Implementing Sustainable Work Discussion Spaces (WDSs), a Challenge for Managers and Organizations

Abstract

Facing a socio-economic context which tends to increase conflicting objectives while keeping managers away from the reality of their teams’ work, some authors promote a management type based on a regular discussion on work issues. This implies to equip managers and organizations accordingly. In this perspective, about thirty managers from three establishments of the French Post Office were trained to conduct “Work Discussion Spaces” (WDSs) – i.e. meetings devoted to discussing work issues, regularly run by managers with their teams to concretely improve their work situations. A follow-up study was then conducted for two years, in order to apprehend the impact of the WDSs on work situations, management and organizations. This paper aims to show how these WDSs were actually implemented by the managers, how they transformed managerial practices, and what conditions are needed to implement sustainable WDSs. If WDSs have contributed to concrete improvements in work situations and to making some managers move toward more participatory practices, their effects remain local. These results call for a reflection within organizations, regarding the expected role of managers, the tools at their disposal and the leeway they have to better articulate strategic and operational logics.