Mobile work from abroad - these are the experiences of the CITT team
For the CITT as an agile organization, flexible working is part of everyday life - even across national borders. In the past few months, several CITT employees have taken the opportunity to move their mobile office abroad for a while and thus bring some holiday feeling into their everyday work. We asked two of them about their experiences.
Yoga with a sea view as the perfect start to the office day
Anna Füsser, Transformation and Qualification Advisor at CITT, swapped her home office in Frankfurt for the holiday home on the Côte d'Azur. To do this, she extended her vacation with her boyfriend by two weeks and, in addition to flip-flops and a yoga mat, also packed her laptop and monitor in the car. "Something like this needs some preparation and planning - and of course the approval of the manager. Luckily, my boss agreed immediately, and the official application was also super uncomplicated.”
On site, Anna started her working day with a morning yoga session on the terrace: "Of course, that's a completely different atmosphere than at home - with the sea view and the sound of waves in the background." After a successful day at work, Anna and her boyfriend rewarded themself with a jump into the Mediterranean Sea or excursions into the surrounding area. The conclusion of the two: "Next year again!"
Mobile office with a view of the hustle and bustle of the Spanish old town
Maike Wiets is also a transformation and qualification officer at the CITT and has extended the German summer with a "workation" stay in northern Spain. Since her boyfriend is currently in Burgos for a long time on business, the travel destination was quickly decided: "We were able to explore northern Spain together in our free time without me having to take an additional vacation - a pleasant side effect," says Maike.
An apartment in the heart of the historic old town served as a mobile office for the CITT employee - perfect for soaking up the Spanish attitude to life between meetings and drifting through the streets after work. "Working was hardly any different than from home - but I used my free time much more intensively than normally," says Maike in retrospect. A highlight was a weekend trip to Barcelona. The journey to the business trip to Toulouse, which followed on from her stay in Burgos, was also short: "Compared to Hanover, it was only a short hop to Toulouse, where I then accompanied the CITT TechTour." But Maike Wiets needs a break from traveling not even afterwards: "For next year I could imagine working from abroad again for a while - maybe Portugal...?"
Support from management: fresh ideas desired
Not only the employees of the CITT see the advantages of mobile working across national borders, but the managers also see added value in it. Daniel Böttge, Head of Diagnostics & Smart Learning Environments at CITT, is Anna Füsser's boss and approves of his employee's repeat plans: "As a manager, I am happy to support this - in the firm conviction that working outside the usual setting is not only increases job satisfaction, but often also provides fresh impetus.”