Buildings & Cities (Aug 2023)
The challenges of hybrid work: an architectural sociology perspective
Abstract
An unwanted experiment of prolonged periods of working away from the office was forced on many societies by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the three years since the COVID outbreak, many organisations have shifted to hybrid work practices by mixing working from home with office-based work. Unsurprisingly, a plethora of both academic and grey literature has been published on hybrid work since 2020. This paper scans that literature in order to understand some of the most important questions emerging and compares these with the experience of a small sample of UK-based participants living and managing in this rapidly changing environment. Considering different disciplinary domains (human resources, management, architecture, real estate, technology), the literature in conjunction with the lived experience highlights real tensions surfacing between individual choices, worker wellbeing and organisational needs. Stuck in the middle of these perpetual conflicts are middle managers trying to make things work day-to-day. It is argued that the implications of hybrid work are potentially as profound as those of Taylorism in the early 20th century. Based on the foundations of architectural sociology, a holistic socio-spatial approach is proposed that responds to the rapidly changing world of work. Practice relevance Leaders of organisations need to pay attention to how profound are the changes imposed by hybrid work and to monitor their potential impacts. The dangers of not doing so are manifest as organisations run the risk of inadvertent discrimination and marginalisation, of creating siloes, of damaging their innovative capacity, and of burning out their employees. Middle managers are living with the tensions and conflicts caused by this revolution on a day-to-day basis. The changes in physical space and technology, although evident, are rarely quick or radical enough to strengthen the working practices already in place. Supporting the workforce by investing in these areas will help the transition to more effective hybrid work practices for everyone.
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