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CharterPro: What research says about effective helping cultures

27 Mar 2025
As more organizations embrace flexible roles that allow workers to collaborate across functions and flex different skills, researcher ColinFisher warns that this approach might also have an unintended consequence: a culture of “unhelpful help.”

Originally found at CharterPro.

As more organizations embrace flexible roles that allow workers to collaborate across functions and flex different skills, researcher Colin Fisher warns that this approach might also have an unintended consequence: a culture of “unhelpful help.”

The term describes situations in which “someone agrees to help but then they deliver nothing or something that the receivers don't value,” and it can become more common as workers start to craft their own roles if leaders don’t maintain clarity around expectations and responsibilities, explains Fisher, an associate professor at the University College London School of Management and author of the forthcoming book The Collective Edge.

When unhelpful help becomes chronic, it can “fundamentally shape the outcomes of your work and your relationship with the organization,” he says, leading workers to feel unsupported and burnt out. In a recent research paper (Academy of Management Discoveries) focused on helping norms at one global design consultancy, Fisher and colleagues found that up to 25% of help received was unhelpful to the recipient. We reached out to Fisher to discuss the findings and his recommendations for workers and leaders.

Continue reading the original article at CharterPro.

Read the original research in Academy of Management Discoveries.

Read the Academy of Management Insights summary.

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