One frequent question we have is how to lead staff who work remotely. Since the pandemic started two years ago, many employees are reluctant to work in an office 5 days a week. Either they wish to commute to work 2 or 3 days a week, or renegotiate their working patterns so they only work remotely. And a recent headline in a quality paper at the weekend, stated that 40% of employees have no intention of returning to the office AT ALL.
But what does this mean for businesses and in particular leaders and managers?
Before the pandemic, it was unusual for individuals to work remotely. Occasionally someone would “Work from home” but generally – unless you had a very openminded boss, this was largely frowned up. Then we were all working remotely and are now encouraged to work in the office. BUT in many organisations, office space has been reduced, resulting in there not being ENOUGH ROOM for every employee! But it has reduced costs for businesses.
However, given there are 40% employees who have no intention of returning to the office, how can businesses, and especially leaders and managers ensure their departments or teams work efficiently?
In particular here are points we need to consider:
- How can a hybrid team work effectively and efficiently together?
- How can team members get to know each other – and in particular build trust when they haven’t met everyone
- How can a level playing field between the staff in the office and those working remotely
- ‘Water cooler’ moments: those random conversations that could spark an idea or share content, are invaluable in the office. How can we re-create these with hybrid workteams
- How remote talent isn’t forgotten
- And finally – how are we able to create a hybrid communications framework so everyone is kept in the loop
These are all topics we will be covering this month (February 2022) with some tips.
But in the meantime, If you would like to grab your copy of our Hybrid Leadership checklist, grab it here.
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