Aumla Winning with Wellbeing
Work smarter, not harder – creating sustainable ways of working
Full calendars, constant interruptions and endless digital messages. Miriam Sundholm talks with Magnus Bornäs, who has spent many years helping organisations build smart, sustainable ways of working, about clarity, prioritisation and shared ways of working – and why personal productivity can’t solve an organisational problem.
Magnus BornäsWays-of-working designer at Growlabs
The conversation is in Swedish.
We are each other’s work environment
Despite having more tools than ever, many people feel there isn’t enough time for what matters most. Working life has become more complex: more digital channels, collaboration across borders and different expectations of where information lives and which channel to use. That creates friction.
Personal productivity isn’t enough
Magnus describes three levels that need to work together: personal effectiveness (how individuals plan and prioritise), collaborative effectiveness (how people work and communicate together) and leadership effectiveness (how leaders create clarity and conditions).
Personal productivity can never fix a system error.
Clarity and workload are leadership responsibilities
When initiatives are launched without a clear purpose, frustration and unnecessary strain follow. Managers need to answer: why are we doing this, what matters most, where do we start and what is expected of us? Asking employees how much is on their plate isn’t micromanagement – it’s checking whether demands, resources and conditions add up.
Start small and agree the rules of the game
Developing ways of working doesn’t have to be a huge change project: pick one concrete problem, take a small first step, test, learn and improve. Agree shared principles for collaboration, decisions and channels – and stop running everything as urgent communication.
AI can help – but we must keep thinking
Magnus sees great potential in AI for drafting and processing information. His principle: think first, then use AI to develop and improve.
Key takeaways
- We are each other’s work environment – our ways of working affect colleagues’ stress.
- Personal productivity can never fix a system error.
- Clarity about purpose and priorities is one of the manager’s most important tasks.
- Start small and agree shared rules for collaboration and communication.
