Management: the new collaborative spaces

As part of supporting a customer this year, we have set up Learning Expedition to allow participating managers to discover, among other things, companies and spaces that transform work and management. The last Learning Expedition focused on new collaborative spaces And the new ways of working in these places, reflections of the culture of organizations and strong principles of collaboration. An opportunity to discover the values that govern the life of these spaces and to meet the people who work there.

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When we talk about Nomad work, of teleworking Or of non-allocation of offices, it is not uncommon to see the shields rising: the obstacles and fears are still great when it comes to the status of the manager. Recently, we met an organization that admitted to us refusing the generalization of teleworking for fear that employees would abuse it and use it to make it a day of childcare. However, at Talentis, we are convinced that these new ways of working are only the tip of the iceberg, a sign that work must be reinvented to be based on values such as trust And theautonomy, intrinsic equality, and modern authority. Fearing these changes is natural: Change is scary. But, while generations Y and Z represent 50% of the workforce in companies this year and digital technology is transforming uses, it is urgent and necessary to reinventing our places of collaboration.

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This Learning Expedition was therefore built around three moments.

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First moment: Microsoft's collaborative space

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The first visit was to the Microsoft collaborative space, which has already existed for four years. The office structure is said to be “nomadic”: the offices are not assigned and the spaces are designed for group work.

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The office is now designed by its function and no longer by the person who occupies it, trades make offices. One of the people who testified summed up this new way of working for us: “my office is my PC”. Of the 1500 people in the company, only the CODIR has an office.

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While these spaces promote autonomy and freedom (of meetings, of sharing, of functioning), they require very great managerial rigor. It is now necessary to manage the moments of collaboration. Thus, rules of life have been adopted by everyone: a collaboration charter allows smooth functioning. Small rooms called “focus rooms” are also available for appointments or when employees need concentration.

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To strengthen the bond and the feeling of belonging in this great flexibility and to compensate for the increase in virtual spaces, a convivial space has been designed on each floor.

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Second moment: the SenseSpace

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The second visit allowed the group to discover a very recently opened space: the SenseSpace, 550m² created by MakeSense and dedicated to solving today's social and environmental challenges. Concretely, SenseSpace consists of fixed offices, coworking and event spaces. Sensespace welcomes:

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- the MakeSense teams and their volunteers

- social enterprises supported by the SenseCube accelerator

- startups and associations

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One person is in charge of the coordination and proper functioning of this place which stirs up ideas, youth and ping-pong games.

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However, make no mistake: SenseSpace is not a shared apartment and it is above all a workspace. Also, the rules of good manners and collaboration are applied by everyone (pay attention to noise in particular). To promote conviviality and sharing, a “barter my tips” is set up and allows everyone to use everyone's know-how. Meals are organic, cooked and taken together at lunchtime in the large kitchen.

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According to Mai-liên, the space manager, relaxation promotes creativity, an important foundation in the MakeSense method. According to her, the key factors for the success of such a space are trust and the visibility of what one does. But also to agree to make compromises. There is no star system, everyone is treated the same way, even the people whose startup is in the news. In fact, they don't have a cleaning lady and they do it themselves.

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Third moment: meeting with Alain D'Iribarne

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To end the day, Alain D'Iribarne, director of research at CNRS and president of the Scientific Committee of the Observatory of Quality of Life in the Office, came to give meaning to these two visits. An anthropologist by training, he works on intelligent open spaces and new ways of working. An opportunity to put these profound transformations, which are not just “trends”, into perspective.

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According to Alain D'Iribarne, workplace layouts can be real tools for managing change, but must necessarily be accompanied by explanations of the issues and rules of life.

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Today's labor economy requires project-based operation in which skills are shared: group work is mandatory. However, breaking down barriers is not enough. To make it a real management project and not just a real estate logic, all stakeholders must be involved.

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“The loss of an individual office is often experienced as a symbolic loss, less power than status, at a time when organizational charts are being flattened and the legitimacy of a local environment is being questioned by always asking for more.”

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Successful open workspaces are accompanied by personal work on yourself, your relationships with authority and with others. An open-space can upset reference points, so it is crucial to create others, a common frame of reference for functioning and solidarity. Explaining the objectives and the meaning of such a space is the guarantee of a project that meets the support of all.