Tag: hybrid working

  • How to overcome the  4 obstacles to giving quality feedback to your hybrid team

    How to overcome the 4 obstacles to giving quality feedback to your hybrid team

    Providing motivational and developmental feedback to enhance performance is one of the most important leadership and management skills.

    But for managers who lead hybrid teams – flexible in their working hours or location – there are four new challenges that you need to overcome, which are generated by one big difference:

    Where teams use a hybrid working model, or a form of flexible hours working such as compressed hours, the in-person contact between a manager and their team members is less frequent and less regular.

    I’ll explain how this impacts on the ability to give effective feedback, and suggest ways you can overcome this.

    The traditional co-located team, working 9-5(ish), 5 days a week, gave managers a lot of chances to see and hear their team in action. Managers could gain knowledge passively, almost by osmosis – picking up on when team members were doing things right, or spotting where performance could be improved.

    However, hybrid working reduces these opportunities for happenstance observations – so managers will need to be more purposeful and tactical in how they identify issues requiring feedback, and how they deliver that feedback, using the methods below:

    • Observed practice. When I am training people to be coaches, one of the most impactful methods is observing them deliver a coaching session. The coach can easily record their session (with the client’s consent), so I gain huge amounts of information about their skills in practice and can provide rich motivational and developmental feedback. Recent AI developments make this even easier for managers – transcribing the audio, or even summarising the main points. Choose the right interaction to observe and see how your team members use their people skills.
    • Self-observation and upward reporting. Modern ways of working require greater autonomy, which you can foster by encouraging your team members to be reflective, to identify aspects of their practice they were proud of or unsure about, and to bring these issues to you so you can discuss, analyse, motivate and help them to develop.
    • Third-party observations. Without creating an atmosphere of spying, approach other managers – or team members if appropriate – to pass on their observations to you so you can craft appropriate feedback. It’s not a formal 360-degree assessment, just an opportunity for some different perspectives.
    • Embed reflection and feedback into the working practice. Make ‘lessons learned’ part of every project review, and analyse successes as well as problems. Following training, encourage people to identify what they learned and to commit to what they will do differently. Agree team ground rules and encourage everyone to give each other open and honest motivational and developmental feedback.
    • Feedforward, not feedback. I always champion Kluger and Nin’s Feedforward Interview approach – where managers spend time with their team members before undertaking a demanding task. They clarify expectations and – most importantly – tap into the team member’s past successes and experiences, which they can leverage to enhance their performance this time round. You can sum up the approach as “prepare, not repair”. It doesn’t stop you from providing quality feedback after the event – it just makes it more likely that you’ll be delivering a positive message.

    The best feedback is given shortly after the event – while everyone still remembers what happened. And traditionally, feedback was something that was given in person, face-to-face. But hybrid and flexible working means a lower chance of being able to do this.

    One way round this is to prioritise speed – using digital communication methods such as email, messaging and video conferencing to get the initial points over – and then follow up with a more considered feedback session at a later date, recording the details for future reference.

    Obviously, there is a danger if you are providing developmental feedback that a gap between raising it and resolving it fully might cause distress or confusion, so make sure you get the balance right.

    When working together more consistently, managers are more attuned to how their team are getting on – their levels of work pressure, non-work problems, etc. So if they see potentially problematic performance, they can take account of the immediate context and build that into their feedback.

    Without this knowledge, when managers and leaders provide developmental feedback they need to make space for a two-way conversation. Invite your team member to provide their perspective and context, ask them reflective questions to uncover their perceptions, and once you have established the context you can provide your considered feedback.

    Less consistent contact means it is harder for managers to monitor their team member’s progress on enacting developmental feedback.

    Again, the solution is to be more purposeful where you can no longer rely on happenstance:

    • Set up opportunities for the team member to practice their revised behaviour, with you or someone else observing.
    • Arrange creative learning interventions such as task-based shadowing.
    • Use Kluger and Nin’s Feedforward technique to help your team member prepare.
  • How does an ant kill a buffalo? Leadership lessons on the future of work

    How does an ant kill a buffalo? Leadership lessons on the future of work


    Forward-thinking leaders and managers are looking for ways to prepare themselves and their organisations for the future of work. One of the biggest challenges I see for them is how to address a change that is generated by a chain reaction of interacting factors.

    In case you’re wondering about the ant and the buffalo, here’s what’s happening:

    1. An invasion of big-headed ants drives out acacia ants from their residence in whistling-thorn trees.
    2. While they had been resident there, the acacia ants’ sharp jaws had deterred elephants from damaging the trees.
    3. Having lost the acacia ants’ protection, the trees are destroyed by the elephants.
    4. So the lions can no longer use them as a hiding place from which they can attack fast-moving zebras.
    5. Instead, the lions switch to hunting more of the slower-moving buffalo.

