Using good solutions for the future
First results from the research project COVID-19 Lessons Learned
Within the project “Gute Lösungen für die Zukunft nutzen – COVID-19 Lessons Learned” (Using Good Solutions for the Future – COVID-19 Lessons Learned – COVID19LL), experiences by companies with dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic were collected and processed for a long-term gain of knowledge. For this purpose, interviews with business represantatives and employer and employee representatives were conducted in different regions in Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Saxony).
The results of the interview series were processed for a practical presentation in the form of normative-narrative best-practice scenarios. The scenarios each describe the everyday work of fictitious employees and focus on how their work is affected by the changes implemented in the company. In addition to the measures identified in the interviews, the scenarios illustrate the framework conditions and success factors relevant for implementing the measures.
To structure these findings, separate scenarios were created for different forms of work execution. Work areas were differentiated according to whether physical presence is indispensable, whether physical presence is partially required or whether no physical presence is necessary to perform the work. While the scenario for location-based work focuses on the introduction of and compliance with new hygiene concepts, the scenario for location-independent work highlights the requirements for a smooth transition to digital work. The scenario for partially location-based work illustrates that under these conditions the benefits of making working hours and the work place more flexible become particulary apparent. These three scenarios are supplemented by a fourth, which covers the approach and experiences of the companies surveyed in dealing operationally with crisis-related challenges in general.
In the second phase of the project, which is currently running, the results of the interview series will be validated in a practical and systematic way by means of a Delphi study in which experts will be surveyed online. In order to promote the transfer of the results in companies and in the various regions, experts from labor research as well as company representatives and employer and employee representatives will be included in the analysis.
For more information on the project please visit our project page.
The project COVID19LL (funding code: 02L18A700) is funded by the BMBF in the context of the “Zukunft der Arbeit” (The future of work) program and is supervised by the project management agency PTKA.