Understanding “New Work” as an opportunity

The Balingen-based startup avegoo emerged from the Tech Startup School project “New Work”, initiated by Theben AG. The vision of avegoo is to become the “AirBnB for workplaces”. To this end, the startup provides employees with flexible third work locations in addition to the office and home office – in co-working spaces, cafés, empty office spaces or in the countryside. For companies, avegoo systematizes the handling of modern workspace design and makes it easier for employees to find and book suitable workspaces. The team itself lives the free concept and operates flexibly and location-independently throughout Germany and internationally.

The Co-Founders of avegoo

Das Team von avegoo

V.l.n.r.: Viktor Walter-Tscharf (Informatiker aus Berlin), Sonja Eckert (Wirtschaftspsychologin aus Überlingen am Bodensee), Anja Pfäffle (BWlerin aus Frankfurt/Karlsruhe und Jannic Benitz (App-Entwickler aus Freiburg).

New Work and the opportunities of the new world of work

Frithjof Bergmann introduced the term “New Work” some four decades ago, describing a changed world of work in terms of free, value-based working. Globalization, digitalization and new industries have influenced this way of thinking. At the same time, people and their desire to “really, really want something” are always at the center of Bergmann’s “New Work” concept. Within the company, the focus is on the way teams work together: flexible structures, agile methods, mobile working and networking. Distributed teams and flexible office solutions bring diversity into the company in terms of employees. A larger pool of talent can thus contribute to a company in a more flexible way. Interaction and communication are being rethought. This requires a continuous development of the corporate culture that supports this new working world.

The Corona pandemic has accelerated the change in the world of work many times over
The use of home offices now shows that many office jobs can easily be performed away from the company’s headquarters (provided the Internet connection is right). 55% of all employees subject to social insurance contributions state that their job can be performed at least partially in a home office. This corresponds to around 23.3 million employees (source: Bitkom Research 2020). Many employees save themselves long commutes, often up to several hours a day. Almost 80 percent of employees who currently work from home rated the time saved and the lack of stress due to the commute as very positive. The resulting better work-life balance was confirmed by 56% (Bitkom Research 2020). Activities that require a high level of concentration can also be done very well at home, depending on the circumstances. Half of all employees even speak of a productivity gain (Bitkom Research 2020).

For many, working from home is not an exclusive option
However, surveys in social networks also show that working from home may not be the exclusive option. Many find it difficult to separate their private and business lives within their own four walls, especially since only about half of all employees have a separate office or study. In 34% of cases, the kitchen or living room is converted. In nine percent of cases, work is done out of the bedroom (study: Frauenhofer IAO, Homeoffice Experience). One in three even states that they work more (in terms of working hours) in the home office (Bitkom Research 2020). If an inadequately equipped home office is added to this, the mental and physical health of employees suffers in the long term. Nevertheless, the desire to be able to use the home office regularly even after the pandemic is very high. 76% of those currently working in a home office would also like a mix of work locations in the future (EY 2020′ Transformation of the world of work). 84% are basically of the opinion that their working style will be more flexible in terms of space and time in the future (study: Frauenhofer IAO’ Homeoffice Experience). It is therefore important to develop future-proof models that further promote the gain in flexibility and still represent a healthy balance. Of particular interest are those concepts that manage to promote the new achievements and at the same time eliminate the negative aspects mentioned above. In this context, the aspect of working close to home in third locations is always at the center of the discussion.

 

avegoo facilitates the organization of location-independent work

In the Tech Startup School project “New Work”, the avegoo team looked at the experience of employees* working from home and at the company headquarters. It became clear that third work locations are an important pillar for New Work concepts. In addition to the home office and the corporate work location, avegoo enables the flexible and location-independent use of mobile workplaces. The core of avegoo’s solution includes a platform for companies. This allows the booking of workstations for all employees to be centrally viewed and systematically accounted for. Further gadgets such as incentives are planned. With the matching app, employees book a variety of work locations in rural and urban areas. In the future, a chat function will enable exchange with other avegoo users. In the first half of 2021, the team will invest in the further technical development of the platform and app and also further expand the nationwide network of work locations. Collaboration with first mover companies will also be continued and private individuals will be given the opportunity to use the app for themselves. Funding from the Start-up BW pre-seed program has already been promised. With the platform and app solution, the four founders want to make it easier for companies to keep track of a large number of employees and their work locations in the long term, while at the same time meeting the demands for a flexible workplace. Even after the pandemic, the change in the working world accelerated by Corona will continue to have an impact and will remain in many companies in the form of flexible workplace design.

Your contact to avegoo

 

Logo von avegoo

 

Would you like to offer work locations via the avegoo app or enable flexible working for your employees as a first mover? Your contact at avegoo: Anja Pfäffle (Co-Founder avegoo), anja.pfaeffle@avegoo.de | avegoo.de

 

About the Tech Startup School (TSUS)

The Tech Startup School in Balingen connects business ideas, problems or innovation topics of companies with people interested in founding a startup, puts together interdisciplinary teams and accompanies 10 weeks of business design until the final pitch, the founding of a startup and beyond. Those interested in founding a company receive know-how for the development of a business model that can be financed, and companies are offered the opportunity to spin off a startup. In the meantime, ten shareholders from Lake Constance to Zollernalbkreis and Stuttgart are involved in TSUS. Thomas Hoffmeister and Jürgen Schäfer form the management of the Tech Startup School.

