Whether the path is steep, the wall vertical or the ground eroded, the peaks of thought persist in pointing to the future

Juan La Veryce, 21:1003

NOTE.– To improve readability, this book has been written in accordance with standard grammatical rules. However, the authors wish to make it clear that the book is intended for everyone, regardless of gender.

With the digitalization of work, the spaces and temporalities of work and “out of work” have been totally reworked. Workspaces are multiple and heterogeneous (individual offices, flex offices, coworking spaces, home, public transport, etc.). The temporalities of work and those relating to personal, family and social activities are no longer delimited by the working day. The modalities of work, management and cooperation are being disrupted by digital technologies and the mediatization of relationships.

For a little more than a decade, there has been a renewed interest in mediated and remote work (formal or informal, occasional or regular, nomadic, at home or in dedicated third places), particularly in large organizations, which are totally re-structuring their spaces, but also the modes of access and occupation of these spaces. However, the effects of these new work environments and new work methods on the relationship with the organization and work, individual and collective practices, the articulation of professional and personal activities, and health and quality of life at work remain ambiguous.

The aim of this book is to report on the issues and impacts of recent or emerging forms of work. With this in mind, we will address three main themes:

• – The use of technology for professional purposes – particularly informal use – and its determining factors from an organizational and management point of view, as well as its impact on the quality of life at work and the health of employees (Part 1 of the book).
• – The organizational, collective and individual challenges of remote working – especially home-based telework – and the reconstruction of social, temporal and spatial reference points that this involves (Part 2 of the book).
• – Strategies for developing new workspaces – flex offices and coworking spaces, how they are used and their psychosocial impacts (Part 3 of the book).

Eight contributions support these three main themes, based on a review of international work in these fields and/or the results of empirical studies conducted by their authors. Each contribution also aims to give an overview of scientific knowledge and field practices. We therefore mention lines of thought and recommendations relating to approaches aimed at contributing to and supporting the digitalization of work and the transformation of workspaces and working conditions, where possible, within organizations.

The book brings together contributions (i) from researchers and practitioners who are experts in the three topics mentioned above, (ii) mobilizes various disciplines (work and organizational psychology, social psychology, ergonomics, information and communication sciences, management sciences), (iii) and has an international dimension (researchers and practitioners working in Italy, Belgium, Canada and France).

Chapter 1 deals with “spillover” work via digital technologies (C. Hellemans and É. Vayre). It proposes to characterize this notion by insisting on its objective and subjective dimensions. It presents the organizational factors of “spillover” work and its impact on health. Chapter 2 focuses on nomadic, informal and mediated work practices (M. Périssé, A.-M. Vonthron and É. Vayre). After defining what they cover, the authors, through an empirical study, illustrate what their repercussions are on recognition at work, organizational involvement and work–life balance. Chapter 3 deals with changes in organizational culture and leadership styles and their effects on work and workers (V. Dolce, M. Molino, C. Ghislieri and É. Vayre). It ends by questioning leadership 4.0 in the era of the fourth industrial revolution.

Chapter 4 reports on the challenges of teleworking from home from the point of view of employees’ health, their quality of life at work and management methods (É. Vayre, T. Gachet-Mauroz, J. Devif and C. Morin-Messabel). It targets in particular on the identification and prevention of risks associated with the deployment of this type of working. Chapter 5 proposes a specific focus on imposed teleworking, as experimented at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic (A.-S. Maillot, T. Meyer, S. Prunier-Poulmaire and É. Vayre). Based on a qualitative study, it addresses the way in which the reorganization of work, in this context, altered the subjective experience of work, the time structuring of the activity and professional relationships. Through the metaphor of the inhabited workspace, Chapter 6 reports on the practices of (re)creating different workspaces deployed by remote workers (C. Estagnasié, C. Bonneau, C. Vasquez and É. Vayre). The authors discuss the possible consequences of this re-materialization of work in spaces that were not originally designed for it.

The book concludes with a discussion of the phases of development of the flex office (Chapter 7), its effects on the organization of work and its users, and the organizational transformations that it could bring about (N. Cochard and D. Mincella). Chapter 8 presents the characteristics of coworking, but also the way in which work and work life within these spaces affect performance, productivity, socio-professional integration and the relationship between work and non-work life (J. Devif, C. Morin-Messabel and É. Vayre).

Although this book was originally conceived and designed before the Covid-19 pandemic, this context has strengthened the importance of the questions and issues it addresses. It should be read in the light of recent, current and future transformations. It sheds light on them both through the prism of earlier scientific work in the field, offering rigorously documented knowledge over time, and through more recent work, anchored in an unprecedented period, the duration and impact of which we cannot control.

Understanding recent and current forms of work, and building knowledge to fully grasp the issues and impacts, are resources for transforming organizations and work. This means: questioning the ways in which work and the conditions in which it is carried out are envisaged, defined and conceived; questioning decision-making processes, management, evaluation, coordination, leadership and cooperation methods; reconsidering the relationship to work, the attachment and identification with work organizations, the relationship to others, managers, teammates and collectives; rethinking the place that work occupies in our lives, the temporalities of work and workspaces and effectively the relationship between professional and personal life.

This book lists works that can enlighten and enrich reflections and explorations around forms of work organization, professional practices and work environments that are likely to be deployed and favored in the future (e.g. teleworking, remote management, coworking for employees, flex offices, homeworking, nomadism), taking into account the risks that the virus may resurge, that other pandemics may occur, or even that other types of crisis may arise.