Leading with Integrity in a Hybrid World

Leadership

May 25

5 minute read

As you’d expect, the subject of hybrid working comes up regularly in our work with leaders and teams. We know different businesses and organisations have provided their own guidance to individuals and teams on how they want people to work but no matter what’s going on in your world, everyone is asking the same question;

‘How do I lead successfully in a hybrid world?’

Our conclusion is there’s no one-stop answer to this. And what works for one person in your team won’t necessarily work for another. Never has there been a need to tune in to each person in the team, to understand their adaptations to the challenges of the last couple of years and to help them thrive in a hybrid world.

So here are three ideas we’ve been discussing recently with leaders. We hope they can help lift your leadership during these ever-changing times:

1. Be clear what office-based days are all about

No-one wants to commute an hour or so to the office only to find they’re working alone and everyone else is still showing as ‘WFH’.

Smart leaders have started to get clear with their teams by saying for instance, Thursdays in the office is team time. It’s not email time or being stuck on Teams time. It’s time for the team to be together, to catch-up, re-establish relationships and build out their plans. It’s time for those little conversations that just don’t happen in quite the same way on Zoom.

If you want to make this happen, it’s up to you as a leader to establish new habits and new routines with your team. But don’t forget to talk with them, involve them in developing the ideas. You’ll know you’ve made it work when the ‘WFH’ email auto reply is changed to read:

‘I’m in the office today and working with my colleagues – so don’t expect a quick reply to your email’.

2. Set fair and equitable office guidelines

The happiest hybrid working teams we meet are those with leaders who have been super clear on the guidelines for being in the office or WFH. We’re consistently told that no-one likes shades of grey – it only serves to confuse and annoy people. So as the leader, be bold, be clear and be consistent. And of course, be prepared to change over time. If your guidelines that were right at the start fail to stand the test of time, be brave enough to change them. Just don’t do it overnight – that’s the way you lose your team’s support.

3. Recognise peoples’ lives have changed

As a result of the lockdowns, we all now know how to make sourdough bread and we’ve got a dog that needs walking. It’s a bit of a cliché but you get the point. We’ve re-set our lives. We’ve changed how and when we exercise, how we spend family time and how we relax. Oh, and we’ve also changed how and when we work.

And to change that overnight can cause significant stress across the team.

The leaders we work with understand this. They know they need to balance individual needs and requirements with team activities – both professional and social. The successful leaders recognise the need to be personal in their approach, remembering lives have changed. And crucially, they know everyone’s life has changed in a unique way.

So, in conclusion, being a leader in a hybrid world requires new and enhanced skills.

Think more about each person and their needs. Tune into your team, listen and keep your eyes open. Be fair and equitable in all you do. Don’t blame your organisation – ‘Oh, I wouldn’t ask you to come into the office, but the company is demanding it’. Own what you decide and be consistent. Find new ways to build a thriving team by being the leader who listens and learns.

And finally, when you’ve discovered what works – or what doesn’t – be generous with your insights and share what you’ve found with other leaders around you.

We’ll keep sharing your hybrid working hacks as we discover new ways great leaders have found to navigate the new world.