This post was informed by the discussion at the #CoproMondays members’ event held online on 10th January 2022. Our #CoproMonday sessions are fluid discussions with members, prompted by a series of questions or thoughts, where participants contribute their experience and knowledge, and learn from one another. Recordings are available if you’re a member or champion and you would like to catch up on the session content (email [email protected]).
Emma has summarised some salient discussion points in a series of posts. Our thanks to all those who participated.
We have spent the past two years working and co-producing online. While this shift has brought with it many benefits, there is also a sense of loss in terms of the ways in which we interact with one another. We’ve lost the incidental conversations on the edges of events or meetings, the kind that aren’t scheduled or even necessarily focused directly on productivity. Now that we have broadly adapted to the practical side of working online, we turn our thoughts to the human implications of being remotely and digitally connected - and how we can mitigate the downsides. This is part 4 of 4.
Curating a new normal
Working and co-producing online has both benefits and drawbacks. While we might struggle with the blurring of boundaries, it has also opened doors of possibility, enabling us to participate in civic life around busy diaries, caring commitments, or managing our health and energy levels. So rather than returning fully to in person interactions as soon as we are able, can we find a new normal that works for as many people as possible? We lost connection with whole sections of our communities when everything went online by default, exposing digital exclusion and skills gaps. What could a hybrid model look like, mixing in-person and online approaches? “One size fits all” was never the right approach before the pandemic, and it certainly won’t be afterwards either.