Freedom, trust and responsibility - Full flexibility for team leaders

Thank you all. First of all, has anything changed since the full flextime system started?

I mainly do direction, but there are times when I'm busy and times when I'm not, so I work according to that.

Personally, I'm not good at mornings, so I used to run from the station every day to make it to the morning assembly on time. Now, I don't have to come at 10 o'clock, so I don't have to run anymore.

I've been going to the gym for a while, but even though I planned to go after work, there were many days when I couldn't make it. Now I can go before work, so I've been able to go consistently. I've been able to balance my work and private life.

I also want to go to the gym like Mr. Dojo and go golfing on my free weekdays. I just want to do it, but I haven't been able to do it yet (laughs).

Mr. Yamanaka, how long have you been working in the dojo team?

I first joined the company as a part-timer, then became a full-time employee. Even after the full-flex system was introduced, the part-time work hours remained the same, 10:00 to 19:00. When I was deciding to join the company as a full-time employee, the fact that there was a full-flex system was one of the deciding factors for me to work here.

That was an important point for you, Mr. Yamanaka.

I think everyone has a different biological clock, so I think it's good to be able to decide for yourself. I'm the type of person who wants to decide for myself and push myself, rather than having someone else decide for me what time to do it.

That's stoic (laughs)

I often work until the last train, but I don't mind it. In fact, I want to work. I feel uneasy when I take a break while other people are working. Maybe I'm a bit of a workaholic.

I understand that feeling too. I want to get everything done today, so I end up working late. I'm a serious person at heart (laughs).

Since my previous job was at a design production company, I had the impression that working late into the night was common in production. Even after I joined Monosus, I often worked until the last train, but recently I've started to try to go home by 10 p.m. Due to the full flextime rule, I'm now prohibited from working after 10 p.m.

I think I've been cramming too much work into my head, and just thinking that it's okay if I finish it before the last train.

Now that we have full flextime and can set our own working hours, we have a stronger awareness of time. I feel that the team as a whole is working less hours.

Even so, I get the impression that everyone is still working late. Has your arrival time at work remained the same?

Everyone in my team almost always starts work at 10:00. We have a rule that we have to contact each other if we are there after 10:30. In operations work, we receive calls from customers frequently, and there are many cases that need to be dealt with immediately.

I'm glad that the contact points for the cases that I get contacted on a daily basis are handled by part-timers in my team. Emotionally, I felt it was strange that there were no full-time employees there when the part-timers were working from 10 o'clock.

This may be the opposite of the Kawarazaki team, but we rely a lot on part-time workers. Some of us have been working here for a long time, so we leave everything to them. In that sense, I think we are able to work with a sense of ease.

You are supported by part-time workers, aren't you? How is it at your place, Mr. Matsunaga?

In that respect, maybe I'm a bit of a mean person at heart, but I think it's fine if I'm not there. I think it's more efficient to consolidate reports and communications rather than have them come in all at once.

I want to spend more time with my family, so I've been experimenting with different working hours. For example, I've tried changing my days off to weekdays. I think it's easier to concentrate on work on weekends than on weekdays, and both I and my team members benefit from this.

I feel like there are a lot of things that people want to report or discuss quickly. Do you ever worry that something might happen?

Of course I'll answer the phone and come to work if something happens. Even though I'm off work, I want to be able to contact people if necessary. I think that the freedom I have now is also my responsibility.

Mr. Matsunaga, you've tried different times, such as changing to a morning type or going to bed later.

That's right. I'm thinking about getting into a rhythm where I start work at 1pm from now on. Personally, I'm being given a lot of freedom.

We don't have to change, but if we're holding back, I think it would be better if we all just complained about our own selfishness. That way we could find something we can all agree on. It would be a waste not to think about it, since we have such a great opportunity.

Of course, I think it depends on the person. I'm going to try a few things, so I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. Please let me know... Yes.

Mr. Matsunaga may be creating an atmosphere in which it is easy for others to use the system by proactively trying out different work styles himself. On the other hand, Mr. Kawarazaki gives the impression of protecting everyone who works there as a team leader.

It's not like I want to change my lifestyle. If I have plans, I don't hesitate to go home early, but I don't feel like I'm holding back. I think I'll keep going with the current rhythm for a while.

I think I'm conscious of not being able to make drastic changes because I often have to contact customers. So far, there haven't been any problems, so I'll continue.

I plan to set my core working hours between 9am and 6pm, but I also want to have some days where I go to the gym. I'll probably do about 30 minutes of strength training before going to work.

It seems like a very fulfilling life, and I want to emulate that.

Thank you everyone for today!