Teams from all around the world are confronted with significant issues related to the space-time relationship of work. The cessation of in-person collaboration results in what Jean Parlong, a human resources lecturer at EM Normandie, refers to as “gaps of meaning”: “A gap of meaning is missing knowledge that leaves me perplexed, unable to make sense of a situation due to a lack of critical resources.” Where is this coworker I am unable to contact? What is he up to? At the office, the range of alternatives is constrained by the company’s boundaries – and the coffee machine is never far away. At home, however, ambiguity reigns and the imagination runs wild.

There may be some parallels between work as we have known it and ancient theater; particularly when the Aristotelian three unities – space, time, and action – are considered.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, the majority of us went to work and worked 9 to 5. However, following years of transformation, home offices and new workspaces are reshaping these three pillars.

Here are 2 of these pillars to think about:

Space unification: fostering trust

Regardless of the demise of a single physical area – the office – it is critical to retain a sense of unity. “More and more, we use collaborative workspaces, such as Klaxoon or something similar. They allow us to collaborate and observe how we contribute to cooperation,” another expert, Alexandre Beaussier, explained. He sees a direct correlation between engagement and the capacity for action provided by these tools as a partner at Humans Matter, an international cognitive design studio.

Alexandre Beaussier, Partner at Humans Matter, stated, “We are increasingly utilizing communal workspaces, such as Klaxoon or others. They enable us to collaborate effectively and observe how our efforts contribute to collaboration.”

To act, there must be an element of faith. As it appears, trust may become a psychological unit of the workplace in and of itself. Not only trust, but also empathy, open-mindedness, the capacity to make mistakes, and psychological safety, among other characteristics. There were so many concepts that came up over these 50 seminars, and there were so many responses to this basic opening question: “What does involvement mean to you?”

“Partnership is founded on trust,” Fernanda Arreola, Dean of Faculty & Research at ISC Paris, stated. “As a result, we must consider how to demonstrate to our people that we trust them.” And she said that this begins with “exemplarity” and “coherence.” Indeed, it may be difficult to believe that someone believes in us when a daily barrage of emails screams micromanagement and surveillance.

Time unity: establishing rituals

Each class made a point of emphasizing the ongoing flow of unopened emails, as well as the abundance of interminable meetings. The latter has a considerable effect on disengaging people, with many arguing about the optimal time of the event: Exactly twenty minutes? How much time do you have? Thirty minutes? A half-hour? Fortunately, a war of numbers has been avoided, and the topic has naturally shifted toward the power of rituals, those scheduled meetings, and our new time units for hybrid work.

Their efficiency would be based on another critical number: one. As in a single ceremony, a single goal. Clearly expressed – and ideally co-defined – the objective encapsulates the collective intelligence moment’s purpose. A moment when each person feels more engaged because he or she understands precisely what role to play.