Beyond the coffee machine: how to team up despite the distance?

Expert

Is collective work possible remotely?

Our habit of working 100% on site seems to make us mistakenly confuse co-presence and cooperation. That's according to a 2009 study of 80 software development teams in 28 labs around the world^[1]. She revealed that teams located in the same building but on different floors could perform less well than teams dispersed over the same city, country or continent. For a simple reason: the former tend to underestimate the obstacles to communication and collaboration, whereas the latter are much more attentive to them and work to structure their organizational processes (organization and monitoring of tasks, formal communication) and socio-emotional (mutual aid and cohesion, informal communication).

Thus, the physical co-presence in the same room, even equipped with a coffee machine, does not in any way ensure the cooperation of individuals. The latter requires thoughtful organizational work that is not satisfied with the magical powers attributed to spatial proximity.

 

Can the work collective stay at a distance?

In the same spirit, physical proximity has little to do with relational proximity and social connection. The latter feed above all on a common identity and shared references at the social and cognitive level.

Research in the human sciences initiated the shift in the 1970s, a time when we witnessed "a questioning of the classic conceptions of social groups necessarily implying co-presence and spatial proximity between members" in favor of a conception " sociocognitive of the group”^[2]. Thus, being close physically does not necessarily imply being close emotionally. An execrable neighbor on the landing (or office) is good proof of this! In this regard, remote work also seems to allow some employees to escape conflictual^[3] situations and reduce differences^[4] with their colleagues.

A survey carried out following the first confinement revealed that 72% of French employees questioned believed that their relations with their colleagues had improved.^[5].

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So many studies that encourage us to review some of our conceptions of collective work and social ties in business. As we can see, this research is far from new and it is high time to draw the necessary conclusions. The organization of remote work, and in its wake that of hybrid work, requires reviewing our organizational and managerial concepts. Undoubtedly, research in the humanities and social sciences can help leaders and managers in their thinking.

Release date: January 2022