Trusting the Hybrid Work Environment

A question that may challenge your thinking is based on a dated mental model: Which is more important for you? a) how the work gets done; or b) the result of the work?

The answer seems to be obvious yet one of the challenges employees face in working remotely is having their manager over-involved in how the work gets done, versus, trusting that it will.

Years ago, I had a friend tell me, “I work hard, get things done, achieve my results…and it doesn’t take me a lot of time.” In other words, he was productive. As a result, he had more flexibility in his life to achieve work-life balance. The mental model of ‘time is money’ made sense in a highly industrialized world – the more widgets, the better. Today, with a high degree of knowledge work, we must shift our focus to results-orientation.

In the book “How to Thrive in a Virtual Workplace”, Robert Glazer states that remote working has numerous benefits, and certainly with the high cost of living in Vancouver, these benefits are even more true. These include an ability to live and work in more affordable areas, no time and energy spent commuting to an office, motivation through greater autonomy on the how and when of work, reduced office space, and far more work-life balance if employees manage themselves effectively.  Remote and hybrid work not only provides employees with improved lifestyles, it also makes organizations much more marketable to prospective employees.

What this means to your organization is that values and culture should align to and enable this paradigm shift and then processes, technologies, policies and meeting culture should enable fairness and access for all types of employees so that collaboration and teamwork is optimized.

But without trust all efforts to optimize remote work may fail. Here are some ways to manage in a hybrid work environment:

  1. Shift your mental model to a results focused one
  2. Set clear role and goal expectations for everyone in the team
  3. Create a weekly meeting for all team members to check-in on progress, needs and opportunities
  4. Identify ways to support each team member and meet regularly with them to check-in
  5. Develop mutually agreeable behavioural guidelines for the entire team to follow
  6. Proactively manage perceived fairness – for example, many at a work location believe they may be working harder which is not necessarily the case
  7. Work with remote workers in setting up their remote office environment effectively
  8. Know at the end of the day that remote workers are likely working more hours without ‘office distractions’

Leading in a hybrid world requires trust, integrity, and creating an environment of psychological safety.  Like any top performing team, manage in a way where all employees feel empowered to communicate, address conflict, support each other, and collaborate effectively to achieve results.  Lastly, don’t forget about those not in the office. Working in isolation isn’t always easy – reach out and create opportunities to meet, train, team build, and socialize.

Kwela’s Leading Hybrid Teams workshop offers fundamental principles of effective team leadership when leading hybrid teams, while placing a special emphasis on conquering the specific inherent challenges.

Glen Sollors, Partner
glens@kwelaleadership.com