When it comes to hybrid work, don't confuse space with place.
Positive Minds | Positive Quotes | Edition 005
Covid-19 has reshaped where we work and how we work. For years hybrid work was an exception; nowadays, it's the new normal, and there is no going back.
While the corporate sector has welcomed the hybrid work, the development and humanitarian organisations are still struggling and, worse, resisting to adapt. In my opinion, two challenges explain their resistance.
The first challenge is their business model requires many boots on the ground to do the work and deliver the impact to the most vulnerable. Development and humanitarian organisations must adapt their programme and operating models to address this challenge to work more with and through local partners.
The second challenge is the binary way of seeing work as either "in-person" or "remote", which is restrictive and creates tensions and conflicts. Managers struggle to address the "hybrid work paradox: people want the flexibility of remote work, and they also want the inspiration and ease of in-person. (Ref. Beyond the Binary: Solving the Hybrid Work Paradox, by WorkLab newsletter).
Employers should distinguish between "place" and "space" to address this paradox.
"A space is just where we're located. A place is where we act. It's like the difference between a house and a home. A house might keep out the wind and the rain, but a home is where we live.… A space is always what it is, but a place is how it's used."
- Human-computer interaction (HCI) Steve Harrison and Paul Dourish.