Would you like to spin off an innovation project, a problem or a trendy topic into a startup and initiate a TSUS project for this purpose? Your contact at TSUS: Monika Uziel (Project Management), monika.uziel@tech-startup-school.de

The Balingen-based startup avegoo emerged from the Tech Startup School project “New Work”, initiated by Theben AG. The vision of avegoo is to become the “AirBnB for workplaces”. To this end, the startup provides employees with flexible third work locations in addition to the office and home office – in co-working spaces, cafés, empty office spaces or in the countryside. For companies, avegoo systematizes the handling of modern workspace design and makes it easier for employees to find and book suitable workspaces. The team itself lives the free concept and operates flexibly and location-independently throughout Germany and internationally.

The Co-Founders of avegoo

Das Team von avegoo

V.l.n.r.: Viktor Walter-Tscharf (Informatiker aus Berlin), Sonja Eckert (Wirtschaftspsychologin aus Überlingen am Bodensee), Anja Pfäffle (BWlerin aus Frankfurt/Karlsruhe und Jannic Benitz (App-Entwickler aus Freiburg).

New Work and the opportunities of the new world of work

Frithjof Bergmann introduced the term “New Work” some four decades ago, describing a changed world of work in terms of free, value-based working. Globalization, digitalization and new industries have influenced this way of thinking. At the same time, people and their desire to “really, really want something” are always at the center of Bergmann’s “New Work” concept. Within the company, the focus is on the way teams work together: flexible structures, agile methods, mobile working and networking. Distributed teams and flexible office solutions bring diversity into the company in terms of employees. A larger pool of talent can thus contribute to a company in a more flexible way. Interaction and communication are being rethought. This requires a continuous development of the corporate culture that supports this new working world.

The Corona pandemic has accelerated the change in the world of work many times over
The use of home offices now shows that many office jobs can easily be performed away from the company’s headquarters (provided the Internet connection is right). 55% of all employees subject to social insurance contributions state that their job can be performed at least partially in a home office. This corresponds to around 23.3 million employees (source: Bitkom Research 2020). Many employees save themselves long commutes, often up to several hours a day. Almost 80 percent of employees who currently work from home rated the time saved and the lack of stress due to the commute as very positive. The resulting better work-life balance was confirmed by 56% (Bitkom Research 2020). Activities that require a high level of concentration can also be done very well at home, depending on the circumstances. Half of all employees even speak of a productivity gain (Bitkom Research 2020).

For many, working from home is not an exclusive option
However, surveys in social networks also show that working from home may not be the exclusive option. Many find it difficult to separate their private and business lives within their own four walls, especially since only about half of all employees have a separate office or study. In 34% of cases, the kitchen or living room is converted. In nine percent of cases, work is done out of the bedroom (study: Frauenhofer IAO, Homeoffice Experience). One in three even states that they work more (in terms of working hours) in the home office (Bitkom Research 2020). If an inadequately equipped home office is added to this, the mental and physical health of employees suffers in the long term. Nevertheless, the desire to be able to use the home office regularly even after the pandemic is very high. 76% of those currently working in a home office would also like a mix of work locations in the future (EY 2020′ Transformation of the world of work). 84% are basically of the opinion that their working style will be more flexible in terms of space and time in the future (study: Frauenhofer IAO’ Homeoffice Experience). It is therefore important to develop future-proof models that further promote the gain in flexibility and still represent a healthy balance. Of particular interest are those concepts that manage to promote the new achievements and at the same time eliminate the negative aspects mentioned above. In this context, the aspect of working close to home in third locations is always at the center of the discussion.

avegoo facilitates the organization of location-independent work

In the Tech Startup School project “New Work”, the avegoo team looked at the experience of employees* working from home and at the company headquarters. It became clear that third work locations are an important pillar for New Work concepts. In addition to the home office and the corporate work location, avegoo enables the flexible and location-independent use of mobile workplaces. The core of avegoo’s solution includes a platform for companies. This allows the booking of workstations for all employees to be centrally viewed and systematically accounted for. Further gadgets such as incentives are planned. With the matching app, employees book a variety of work locations in rural and urban areas. In the future, a chat function will enable exchange with other avegoo users. In the first half of 2021, the team will invest in the further technical development of the platform and app and also further expand the nationwide network of work locations. Collaboration with first mover companies will also be continued and private individuals will be given the opportunity to use the app for themselves. Funding from the Start-up BW pre-seed program has already been promised. With the platform and app solution, the four founders want to make it easier for companies to keep track of a large number of employees and their work locations in the long term, while at the same time meeting the demands for a flexible workplace. Even after the pandemic, the change in the working world accelerated by Corona will continue to have an impact and will remain in many companies in the form of flexible workplace design.

Your contact to avegoo

 

Logo von avegoo

 

Would you like to offer work locations via the avegoo app or enable flexible working for your employees as a first mover? Your contact at avegoo: Anja Pfäffle (Co-Founder avegoo), anja.pfaeffle@avegoo.de | avegoo.de

 

About the Tech Startup School (TSUS)

The Tech Startup School in Balingen connects business ideas, problems or innovation topics of companies with people interested in founding a startup, puts together interdisciplinary teams and accompanies 10 weeks of business design until the final pitch, the founding of a startup and beyond. Those interested in founding a company receive know-how for the development of a business model that can be financed, and companies are offered the opportunity to spin off a startup. In the meantime, ten shareholders from Lake Constance to Zollernalbkreis and Stuttgart are involved in TSUS. Thomas Hoffmeister and Jürgen Schäfer form the management of the Tech Startup School.

Would you like to spin off an innovation project, a problem or a trendy topic into a startup and initiate a TSUS project for this purpose? Your contact at TSUS: Monika Uziel (Project Management), monika.uziel@tech-startup-school.de

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