The internet is full of websites which are offering a toolbox, playbook or kit—each of them with their own focus. And we love them. Especially the toolboxes about the future of work
There are so many definitions for toolboxes. Originally it is a box with tools for your DIY projects. But in our context, this one is the most accurate: The set of guides, programs or functions accessible from a single menu.
For example, Liberating Structures. A website full of liberating workshop forms you can use to give just enough structure to a session. It provides a menu of thirty-three Liberating Structures to replace or complement conventional practices. We use them a lot in our sessions.
Toolbox toolbox
Now there’s a solution to the overwhelming number of toolboxes. And it’s called Toolbox Toolbox. Created by the lovely people Jenny Theolin and Jim Ralley. They describe their site as “A curated list of the best business, design, and organisational change toolboxes built by some of the most influential companies, institutions and thinkers in the world.”
The list includes toolboxes from IDEO, Microsoft and IBM. You can browse through all the toolboxes they curated here.
Future of work toolboxes
Now in the space of Future of Work, there are a lot of toolboxes to use. A couple of toolboxes you could use when you are designing the future of work, and we are using ourselves:
And they are not the only ones on the list; we are too! The following resembles our entry:
This toolbox contains 49 tools on a simple online platform. They each have a short description and step by step process guide.
It has been designed to help people reinvent organizations by taking small steps (what they call ‘prototypes’) towards working differently. From simple things like ‘stopping meetings’ to larger things like ‘self-managed firing’.
It was created by Prototyping.work, based in Amsterdam.
In the meantime, we have over 55 practices and counting. And we keep on creating new practices to create an even more valuable toolbox for you. And by sharing your feedback, our toolbox will become even better!
Let us know what toolboxes you love in the comments below.