"Monosus culture" is created organically through communication.
Web Director Izumi Kojima

Hello. I'm Sugimoto, a Kyoto-based writer who helps out behind the scenes at the Monosasu website.

It has been three years since Monosus introduced the full flextime system, and almost a year since it went fully remote. Now that Monosus members can decide when and where they work, how do they create an autonomous work style? And as people spend more time working individually, how is their attitude toward the "company" or organization changing?

" Freedom and Responsibility: Everyone's Systems and Work Styles Laboratory " is a series of interviews in which employees talk candidly about their current work styles. This time, we spoke with Izumi Kojima, who works as a web director and provides web operations services.

Foster a culture of flexible working

Sugimoto: When the full flextime system was introduced in January 2017, how did you work, Kojima-san?

Kojima: I was the manager of the Coding Factory (CF). Right after we went full flex, we had a lot of problems within the department, so it took a while to sort them out.

CF members were clearly divided into three types: those who continued to work at the same time, morning people, and night people . Then, there were cases where it became difficult to contact people outside the company because the time they came to work changed. Since it was said that "you can work whenever you like," it was difficult to know how much to intervene. As we continued with full flextime, some members left the company and are now involved as outsourced workers.

Sugimoto: I think the difficulty with freedom is that it can't be achieved by yourself. You probably need to coordinate with the people you work with.

Kojima-san is like a big sister to everyone. Her bright, husky voice cheers me up.

Kojima: That's right. It won't work if everyone does what they want. When we introduced FullFlex, Mr. Hayashi (Monosus' representative) gave us a thorough explanation of the overall framework, but the more specific the system becomes, the more problems arise.

Despite all the arguments, each person's working hours were decided, the people around them learned each other's habits, and although there were still some imperfections, it somehow became a routine.

Sugimoto: If you change the hours you work, it will affect your coworkers and customers. So unless you discuss with everyone, "Is it okay if we do it this way?", full flextime won't work.

Kojima: Each person has to get a proper agreement with the customers and the members they work with, and if the manager thinks that the understanding is weak, he or she has to take some kind of approach. Ideally, the members should have discussed it with each other and fostered a new culture with each other's initiative, but that process was quite difficult .

It's now easier to balance work and hobbies

Sugimoto: Personally, has the shift to full flextime changed the balance between how you spend your work and personal time?

Kojima: No, not really. I'm a workaholic and a Takarazuka fan, so I'm either working or going to the theater. Is that really the only two options? That's what it feels like.

Sugimoto: I can understand being a Takarazuka otaku, but being a work otaku! Does that mean you're an otaku who loves your work?

Kojima: I just love making things. I love the process of each person bringing their best parts to the table and making something into a reality . When I'm involved in that kind of work, I feel like I want to bring everything I have to the table, saying, "I've got this, I've got that, too."

Sugimoto: I see. As for Takarazuka, the full flex schedule has made it easier for people to go see the shows.

Kojima: Ah. The performances start at around 6:30, so I've gotten to the point where I can normally leave work at 5:30. Also, the performances of the people I like are all tightly packed together over a period of about a month and a half, so I want to go and see as many as I can if I can get tickets. In those cases, if I tell them in advance, "I'm going to be a real mess around this time, but I'm really sorry everyone," they'll make the necessary arrangements and send me off with a happy "Have a nice trip!".

A collection of Takarazuka-related items around Kojima's desk.

Sugimoto: What a great team! Has your basic arrival time remained the same?

Kojima: The tendency is that the busier you get, the earlier you come to work. At that time, I especially had to deal with both internal and customer matters. If I was lazing around (if a member of the department was having trouble and "burning"), I had to follow up. From the time the phone starts ringing from outside the company until around 8pm, there are a ton of meetings, so I can only create, think, and write documents in the morning when the phone isn't ringing. When I was busy, I sometimes went to work on the first train.

Sugimoto: Isn't it hard to go to work at 5am?

Kojima: Surprisingly, I'm fine with it. As long as I have a show and can drink (laughs). Also, when I was in the CF club, we all went out drinking together quite a bit. It was also a place to communicate with the other members, so half of the night was spent doing that, so I only had time in the morning.

Creating a fully remote working environment at work and at home

Sugimoto: I understand that you left your position as manager of the CF department and became involved with the web operations team in April 2020. At the same time, the spread of COVID-19 led to full remote work.

Kojima: Yes. I feel the same as Mr. Sakamoto, and the impact of full remote work was greater than that of full flextime .

First of all, the projects I work on for the clients have strict security management and access restrictions, so I basically have to come to the office to work. I had to prepare by setting up shifts with the people I would be working with and setting up a VPN connection.

As we began working fully remotely, we found that while we would previously work together with the team member sitting next to us, discussing "what should we do about this?" this was no longer possible when working entirely through the screen, so we had to set aside time for morning meetings and create an operational system to keep things running smoothly.

Sugimoto: Did you quickly get used to working from home?

Kojima: I couldn't work at home at all. That was probably the hardest part. In the end, I was able to walk to work at the office. So, other than communicating with other people, my life didn't change much.

