I am still hearing managers talking about when or how they will return to pre-pandemic ways of working.
- “We need to get everyone back into the office – we need to manage performance.”
- “There’s no point investing in our hybrid working approaches, it’s just a short-term blip”
- “We are more creative when we all work together.”
Maybe you’ve heard similar from your colleagues; maybe it’s you hoping to turn back the clock to how it was.
But this is a short-sighted view.
The changes we’ve seen – working from home, flexible working – have been coming for a long time. It’s just that the last few years have seen them taken out of a slow cooker and zapped in the microwave instead.
Accept that change is here to stay
Shifting mindset is easier if you focus on the practical. Try these three approaches:
- Find the sticking plasters. Replace temporary fixes with sustainable, long-term solutions.
- Test, learn, improve. Aim for iterative development not instant perfection.
- Co-create. Working collaboratively with all staff helps generate a solution that is effective, empowering and actually enacted.
“It is better to take change by the hand and lead it where you want it to go before it takes you by the throat and drags you in any direction.”
As John Kotter graphically suggested, it is best to accept change and make it work for you.
There are so many advantages to this new way of working, including more empowered staff, larger recruitment pools, a happier workforce and greater organisational resilience. It’s time to let go of the past and join the future.