CO-DIRE — Collective Approaches and Dialogue to Regulate Work
Business, Management and Services
New Ways of Working offer greater flexibility by enabling people to work remotely, at different times and with greater autonomy. While these developments can improve performance and work–life balance, they can also weaken workplace relationships by reducing informal interactions and opportunities for collective dialogue.
Against this backdrop, a key question arises: how can strong teams and genuinely collaborative work be maintained when team members are dispersed? One promising approach lies in “work discussion spaces” (WDSs): structured opportunities for employees to discuss their work, share the challenges they face and jointly develop solutions.
Although these arrangements have been associated with positive outcomes—particularly in terms of occupational health, workplace relationships and performance—the scientific evidence remains limited and is often based on qualitative studies. In particular, robust data are lacking on exactly how and under what conditions these spaces produce their effects, especially in flexible working environments.
The CO-DIRE project (Collective Approaches and Dialogue to Regulate Work) aims to address this gap by analysing the long-term impact of WDSs on well-being, engagement, cohesion and performance through an experimental approach. It will also seek to identify the underlying mechanisms and the conditions required for these arrangements to succeed.
Finally, the project will develop practical tools for organizations in French-speaking Switzerland: an easily replicable WDS model, training for managers and a support programme to facilitate implementation.
This project is funded by the HES-SO Economics and Management Project Support Programme (PEP E&M).