Embodying self-leadership and distributed leadership in the Swedish Public sector: developing practices for sustainable hybrid workplace

This project aims to use participatory action research to support public sector actors to move from mere policies and strategies towards prototyping and embodying practices for self-leadership and distributed leadership in everyday work, contributing to sustainable hybrid workplaces.

The purpose is to find practices that support the Swedish public sector institutions to move from traditional top-down management towards more participation and bottom-up engagement with increased competences for self-leadership and distributed leadership.

This can enable more purpose-driven organisation with self-organised teams that take decisions closer to and with the citizens. It can also improve learning, well-being, engagement and experienced meaningfulness at work among employees.

The participatory action research process is facilitated through co-creation, co-reflection, shared analysis of data and dissemination of knowledge.

Different research methods are used in the process, from questionnaires, journaling, art-based methods, interviews, focus groups and field observations.

The learning of participants, data collection and analysis takes place on two levels: within a learning community of ‘change agents’ from each participating organisation and within selected pilot teams in the participating organisations.

Each participating organisation has a change agent team that is driving the prototyping of new practices for self-leadership and distributed leadership with the selected team(s) in their own organisation.

At the same time, each change agent team is part of the shared learning community formed between participating organisations in which knowledge is exchanged and co-created between organisations, and researchers, through different forms: workshops, shadowing, coaching, co-facilitation, co-creation of toolbox and interorganisational-team exchange.

Researchers will facilitate data collection and a shared data analysis both within and between participating organisations.