I’m rooting for a ‘flipped’ workplace. Here’s why

I first heard of the ‘flipped’ classroom method while taking a teaching module at my university one semester. It sounded enormously exciting, moving most of the reading and information-delivery outside the classroom. Content was to be provided by teachers before class, for students to read and absorb in their own time. Class time would be spent on engagement with the concepts already indicated in the texts provided to students. In class, students would discuss issues and work on exercises. Activities normally considered homework would be pursued in class.

The ‘flipped’ classroom enthralled me and because I’ve been teaching a semester at uni, I know something about how to put it in practice.

But that’s not why I’m writing about ‘flipped’ classrooms today. I came across a Quartz piece on ‘flipped’ workplaces. The article basically said that ‘flipped’ workplaces are the way to go. “Productive individual work is done outside of the office, on your own time, in your own place, at your own pace. Consequently, the office transforms into a space purely dedicated to meeting people, asking questions, brainstorming, and making unexpected connections. Liberated from enforcement of time-based productivity, managers don’t need to be babysitters. Instead they are coaches, enablers, and facilitators focused on unlocking each employee’s unique value to the entire organization.”

Imagine a manager who operates like a coach. Just like the teacher, who becomes a “guide by your side” rather than the “sage on the stage”.

I’m rooting for a ‘flipped’ workplace.

Originally published at https://www.rashmee.com on July 20, 2019.