    So, what does this have to do with future changes in the ecosystem of work?

    We can look ahead and anticipate some big changes coming, such as increasing digitisation, the growth of AI or an increasingly diverse and global workforce.

    But it’s harder to spot the big changes that occur because trends coincide, or when disparate factors reinforce each other.

    Think about the Covid pandemic – while scientists had predicted a pandemic was due for many years, did anyone expect an end result of it might be struggling dry cleaners or city centre sandwich bars? These impacts were the result of chain reactions caused by the coincidence of the pandemic with:

    • Technological change. Innovations such as video conferencing and highspeed broadband meant there was an increased ability for office workers to work from home.
    • Social change. Over time, and partly due to the internet, people’s interconnections and relationships had become less dependent on attending the workplace.
    • Infrastructure change. For many people commuting had become ever more time-consuming and expensive.

    This fuelled an enduring desire to work at home, even once the pandemic was over. Since then we’ve seen lower footfall in town centres and people no longer needing to wear office clothing that requires regular dry cleaning.

    And these chain reactions aren’t just about levels of business – the increase in working from home and adoption of hybrid working also means that managers need to learn new approaches to communication, performance management and team dynamics.

    So, like the ant and the buffalo, one change within the work ecosystem can have far-reaching and unforeseen consequences. As Professor Todd Palmer states in the article about the ants: “it’s the interactions which are the glue that holds the entire system together.”

    For leaders looking ahead to the future of work, there is one key lesson.

    It’s impossible for leaders to imagine every feedback loop and plan for every possible chain reaction that might take place in the future world of work – but it is possible to build up capacity and capability.

    You could:

    • generate a learning culture so your team members are change-ready
    • develop your interpersonal skills so you can manage and support your people through the pressures and opportunities of change
    • build an empowered team who are forward-looking and able to take initiative.

    All leaders and managers can take a range of steps now so that if unexpected change occurs, you’re in a better place to adapt.

    Just like the lion.

    Image credit: Keyur Nandaniya on Unsplash

  • Hybrid working: three gurus tell us how to thrive.

    Hybrid working: three gurus tell us how to thrive.

    The shift to hybrid working raises a wide variety of challenges and opportunities. Read on for some great ideas from business leaders that you can apply, and some questions for you to reflect on.

    “Working from home makes it much harder to delineate work time from personal time. I encourage all of our employees to have a disciplined schedule for when you will work, and when you will not, and to stick to that schedule.”

    Dan Springer, CEO of DocuSign to Fast Company, 2021.

    The discipline required for working from home is a new skill for many of us:

    • Would schedules help you combat the always-on culture?
    • What can you do to role model this best practice?
    • What else can you do to maintain this work / homelife balance?

    “The most important keys to remote work at a startup have been weekly stand-ups. At Hive, we all get on Zoom once a week to chat and give shoutouts to the team.”

    John Furneaux, CEO of Hive, in the Hive.com blog, 2022.

    Communication has been a key area of challenge for leaders:

    • How can you structure your stand-ups so that they are productive? The key is in the name ‘stand-up’ – keep it quick!
    • Would a weekly meeting suit your team, or do you need it more frequently? Many places have really short daily check-ins.

    “Success in a hybrid work environment requires employers to move beyond viewing remote or hybrid environments as a temporary or short-term strategy and to treat it as an opportunity.”

    George Penn, VP at Gartner, in HRExecutive.com, 2020.

    So many organisations are enduring hybrid working, hoping it will go back to how it was – or they are relying on the short-term fixes that got them through to now:

    • What’s your attitude to hybrid working – do you see it as an opportunity, a short-lived innovation or the long-term future? What impact does your thinking have for you and your team?
    • What about your team and your managers – what is their position?
    • Are there any opportunities that you are not yet realising?
    • What temporary fixes are you still relying on, that you could replace with better long-term solutions?
    Photo credit: Thirdman on Pexels
  • 5 proven tools for leaders to break through the barriers of hybrid working

    5 proven tools for leaders to break through the barriers of hybrid working

    I’m going to show you how leaders can start to break barriers between teams with proactive methods.

    To be successful, we need our teams to work across our organisation: collaborating for innovation, communicating for efficiency and understanding different perspectives and roles.

    Problems had been identified well before the pandemic hit; I was regularly asked by clients to provide strategies and tools for addressing the internal obstacles.

    Unfortunately the rapid increase in remote and hybrid working has exacerbated the problem, and rebuilt the barriers that many organisations had begun to tackle. Survey after survey shows isolated teams, not appreciating the big picture, competing with each other.

    Some companies have responded by mandating a ‘return to office’ which have often been unpopular. Others assume that the approach they are taking for maintaining contact within a single team will also work between multiple teams and across divisions.

