that the work style and company structure should be results-based rather than derived from accepted corporate conventions,” Josh explains.
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“The belief that any creative person is a good person brings us to the conclusion that if you work with good people, the happiness loop will continue.”

does a 'free day' mean freedom from work?

The freedom that Queserser has set for employees to choose how they achieve their targets and productivity goals, means that team members are welcome to take a ‘free day’ to use as they like for the fifth working day.  While some companies are still struggling to implement a ‘casual Friday’ policy, this freedom is a unique prospect for most professional. “The ‘free day’ was introduced to give people the flexibility to design a work schedule best suited to their lifestyle and personality.” Josh says.  “The ‘free day’ encourages a creative and positive approach to work where individuals decide themselves how they can best contribute to the company.”

​Ultimately, the day is theirs to choose what this contribution looks like: maybe learning a new skill, volunteering, working in another space or simply taking a self-care day.  Nathalie elaborated that it is still considered a regular work day, except you can choose where and how you work. Some team members choose to work remotely on that day, or not work at all depending on their workload. “The underlying idea is simple: happier people work better,” says Josh.
A Queserser creative brainstorming session, writing on a white board
This flexibility of working is radical to most organisations globally, but more so in Japan where the headquarters are based, as the country is known for having some of the longest working hours in the world.

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“Particularly in Japan,” Josh says, “I feel there is often a fatalist approach to work where people think, ‘well I’m gonna be here til 10pm anyways’, and don’t prioritize time management and getting work done so they can get home.  If you think ‘tomorrow I really want to take that French class,’ you’ll get the work done today to make that possible.”
But is flexible working an achievable dream for all companies, or a delusion?  It has been reported that some employees with unlimited holidays were taking less time off, not more.  “Even without a fluid working style traditional companies suffer from poor work-life balance,” Josh argues.  “In large part because they adjust their behavior to the norms/culture of the company. If everyone works free overtime, so do you.”  However the freedom to manage yourself requires discipline and teamwork.​ “You take the responsibility to set the boundaries yourself, but if you have an issue there are others in the company that will listen,” Nathalie says.​

​Josh agrees that flexible working may be a risk in creative industries, where projects often are ongoing without clear deadlines. “But having a choice in how you work also encourages the average employee to think about the value generated by a given task,” Josh says.  “I know I didn’t think much about the actual profit or benefits generated by tasks I completed at previous jobs. I just did what my manager told me to do. With a more fluid work style, though, I have started to think ‘wait, is spending half an hour on this email really a productive use of my time?’”.



“Good design is our goal, but our purpose is to create a better world where we can share our differences through what we create, and build bridges to understand various perspectives.”

A misconception is that a flexible work environment can only work in a small team, yet Queserser has grown to 330 employees based across Japan, India, Singapore, Belgium and Korea.  But could the Queserser philosophy work in other corporations? Josh believes so. “Most companies spend a lot of time, energy and money trying to micromanage staff on the premise that people left to their own devices will abuse the system. Our stance is: maybe, but that will probably happen anyway. Why not work towards your ideals and what you think is best for your company and its staff and then address any challenges that arise when things fall short.”  Nathalie agrees. “Good design is our goal, but our purpose is to create a better world where we can share our differences through what we create, and build bridges to understand various perspectives.”
What do you think?  Is this the future of work?  Could you see your company adopting the Queserser philosophy?  
​Let us know in the comments!

Queserser

Connect with the Queserser team!  
http://www.queserser.co.jp/
​Instagram @queserser_official

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