Leading in a hybrid world

Leading in a new context

Leading well in any context requires practice. Many leaders have invested heavily over their entire working lives to make sure they’re willing and able to be the best leader they can be for the context they’re in. When the context changes dramatically, there is a really uncomfortable adjustment for us all, because the practice we’ve built up over time is no longer effective. 

We’ve seen 30+ years worth of change in just three short years. That’s why even the most skilled leaders are feeling uncomfortable. We now have around half of our workforce, perhaps even more than that, working in a hybrid way. This level of disruption needs to be backed up with new leadership practice, so we can move forward with confidence that our workforce will still be productive and engaged. 

Leadership challenge

Leaders are wondering how to maintain connection, build cohesion and strong performance within and across their teams within this new context. It’s one of those situations when our old tried and tested ways of leading no longer get the results we need.

If we want inclusive and cohesive teams where people trust that meaningful connections are made, regardless of how they’re working, and that they’re not going to be excluded because of their agreed working arrangements, we need to get our communication right. 

Asynchronous connection

Becoming more comfortable with asynchronous ways of connecting to lead your teams is critical. I developed this diagram to help leaders to think about connecting for inclusive, flexible teams and short-cut some of the worst growing pains many of us are experiencing right now.

There is an inverse relationship between the quantity of connection and the quality of connection in this diagram. There is such limited opportunity to connect in person at the same time and same place, so we need to make sure that those opportunities are treated as the highest quality form of connection. We can't shoehorn every piece of information, connection and interaction into that narrow category. I’ve put it at the tip of the triangle because it’s the pinnacle of our quality connection, our most precious currency, and we need to use it wisely. Things like planning our team’s work for the coming quarter, or welcoming a new member of the team are the kinds of activities I’d recommend prioritising for this type of connection. 

Reduce reliance on video calls

As face-to-face time continues to be scarce, we need to become more comfortable with other forms of connecting. The next level down on the diagram is synchronous but remote, which means same time, different place. Typically this refers to phone calls and video calls.  We have seen an explosion in the volume of video calls and we need to scale that back, reducing our reliance on them. People are exhausted with back-to-back video calls and it’s risking more harm than good when it comes to quality connection, cohesion and performance.

If we scale them back, what do we replace them with? We need to get more comfortable with asynchronous voice notes and videos. Videos might mean you’re talking directly to the camera, or simply recording your voice while sharing your screen as you talk through some important information that needs to be shared sensitively or with context. 

At the moment these formats are heavily underutilised in almost every team I’m working with. Using them more gives us an opportunity to connect with the nuance of our humanity through the tone of our voice and the expressions on our faces but without the need for people to be available at a particular time or place.  Many leaders have skipped this format all together or only use it very sparingly.  

One leader I worked with recently took this fully on board. Despite her personal discomfort with the idea, she tried sending her team an informal video with an update from her that she otherwise would have given in a team meeting. The feedback she had from her team was incredibly positive. Those who worked part-time or had often been double-booked didn’t miss out, as they sometimes had in the past. Others were able to watch it more than once to recall the detail she’d given in her update, or listen when they were fully present, which they’d not been able to do previously. Plus, it took eight minutes rather than the usual 45-minute team meeting normally set aside for this particular communication. As a format, it’s now been adopted in the team and others are also using it as an option in their communications too.

This leaves us with the last type of connection, which is asynchronous in written form. For most of us, these are emails and the output of our various chat functions. This tends to be the lowest quality form of human connection but one of the easiest to send out, which is why there is so much of it! I expect we will continue to have plenty of emails and other forms of text to read, but wouldn’t it be great if some of it could be replaced by other more engaging forms of connection, like the voice notes and videos? 

Leading in a hybrid world

Leading in a hybrid world is much more than just the forms of communication we use. There are many other important factors to consider (and reconsider) now we’re in this context with no credible signs of a return to the past. As examples, the way we monitor and measure performance, the way we develop people’s careers, the way we design roles and recruit to make sure the right kind of work can be done in the best places, are also part of this broader leadership practice shift. However, the way we communicate with our people is a critical foundation for all of our leadership practice, if we still want teams that perform well and operate cohesively and feel connected.