    In my experience, leaders can take action to break through barriers and build working effective relationships between teams. Here are just five:

    1. Coffee roulette

    Create a virtual water-cooler. There are loads of apps or technology solutions that will randomly pair up colleagues for a breaktime chat to recreate those happenstance conversations. Or just have an open in video conference call running at break times so people can drop in when they want.

    2. Touchpoint mapping

    Get teams to work together to review their interactions: explain the processes and revisit the information transfers from both sides. In just one short meeting, they’ll understand why George in Finance isn’t “just being difficult” and maybe they’ll find efficiencies and improvements.

    3. Point of contact

    In many offices you used to wander over to a team’s desks and ask questions of anyone who was around. For remote and hybrid teams, you could designate a contact point for general internal inquiries.

    This could be a specific person, or a duty system, but either way, publicise this internally so other teams know how to reach your team.

    4. Create a sense of purpose

    People, especially new starters, need to see the big picture and understand their contribution. Can you revamp your induction so this is clear? Can people shadow other teams? Undertake virtual site visits? Can teams provide video introductions to explain their role and interactions?

    Can you reiterate the organisation’s purpose and vision through one-to-one and team meetings – and explain how the success of an individual team is tied into the success of other teams.

    5. Charity activities, sports teams, interest networks

    When they are started from grassroots interest, these all have a great track record in breaking down barriers between teams.

    I’ve worked in places which had a wine club (!), netball team, table tennis competitions and regular charity cake sales. Organisations can help by promoting the activities internally, providing sponsorship / equipment or just giving a little time and a space.

     

    Photo credit: Johannes Plenio on Pexels
  • How to overcome the three key challenges of hybrid working

    How to overcome the three key challenges of hybrid working

    Of the many leaders I’ve worked with who are adopting remote/hybrid working, the vast majority wanted to explore the same things.

    • Logistics, space and technology
    • Delivery and performance management
    • Communication challenges

    Now these are of course central points which do need to be addressed. But working without being together every day has much wider implications for organisations, leaders and their teams.

    Here are three issues that I think many organisations should be considering, and some suggestions.

    1. Proximity bias: out of sight, out of mind?

    We have a natural tendency to like the people we spend more time with – but in a hybrid workplace it can be a big problem.

    There’s a risk that decisions on development opportunities, high profile projects or promotion chances are affected by the frequency/intensity of in-office contact with managers. This leads to poor decision making and damages morale.

    Also, if there is an overlap between team members who primarily work from home and those who are disabled, carers or anyone who doesn’t already feel included, then there is a significant organisational risk around equity and inclusion.

    Solutions: Avoid proximity bias by keeping everyone in mind.

    • When making decisions about allocation of work and development opportunities, don’t fall for the bias of ‘most in sight, first in mind’
    • Focus on individual strengths. What is the unique combination of strengths that each person has? Who is best placed to meet the task requirements?
    • Communicate opportunities fairly. Give everyone an equal chance by telling them by email/messaging and giving a deadline.

    2. Isolation: home working or lonely working?

    Plenty of people love remote working and cherish the self-determination and flexibility. For others however, the lack of consistent social contact can be isolating and impact on their wellbeing.

    Solutions: Tackle isolation proactively

    • Ask questions. Don’t end at ‘How are you?’ ‘Oh, I’m fine’ – be prepared to go deeper. Each person’s circumstances are unique and ever-changing, so don’t assume everything is always okay.
    • Use work activities to build and maintain links. Develop sub-teams, special projects and assignments, inter-team challenges, build mentorship pairs and triads. Align activities with people’s strengths for maximum effectiveness.

    3. Loyalty: are your staff connected and motivated?

    As teams are no longer consistently all together in the office, many staff – and the younger or newer ones in particular – report a lack of connection to the organisation. This disconnection can damage motivation, loyalty and staff retention.

    Solutions: Take steps to encourage engagement

    • Make people feel part of the organisation to increase motivation, empowerment and staff retention.
    • Communicate the purpose. Tell people how they fit into the big picture, what role they play in meeting goals – for the team, department and organisation.
    • Explore positive meaning. The organisation is not the building, it is the people who work there or benefit from it, or use its products and services. Actively talk to your team about the collective and individual contribution they are making and the difference their work makes.
    Photo credit: RF Studio on Pexels
  • Successfully manage hybrid team performance with 3 proven strategies

    Successfully manage hybrid team performance with 3 proven strategies

    It’s the big problem that everyone is talking about, according to surveys, research and my own conversations with managers. How do you ensure your team is performing now you no longer see them daily in the office?

    A common mistake is building over-complex top-down monitoring systems. The more you check on people, the less trusted they feel, and this impacts negatively on how they feel about you and their work.

