Before the summer, we were allowed to do it occasionally, but now the return to physical presence in the office is well and truly upon us. Yet not everyone is equally enthusiastic about that return. After all, new habits and patterns have emerged since March 2020. And as we at True Colours know from our individual coachings and supervision of change processes, breaking through habits and patterns is the greatest challenge in change.
It is one of three important challenges every manager faces at the beginning of this autumn. Another challenge is to ensure the human-to-human connection between team members that is needed to be a top team, even in the hybrid reality of combined home and office work. A third challenge that has already become clear in the past year is to keep in touch with what is going on in your team and with each team member, despite less physical proximity.
Tackling each of these challenges requires time, patience and an approach that starts from a clear vision coupled with targeted interventions.
Wass will der Leiter?
I am paraphrasing Sigmund Freud's anti-female quote, because even employees sometimes wonder in a similar, cynical way what their manager actually expects of them. This is not malice. The fact is that all of us (and not only managers) are often less clear than we think.
In the hybrid reality I cannot emphasise enough how important it is that, as a manager, you clearly define and communicate the new playing field (because that is what it is!). What is the purpose of your team within the organisation as a whole? What do you expect from your team - results, but also in terms of cooperation, taking responsibility, interaction? What goals do you want to pursue with them?
Once you have these in focus for yourself, you enter into a dialogue with your team to arrive at a shared purpose and common values and objectives. In the new reality, this puts everyone on the same page and in connection with each other, the team and the organisation. It provides cohesion and a strong basis to go for it together in more difficult moments, to approach conflicts constructively and to let the team interest prevail.
Based on these shared purpose, values and objectives, you then formulate a limited set of clear agreements. Focus on agreements that enable team members to act in accordance with the purpose, values and objectives without managerial intervention.
Leaders making a difference
Research by Julian Birkinshaw (London Business School) shows that the majority of contacts a manager has are ad hoc, unplanned and improvised. These are (almost) completely absent when working from home, something that I and my colleagues also hear in our contacts with managers. However, these are the types of contacts that allow you to keep your finger on the pulse of what is going on in the team and intervene in time.
You can safely say that it is thanks to these informal contacts that a manager can often make the biggest difference. So how do you make sure you have this lever at your disposal in a hybrid context?
Some interventions I can recommend for this are:
- Use online meetings for time-saving issues and leave (a lot) of room for the informal offline:
An online meeting is ideal for making decisions in a short time. This is possible provided that a tightly monitored, clear agenda is used and all those present provide the necessary preparation in good time and everyone goes through this preparation. This is different from how we handle classic offline meetings and from how online meetings are often conducted!
If the online meetings are efficient, space is created offline - and I mean especially at the office. Use this space for informal, social contacts that stimulate team cohesion and ensure that you, as a manager, get a feel for what is going on.
- Clear agreements about who, where and when:
Periodically (e.g. fortnightly or monthly) map out who works at home or in the office and when.
Of course, people often prefer fixed days (think of Wednesday or Friday as the typical non-working days for part-timers). From a team connection point of view, however, it is important that everyone comes together with all (direct) colleagues in the office at least once every few weeks and has had the opportunity for informal contacts.
For you as a manager, this overview is also an important tool. You will also probably work from home regularly. On the basis of the overview, you can then plan your presence so that you can keep in touch with everyone.
- Group moments leave room for social interaction and for elaborating:
Periodically organise a physical meeting for the whole team. Start that meeting with a check-in where everyone shares what is going on at that moment (what is going well, what is not - and that goes beyond purely work-related issues).
It is also a moment to go deeper and more extensively into issues that live within the team (and that you as manager may have already picked up on). It is a moment that promotes social cohesion and psychological safety between team members.
Do this in a place where you can speak openly and calmly.
Impacting group dynamics
I would also like to take a moment to point out the impact of your own attitude towards returning to the office. Because maybe you too found it nice to work from home? Maybe you that daily commute drains your energy? Maybe there's a colleague you'd rather avoid than sit in the same office with?
After all, we are all human, so this ‘back to the office’ thing might be a change that creates some resistance for you too.
Over the years, I have learned that the way you as a leader or facilitator of groups view a certain matter, sooner or later reveals itself within and through the team or group - no matter how hard you try to hide it. I have not yet found an explanation for this, but I have noticed it time and again, both in myself and in the leaders I have observed and coached in their teams.
Therefore, I would like to conclude with this tip: be honest with yourself when defining your vision for your team in this hybrid reality. As a leader, you need to develop a vision that is in line with the vision of the organisation. But if that organisational vision is difficult for you, your team will never follow you in the translation of that vision into their reality.
In that case, talk it over with your fellow managers or your superior. That way, you can take off the edges. Also be transparent about this in the dialogue with your team. Only in this way can a vision, a purpose, values and objectives will emerge within the team that effectively ensure that everyone is fully physically and mentally present in the team and at the office. It is the only way to create a top-performing team.