Sugimoto: You've been working as a freelancer for a long time, so I thought you might be used to working from home.

Kojima: When I was a freelancer, I had a 2.5 tatami-sized carpet laid out, a desk and a shelf in it, and it was like a fortress where I could stay focused. It was fine because I could go there and get into work mode, but now my whole room is my relaxation space. It's a sanctuary, everything. I think it's important to make decisions for yourself.

By the way, when I moved rooms in the company dormitory where I was living and bought speakers so I could listen to music, I was able to work . I didn't think it would have that big an impact, but I think it's interesting.

Here are the speakers that Kojima-san bought. If it helps me get my work done, I might buy some too (but that's not what I'm talking about)

I can make a living as a freelancer, but I want to work for Monosus.

Sugimoto: I think the office space and the people who gather there are very important aspects of a company. When you went fully remote, did you ever think, "Isn't this the same as being a freelancer?"

Kojima: There aren't many people who think, "Why not quit your job and become a freelancer?" Before I came to this company, I thought, " If I stay a freelancer, wouldn't it be a waste if the skills I have are lost and not passed on to anyone? " There's no point in just working hard on my own, so I thought it might be a good idea to share my skills with someone.

Also, I came to the company because I wanted to work in a team while interacting with people, so I find it hard to imagine going back to being an individual now. When I was freelance, I was really just creating, and the only people I talked to were the directors of the client companies.

At work, just going there brings in some information. There is information that I can't reach on my own, which gives me the next stimulus of "I can do this," and also the input of "There are people like this." If I go to work every day, I'll meet someone, and although that kind of interaction is hard to see, it's still psychologically relieving. I'm very grateful for it.

Sugimoto: As a freelancer you've worked with a variety of clients and I'm sure you've received inquiries from other companies asking you to come work for them, but why did you choose Monosus?

Kojima: Going back a long way, I thought I wasn't cut out to work for a company, so I became a freelancer. The first company I joined was really big, so I found it really hard to keep up with the pressure to keep up with the others.

Sugimoto: I totally understand that (laughs).

Kojima: I started working independently because I wanted to work outside of a company. I happened to come across Monosus in 2012, and worked with them for a year. Monosus is a strange company, isn't it? It's like someone like me can communicate with them without any problems, and I thought, " Maybe I could join this company as a company employee? "

At that time, Miyagawa-san decided to start up Monosus Thailand. They were looking for a domestic director, so I joined as an outsourced director. After about half a year, I thought, "I want to be more involved with the people at this company," so I joined the company.

Sugimoto: It's true that Monosus doesn't have that "company-like" feel. We're not afraid of the company changing as a result of individuals changing, and we're more like we're challenging that.

Kojima: There's something about Monosus that is always exploring while communicating. It's not top-down, it changes organically with subtle changes. Some people have quit during the process, but in the end, the people who like this feel are the ones who stay and make the company. In terms of scale and the characters of the people, I feel like now is just right.

The ecosystem of members who create Monosus' work

Sugimoto: For people like you at Monosus, the transition to full remote work over the past year must have been a huge change. Is the company as a whole getting used to this new way of working?

Kojima: In the case of Monosus, we were already somewhat accustomed to remote work through our interactions with Monosus Thailand and our satellite offices in Suo-Oshima and Kamiyama. After three years of trial and error with the introduction of full flextime, we had to think about the hours we worked, and I think it was good that this step to full remote work came at a good time. So I think everyone was able to keep up and create the current form.

Sugimoto: I see. Finally, I'd like to ask about the people you work with. Do you think there are many people who, like you, "like to combine what they have and create interesting things together with others"?

Kojima: I think people are divided into those who like that kind of thing and those who don't. There are people who are like, "I'm going to be the Pirate King. That's it, leave the rest to me!" and there are people who are good at pushing forward with what they want to do. On the other hand, there are people who like to support those who wave the flag, and I feel like there aren't many people in between.

That's right. I think that turning 0 into 1, 1 into 10, and 10 into 100 are each person's areas of expertise . As a company, it probably won't work if we gather only people who do 0 to 1 and 1 to 10, so I think it's also very important to have people who can make things look like 10 to 100.

Sugimoto: It's like maintaining the balance of the ecosystem by creating things as a monolith.

Kojima: With the introduction of the business owner system last year, we are now focusing on people who are good at going from 0 to 1, or from 1 to 10, but unless there is a strong force of people who can go from 10 to 100, we won't be able to create a concrete system. Personally, I want to value people who are good at going from 10 to 100.

Kojima-san's crisp and lively way of speaking is just like her big sister! "When we went to full flex, we were split into three types," "Full remote work worked because there were three steps," and so on. Her structural perspective was impressive. At the same time, her speech, which is full of onomatopoeia such as "bo-bo" and "ton-ton," is very emotional, and her logical analysis is warm. I would like to hear Kojima-san talk about Takarazuka Revue from her perspective someday, but I'm sure it would be so passionate that it would burn me.

Kojima-san working hard wearing a Takarazuka T-shirt. His back is so cool!