    So how do you balance performance, trust and accountability?

    1. Clear targets so everyone knows what is expected

    It sounds pretty basic, but I’m still finding managers who struggle with doing this consistently and effectively. Get into a regular pattern (e.g. weekly 1-1 calls) where you agree the what, the why and the when.

    Using SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-limited) may be commonplace, and that’s because it works – but only if leaders put in the effort to define the sought outputs properly, enable high performance and define success criteria.

    2. Upward reporting to maintain accountability

    When it comes to monitoring the output, the key is for the team member to be given responsibility for telling you how they’ve done. This builds trust and accountability.

    You’ll need a simple structure so that you’re not bombarded with feedback from all your team members, and you can track performance consistently across the team.

    3. A coaching approach establishes and supports the culture

    A coaching approach is about people being more proactive, creative, engaged and empowered. Managers get great results from using non-directive conversations, focused on helping team members generate their own ideas and solutions.

    What have you found to be particularly effective in leading for high performance?

     

    Photo credit: Anna Shvets on Pexels
  • You can’t turn back the clock – you need to adapt to hybrid working

    You can’t turn back the clock – you need to adapt to hybrid working

    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.

    Picture credit: Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels
  • How do you create a virtual coffee machine?

    How do you create a virtual coffee machine?

    Since the pandemic began, many organisations have flagged up their fear of losing the creativity and relationship-building that came from chance encounters. The happenstance conversations that came from making a coffee, waiting for a lift, or getting some water are seen as vital for forging connections within and between teams and sparking novel solutions. And think of all those times when you leave a meeting and then have a great conversation about the issues as you’re walking back to your desks?

    In a fascinating article from back in 2014 a senior Samsung executive states their new office “is really designed to spark not just collaboration but that innovation you see when people collide.”

    So what is happening without this collision? One of the big problems is that the absence may not be felt in the short-term; it is only as we move into the long-term of remote and hybrid working that this lack of connections will impact on creativity, relationships and performance. You’ll see it in greater friction and blame between teams when things go wrong, you’ll notice fewer cross-team solutions and you’ll see teams proposing new ideas that get quickly shot down by other teams.

    So how do you get round this? Our Remote Leadership Mastery course introduces managers to our Creating Collision 3-step process:

    1. Identify the mechanism

    We encourage managers to consider the mechanism that they’re trying to replace, as that will help them choose the right solution.

    Mechanisms that underpin the ‘collision is beneficial’ theory can include:

    • Social bond as a bridge between teams: “I know Alex a bit, so I’ll approach her first about what the sales team are doing on this problem…”
    • Opportunity to answer/raise questions: “…by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask your team about…”
    • Opportunity to gather/offer knowledge: “So what are you up to now…..? Oh, we tried something like that last year and learned….”
    • Opportunity to gain/offer differing perspectives: “But if you try that, it’ll cause problems for the Finance team’s workflow…”
    • Opportunity to suggest enhancements: “Well if you’re thinking of doing that, it would be really helpful for us if you could…?”

    2. Learn from others

    Many organisations have tried differing approaches to this problem, and we always encourage our course participants to share their knowledge and we all learn from each other.

    Some great ideas that we’ve come across include:

    • Virtual coffee machine: An always-open chat room that anyone in the company can enter. Employees are encouraged to take 10-15 minutes coffee breaks just chatting with whoever is there.
    • Chat partners: Employees are assigned a person at random to have a conversation with – using emails, video chat or telephone.
    • Communication champions: Each team member is assigned another team in the organisation and tasked to build up a link.
    • Cross-team projects & activities: Encouraging and actively designing projects, working parties and discussion groups to maximise engagement from across all teams. In the past we’ve seen Diversity working groups, fundraising groups and traditional ‘social committees’ all play a great role in forging connections.

    3. Share leadership

    A top-down solution probably isn’t the best approach. This is an area where you need your team, and all the other teams, to be driving this forward. Your role should be to think about how to get everyone to appreciate the issue, accept responsibility, and give them the freedom and resources to discover and try out some solutions. You’re going to need solutions that fit the organisational and team cultures – but most importantly with individuals.

    So it’s unlikely a single solution will address all the mechanisms that you’re trying to replace. In an office there are multiple opportunities for collision, and you need to replicate this variety when remote or hybrid working.

    Finding the solutions to the lack of collisions is actually a great example of using a project to create new collisions – get teams working together, forging new connections and promoting innovation and creativity!

    Get some help

    Unsurprisingly it is this final element of implementation that proves most difficult for managers and leaders. On Remote Leadership Mastery this is where we spend the most time, discussing in the interactive workshops how to identify the mechanisms you want to address, to assess your organisational and team cultures, to consider which approaches fit best and to develop a strategy for successful implementation.