How can location and time-flexible working be managed healthily and effectively?
The new FlexAbility Self-Learning Training (FlexAbility-Selbstlern-Training) created by the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA) is intended to provide practical guidance and convey a diverse range of strategies and suggestions with the help of practical exercises, videos, and audio recordings.
First and foremost, it is employers who bear the responsibility for occupational safety and health, and the appropriate management of working conditions. Apart from this, self-management is an important competency for those who have to cope with location and time-flexible working.
This is the starting point for the FlexAbility training. Based on up-to-date scientific findings, it takes a resource-oriented approach, which means activating personal strengths, such as self-regulation. If this results in employees managing their own work more autonomously and healthily, it can improve their well-being, ability to recover, and work-life balance.
These recommendations for employees who have to work some or all of the time away from permanent workplaces and without fixed working hours have been developed and evaluated as part of a BAuA research project.
Aims of the training
If you take the FlexAbility course, you will learn to
- consciously set boundaries between your work and private life
- effectively organise yourself and your working day in a healthy way consciously take rest breaks and spend your leisure time doing things that help you recover
- make better use of your competencies and strengths to cope with the location- and time-flexible work you do
- and to manage your working day in sustainably healthy and effective ways
Target group and requirements
The FlexAbility training's target group are employees who work at least some of the time from home, at various locations, or on the move and would like to do a training that enables them to address the challenges of location and time-flexible work, and change how they manage their own work.
Benefits
- You will take part in a training that
- You will not incur any costs
- You will be given information about topics such as switching off from work, recovery,, and how to find your own work-life balance
- This trainingwill help you acquire strategies for coping with the challenges of flexible work designs
- has been specially developed for professionals who work flexibly in terms of location and time
- is based on scientific findings and theories
- and has been scientifically evaluated
Audiovisual introduction
The FlexAbility training consists of six modules focused on different topics. Our experience is that it takes about forty to sixty minutes to complete each module.
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To achieve the aims that have been mentioned, you will learn new exercises and strategies in each module. Give all the exercises a chance, even if they feel a bit unfamiliar to begin with.
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In addition, we will teach you a short daily exercise for the week ahead as part of each module. You should plan five to ten minutes every day for this.
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You will become familiar with many new exercises and strategies during the FlexAbility training. You can find an overview of the different exercises and strategies covered by the modules towards the end of the training manual.
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You will often be asked to do written exercises, make notes or write down your thoughts. You can enter your notes directly in the text fields.
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There will be lots of opportunities to watch and listen to various materials as the training goes on. We will always provide you with the texts to our video and audio recordings.
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