Managing Relational Space in a Diverse Workplace, 1019 COBJ, Vol. 48, No. 9 Pg. 8
| Author | By JOHN HISKI RIDGE, J. |
| Position | Vol. 48, 9 [Page 8] |
LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
By JOHN HISKI RIDGE, J.
Business journals and online forums are filled with leadership advice nowadays, and much of it is good advice. We are living in an era rich in leadership studies.
On the other hand, much of the literature is simply "pop culture" advice, filled with one-sentence aphorisms and truncated precepts that ring well on social media but do not apply in functional workplaces. Moreover, much of the advice is presented as if a single theory is relevant to all workplaces, which is not true. There are many different types of workplaces, with many different types of employees having many different types of working styles, and no single leadership theory can apply to all of them.
But there is one thing that permeates all workplaces: employee relationships. Leaders need to know how to manage these relationships for both die good of their companies and die success of their employees. This article discusses a new theory about managing relational space in our workplaces. This theory applies to many workplaces, but particularly to workplaces striving for full and complete diversity.
A Thought Experiment
Let's borrow from high school physics for a minute and think about our workplaces in terms of space.
A basic law of physics states that two objects cannot occupy die same location at die same time.1 A consequence of this law is that, in any given volume of space, there is a limited amount of matter that can occupy that volume. If one piece of matter expands in that limited space, then another has to recede to provide room. And if one shrinks or disappears, then another has room to increase its size.
This is analogous to our workplaces. On any given team, there is a limited amount of space that can be occupied. When one employee takes up space, that is space another cannot occupy. As a result, when one employee grows, another must shrink. And when one employee shrinks, there is room for others to grow.
The Space Employees Occupy
Most teams have some employees who occupy a disproportionate amount of available space. There are many valid reasons for this. Some employees take up space by virtue of being in a leadership role. Others do so because they have extensive experience and die willingness to equally and equitably share their expertise. And some take up space because they are especially creative or intelligent.
On die other hand, some employees take up more space than they actually need, perhaps because they have dominating characteristics or the need to feed egos driven by the exercise of authority. We even see this spatial grab in junior employees who think that capturing space is a successful tactic in climbing the corporate ladder. These employees grow their space by speaking loudly, controlling discussions, asserting their views, exercising their wills, and speaking poorly of other team members. In doing so, they decrease the space that others occupy, sometimes significantly so.
In contrast, there are those employees who take up very little space on a team. Some may not have a leadership role and therefore do not require a lot of space. Some may be experiencing family crises or heath struggles...
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