~Monday Morning Meetings at a Beach House via the “Outbound Train”!?~ Will Work Styles Change? A “Telework Day” Practice Report

Friday, July 24, 2020—
Three years from now, on the day of the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony, where will you be and what kind of work will you be doing?

■Telework Day: A Day to Change How We Work
Hello. This is O from the Public Relations Group. Suddenly, but are you familiar with the term “Telework Day”?

“Telework Day” is positioned as a day for simultaneous telework implementation every year on July 24, corresponding to the opening ceremony, in anticipation of congestion on transportation systems in the Tokyo metropolitan area during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It is a day that promotes “working outside the office,” such as working from home or mobile work.

Incidentally, “Telework Day” was also implemented during the 2012 London Olympics, with many London companies participating. It has been reported that results such as improved productivity, employee satisfaction, and work-life balance were achieved.

In fact, our company had been practicing “Telework Day,” albeit in a different format, for some time. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, to address the serious problem of summer peak electricity shortages in Tokyo at the time, we closed the office every Friday in August and designated it as a day to promote working from home.

Since then, we have continued to promote telework by establishing a system designating one day each month as “Happy Sunny Day,” a day to encourage working from home, going out, or going home directly.
(See #4 of our 32 systems → http://www.ssu.co.jp/corporate/32rule/)

Given this background, our company naturally decided to participate in Telework Day.
After all, one of our nearest stations is “National Stadium”! For our company, located near the opening ceremony venue where people will flock from all over the world, making telework a habit is essential (laughs).

■On “Telework Day”! The First Meeting Location of the Morning Was…

And then came the day of “Telework Day.”

The place our Public Relations Group visited first thing in the morning was, surprisingly…

The beach (laughs)! Yuigahama in Kamakura.

Among the many beachgoers from early morning, I was the only one in a shirt carrying a bag. I felt a bit self-conscious about the stares.

Of course, we did not come to swim.

The purpose was to put into practice the “SUNNY SIDE UP Telework Day Plan” that our company had launched. This plan, in order to avoid the “morning commute congestion” that is the purpose of Telework Day, includes not only orthodox approaches such as working from home and conference calls, but also a “Take the Outbound Train Plan” that involves taking “outbound trains” heading to the suburbs rather than crowded “inbound trains” heading to the city center, while also visiting and meeting with clients in remote areas.

Additionally, while the telework hours proposed by government agencies were from the start of work until 10:30 AM, our company made all-day implementation the standard.http://www.ssu.co.jp/news/2017/07/21/2999/

As planned, we started a “beach house meeting” first thing Monday morning, combining it with an inspection of the latest “beach houses” that are difficult to visit on weekends due to traffic congestion!

The agenda was future PR ideas and schedules.
It’s a curious thing. Just by changing the meeting location, the quality of ideas coming from the team and the attitude toward speaking seemed to change slightly.

After finishing the “beach house meeting” in the morning, team members headed to external meetings and remote work, each completing their own Telework Day.

■Reflections After “Telework Day”

While there are many areas for improvement, here are my overall impressions after practicing Telework Day.

【Commute Observations】
On the way to Yuigahama, at a station I stopped at, there was a rush hour on the inbound trains. I caught a glimpse of the current situation: Telework Day has not yet fully taken hold, and even when people try to practice it, the barriers are still quite high.

【Office Observations】
This is the office during the morning.
While not all employees engaged in telework, there were fewer employees than usual.
I felt that coordination between teams was a challenge.

【Summary】
While the “beach house meeting” was an experimental attempt in a sense, the most important thing I felt was “first, try it yourself.”

This initiative may appear to be merely a publicity stunt.
However, like “Premium Friday,” in order to create social movements such as work style reform, it is essential that not only employees but also business partners and related companies understand and participate together.

Coordinating work hours as a team, coming to the office just 30 minutes earlier…
I felt that work style reform begins with such “small actions of our own.”
In the Public Relations Group, discussions have already begun on what initiatives to implement for next month’s “Happy Sunny Day.”

Finally, one word after completing Telework Day.
Three years from now, on the day of the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony, wherever you are and whatever work you are doing, may it surely be enjoyable work!

Let’s do our best at work tomorrow.
Until next time.