The Smarter Working Checklist

Get ready to start 2024 with a renewed focus on working smarter.

We work with organisations across government to develop smarter working practices, drawing upon extensive data insight and years of experience delivering the Smarter Working programme.

Here are some pointers to get you started on your smarter working journey:

1. Promote mental and emotional wellbeing. Encourage activities that promote a healthy lifestyle and good mental wellness. Incorporate opportunities to check in with each other on a regular basis. Consider appointing trained mental health first aiders in your organisation.
2. Engage with different personalities. Every workplace has a combination of characters and personality types. What works to motivate a particular employee, may not necessarily help others. Get to know your team and find out what makes them thrive and what they find challenging.
3. Apply a fair employee policy. Take care to ensure that all policies and practices are inclusive and fair for all employees. Carefully assess any impacts that changes may have.
4. Be Healthy. Promoting healthy behaviours such as eating well, staying hydrated and getting good quality sleep will make a big difference to resilience, engagement and productivity levels.
5. Safety first. Consider how you ensure your team’s safety at work. Review areas such as lone working and give careful consideration of DSE and workplace adjustment requirements and corporate safety measures.
6. Smarter workspaces. Working in a clean and comfortable office can have tremendous effects on the interactions among colleagues and their well-being. Consider how you use your spaces, how welcoming your building is when you enter and the options available for different activities and individual working preferences.
7. Break time. Another great way to create a healthy workplace environment is by encouraging your team to take regular breaks. Regular breaks will assist to relieve muscle fatigue, eyestrain and to restore the level of concentration. Encourage flexibility but discourage long hours to ensure a good work/life balance.

We deliver smarter working support as part of our Workplace Services offer and Consultancy Services. We also run a Smarter Working Community of Practice with regular events and shared experiences.