Tussitaikurit is Finland's leading animated video maker, creating sophisticated communication material for companies, universities and other communities. The organisation has been kept flat and employees have the possibility to organise their own work in a very flexible way. On the other hand, due to the project nature of the work, there is a strong cyclical nature to the workload and sometimes periods of busyness have been a challenge.

Developments from the well-being at work survey

In Tussitaikure, the annual well-being at work survey was carried out by the pension company Elo, which showed that things were reasonably good, but on the other hand, a few issues emerged as areas for improvement. This is often the case with staff surveys: things are mostly going well, with a few problems that need to be discussed. In the case of the duvet drivers, these were mainly recovery, ability to work, feedback and skills development.

How to use the findings in a solution-oriented way?

When issues such as lack of recovery or challenges in work ability come up and are dealt with as a group, the discussion often naturally turns to reflection and analysis of the problems. However, in a group situation, it would be better to deal with issues in a solution-oriented way and leave any problem structuring to one-to-one discussions. In this way, differences between individuals and any special needs can be better taken into account and not lost in generalisations generated by the group situation. 

The cushion makers decided to use the SmoothTeam discussion tool to address the results of the well-being survey in a solution-oriented way. The aim was to find solutions and share good practices within the group. Six topics were chosen from the survey: energy, recovery, work capacity, feedback, skills development, and development and experimentation.

For each topic, a solution-oriented angle was found to guide the discussion. Examples of questions were: "When I feel energetic at work, it is probably because..." or "What is the single most important factor in my ability to continue to work well?"

The discussion was much appreciated by the participants. It also addressed problems, but most of the time focused on solutions. The intention was not to hide problems or not to address them.

"My experience of the approach and the tool was very positive. I can warmly recommend SmoothTeam for post-work wellbeing and similar surveys! The implementation was simple and straightforward and engaged the participants to find solutions together. During the discussions we also learned new things about each other and for example about what kind of things each of us felt particularly stressed about. This information will enable us to better take account of individual differences from within." says Petra Karinen, CEO of Tussitaikuri.