Organisations as Communities
I’ve been involved in two fascinating discussions this week – one with members of the Better Way network where we were exploring how roles might change to support relationships becoming more front and centre in the way we approach things. And one with a new network developing a BeHumanKind framework – a way of putting being human at the heart of organisations.
The concept of organisations - in this case public sector ones - viewing themselves as communities was suggested.
Rather than being about hierarchy, and imbalances of power, and places where we leave our personal lives at the door, organisations could be supported to see themselves as a community within a wider ecosystem, or rather a collection of communities – of place, association and interest. Where the principles which support those communities - the same ones which underpin most relationships - behaviours, common purpose, values, skillsets, shared power - are highlighted, understood and nurtured. Where the very human nature of our lives is seen as a vital component of organisations, rather than compartmentalised (and often excluded) by the arbitrary notions of professional and private.
Lock-down has reminded us all about the kindness embedded in our communities, but also the resources – the energy, time and skills - which are embedded there too. Like a good relationship, these need continued and consistent investment to be released and thrive. For organisations to become communities, we will need to think again about trust, the structures which promote it, and how it can support self-managing teams – already successful in the Netherlands and coming to a team near you soon. We’ll need to think again about boundaries, particularly in health and social care settings where for decades they have been a central theme in staff training and safeguarding. We’ll need to re-examine what it is which creates dependent relationships in organisations and how they can become perhaps more reciprocal, more self-reliant and then more resilient – another of the themes we’ve been exploring in the Better Way network.
In our discussion, we were reminded about the many ways in which the walls between personal and private have been broken down as a result of the lock down experience; how Zoom has been the great leveller, a democratisation of the workplace if you will. This shift in power was an unintended consequence of lock down.
Now there is an opportunity for our organisations to do something more conscious, more deliberate - acknowledge that power can come from the people who work in them - ultimately a force far greater than the artificial power invested in or created by those organisations themselves.
It would be brave. But perhaps now is the time.
Ben Collins is a freelancer, exploring ways to create more relational services, communities and organisations.
