Executive Coach & Managing Director at SMA Consulting. Helping Leaders Transcend, Accelerate Change and Transformation Outcomes.
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Hybrid working has brought about its own challenges. Leaders today need to focus on human connection.
That's supported by recent findings from Gartner, Inc., which reports that 90% of surveyed human resources leaders "believe that to succeed in today’s work environment, leaders must focus on the human aspects of leadership," but only 29% of surveyed employees "report that their leader is a human leader."
So what are the key potential challenges of hybrid working, and how does a leader focus on the human aspects to address these challenges?
First Challenge: Culture And Connectedness
When you're working remotely, it can be difficult to stay connected with your colleagues. First, work is the constant in this changing landscape. Therefore, leaders need to connect regularly and through whatever means necessary to ensure employees and their teams remain connected. Get creative with your communication. If you can't meet in person, try brainstorming ways to stay connected virtually, such as holding virtual happy hours or embedding a sense of humor in day-to-day requests and engagement.
Second Challenge: Productivity
When employees work from home, it can be difficult to establish and maintain a productive routine. Aside from the basics of having structure just like you would when going to the office, it’s important for organizations to allow different divisions, business units and teams to create the environments that work best for them. Organizations of the future will function as a coherent distributed workforce that delivers outcomes with smaller teams. Not every team in the organization will be able to accommodate a company-wide policy on the number of days in the office versus at home. Productivity is not a function of physical location but rather of output.
Third Challenge: Effectiveness And Efficiency
One of the most difficult challenges of hybrid working is managing your time and energy. With so many demands on your time, it can be tough to find the right balance when tackling tasks that have the greatest impact and sense of accomplishment.
• Look for opportunities to simplify complex processes and routines.
• Automate mundane tasks to reduce manual intervention from employees on repetitive and low-value processes.
• Monitor and constantly improve. Embed real-time feedback loops to constantly learn what is working well and what needs to be improved.
Fourth Challenge: Balance And Autonomy
The blurring of boundaries between work and home can have several negative consequences for employees. It can lead to an increase in work-related stress and anxiety. It can also make it difficult for employees to take time off when they need to, as they may feel like they need to be always available. There are a few things that employers can do to help their employees maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Establish clear boundaries between work and home. HR and the leadership team should ensure employee well-being programs are practical, implemented and committed to across the organization. Many organizations have initiated these programs with various components, and yet employees still work long hours or are burned out with last-minute requests, voiding the well-being initiatives completely. Ensure there is a culture that puts employee health first (e.g., simply adjusting a one-hour meeting to 50 minutes to allow a 10-minute break to rest the mind).
Finally, employers can create a culture of respect and appreciation for employees’ time outside of work. As one example, this can be done through policies that discourage after-hours emailing or phone calls. When employers take steps to support their employees’ work-life balance, they create a more positive and productive work environment for everyone.
Fifth Challenge: Motivation
Focus on team-based performance strategies. Teams connect employees to organizational objectives and priorities. Many teams are feeling disconnected from shared goals and a common purpose and feel unable to provide constructive feedback—thereby impacting engagement, productivity and overall organizational performance. To overcome these motivational challenges, leaders need to ensure teams are aligned and functioning well, which will help ensure businesses achieve their goals.
There are several factors that contribute to successful team performance. First, teams need to have a clear sense of purpose and direction. They need to know what they are working toward and why it is important. Second, team members need to trust and respect each other. They need to feel like they can rely on each other and work together effectively. Third, teams need to be able to communicate openly and honestly. This means being able to have difficult conversations, give and receive feedback and share information freely. Lastly, teams need to be able to work together collaboratively. This means being able to problem-solve and make decisions together. When teams are focused on collective performance, they are more likely to be successful.
Sixth Challenge: Constant Change
Dealing with change is one of the biggest challenges of hybrid (or any kind of) work.
• Be prepared for change. Change is inevitable, so it's important to be prepared for it. Anticipate changes that might happen in your work situation, and be ready to adapt.
• Be flexible. Change can be difficult, but it's important to be flexible when it happens. Accept that things might not always go according to plan and be willing to adjust your approach as needed.
• Communicate with your team. When changes are on the horizon, communicate with your team and let them know what's happening. Encourage feedback and ideas and involve them in the process.
• Be positive and embrace change. It can be easy to view change in a negative light, but it's important to stay positive. Remember that change can bring new opportunities and challenges that can help you learn and grow.
With dramatic shifts in the way we work and the rise of hybrid environments, a set of new challenges has risen, which can be difficult to navigate. Some of the biggest challenges of hybrid work include culture and connectedness, communication, productivity, motivation, stress management and balance. To overcome these challenges, leaders need to help employees leverage the right tools, improve connectedness, set goals with boundaries, minimize distractions, focus on well-being and keep employees engaged through authentic and adaptive employee experiences. To overcome these challenges, leaders must focus on the human aspects of leadership.
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