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Hybrid Heroes

Hybrid Hero: mymuesli

Published:

February 2, 2022

Updated:

October 25, 2022

At mymuesli, there's not only variety in the cereal bowl, but also at the workplace. mymuesli team members can work flexibly from home or in the office - depending on their tastes. Find out how mymuesli has managed the transformation to a hybrid work model and what mymuesli's future work model will look like in this interview with Stefanie Zepf.

1. How does your current work model look like?

At the beginning of the pandemic, we all moved from our offices to the home office within a few days. Today, most of us work in the office or home office about half the time.

2. How do you plan the working model of the future? What will it look like, do you want to stay flexible?

We want to give our team members the flexibility they want. On the one hand, we want to be able to work well, and on the other hand, we want to maintain and promote our great and important team spirit. We have recently introduced so-called "hot desks". This means: Team members who work at least 3 days / week in the office have a fixed workstation. The other workstations are so-called hot desks and can be used as needed. With this we want to encourage our team members to continue working where it suits them best.

3. What role do your office(s) play right now and in the future?

We strongly believe that in the future our offices will be more places to meet than a fixed place to work. That's why we want to create a mix of fixed and flexible workspaces - ensuring that our team members can work well wherever they are.

4. What are your main learnings (in terms of your working model) from the last months / years?

We opened our Berlin office in 2013. Since then, we have already been working virtually with our teams. Starting in 2018, we have been using highly structured meeting formats to work on all operational topics as well as to further develop our structure. Especially in the challenges of the last 22 months, these meeting forms have helped us enormously to work in a focused way in the meetings and to drive our topics forward together.

5. What surprised you, what excited you, and what perhaps needed to be changed?

What absolutely thrilled us: In March 2020, we were already technically and organizationally well positioned so that the switch from the office to the home office could take place quickly and easily. Our IT had taken care of this well in advance and really helped us a lot.

Before the pandemic, we had a strong presence culture. Our team members like to work together in person and really enjoy spending time together. With the long period of virtual collaboration, what we miss most is the social interaction with other team members, the informal exchanges, and the creative collaboration. For us, the office is a central place for communication and exchange. Finding a virtual balance for this is something we are still working on.

6. Ms. Zepf: How and where do you work yourself, are there any particular routines? If so, why? And how do you work together with your team?

Since I primarily work with various teams, I am completely guided by their needs. For me, virtual workshops are just as much a part of everyday life as on-site meetings. For me personally, the decisive factor is not where I work, but under what conditions. For example, I always make sure I have enough light and fresh air, or that I take short breaks. What I have also noticed in the past few months: How important a check-in is at the beginning of meetings. I use this routine consistently and am grateful for many touching moments I have had with team members as a result. I really enjoy working in our office, as I get to meet many great team members then. But I also enjoy being able to work on topics at home in a more focused and undistracted way. Having this flexibility and freedom of choice is the most important thing for me.

Thank you very much Ms. Zepf and Team mymuesli for the insights into your working life.

Hybrid Hero: mymuesli

Julia

Julia Dejakum is a skilled brand and marketing manager with a specialty in hybrid work solutions. Known for her innovative strategies, she expertly blends brand development with the nuances of remote and in-person work environments.

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