PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING AS YOU, YOUR PEOPLE, AND YOUR ORGANIZATION ADJUST TO THE HYBRID REALITY. 

The idea of office culture has changed drastically over the last couple of years. Where it was once expected that employees arrive at an office every morning and spend their working days there, we are seeing a shift to widely recognized hybrid options.  

Studies show that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a high majority of people were working exclusively from home. By the beginning of 2021, things had already shifted to a more hybrid approach. Studies are also showing that moving forward, a high majority of business leaders expect to offer more flexibility and expect to follow a hybrid model.  

How do leaders ensure that they can keep their key talent in place as effective members of their team? 

Be flexible: If there’s anything to be learned from this work-from-home culture, it’s that employees are hungry for a better work-life balance. They see great value in being able to work from wherever is most convenient for them. Flexibility will be a key skill to embrace moving forward in our new reality.  

Create a sense of shared purpose: Whether in a physical work space or remote, when people feel like they’re an irreplaceable part of the operation, they’re more likely to join in. You will need to ensure that every team member sees and feels that what they do is crucial to the mission of the business.  

Be empathetic: You will need to navigate the line between being compassionate and still being clear on the organizational goals. Ensure feedback loops and communication so you know and understand how people are adjusting to the new routines and processes. Emphasize the role your people have in the big picture and find ways to meet their needs so they can be productive and committed.  

Questions to ask yourself to understand how the new reality is impacting you, your team, and your organization: 

1. How have you communicated your hybrid structure and how have you involved your people? 
2. What touchpoints have you scheduled to shift and update as needed? 
3. How are you checking in with teams and individuals to learn how they are adjusting? 
4. What are you doing to keep people connected from a work and social perspective to drive collaborative culture? 
   

Most importantly, it falls on leaders to make themselves accessible, accountable, and visible to employees. If they are no longer down the hall, find ways for your open-door policy to translate to your remote staff. Being intentional about teamwork, team building, and communication needs to be a key focus.  

The future depends on what you do today.

Mahatma Gandhi 

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It is essential to prioritize your own well-being and restoration to access the positive perspective, energy, and creativity needed to get through these challenging times. 

While coaching Senior Leaders over the past year some common observations and best practices emerged. This article is the first in a series containing leadership learnings from the pandemic that I hope you can relate to and find helpful.

How are you preparing yourself to navigate through change?

• The world has changed and it won’t change back. 
• Change continues to take place at an accelerated rate.  
• Uncertainty is here for the foreseeable future, and it breeds anxiety.
• We aren’t designed to be in a prolonged state of stress. 
• Physical health and wellness impact our ability to navigate complexity.
• Mindset, something we can control, impacts creative thinking and action. 
• Opportunities exist – if we have the mindset to look.

Grab a notebook or open a file on your computer to answer these questions and better equip yourself for what’s ahead.

1. What are your ‘go to’ responses when faced with change and uncertainty?
2. What are you doing to build patience and resilience? 
3. How are you caring for yourself – physically, mentally, emotionally, intellectually?
4. How are you cultivating a positive mindset? How are you inspiring yourself?
5. Picture yourself as ‘even better’ due to your experiences. What does that look like?  

Commit to a morning routine, habit, or practice to start daily based on what you need to replenish in the areas you feel depleted.

Establish this new practice for yourself so you can lead by example when focusing on the wellness and resiliency of your team and those close to you. Consider when you will do this, where, and experiment with what will work for you. 

Next, we will look at the current realities related to leading, communicating and engaging others.

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. 

John C. Maxwell

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Be intentional in your understanding, compassion and communication with others to effectively support and lead through these continued challenging times.

Based on themes that emerged while coaching CEOs and Senior Leaders, here is the second of a three-part series of leadership learnings from the pandemic. Previously, we looked at prioritizing your own well-being in order to show up at your best.  Here we explore how to spark strong engagement and communication with others.

Prolonged stress, as in the pandemic, takes a toll on emotions, which can then impact your interactions with others and your leadership. To add to this, you are dealing with rapidly changing information and curve balls that impact best-intentioned plans to connect with others. Even if you are a strong communicator, you need to step up your game to cultivate a culture of openness, build alignment, and promote well-being and engagement.

Communication and connection points need to be:

Different – to stand out from the current “information overload” 

Frequent – to align teams to a vision, even if it’s a moving target

Consistent – to create a sense of stability, in spite of the uncertainty

Creative – to reach people in the virtual context we are in

Questions to ask yourself to turbo charge your communication:  

1. When was the last time you asked ‘your people’ how they are really doing?
2. How do you maintain the ongoing ‘pulse’ of your organization, your family? 
3. How can humour and creativity help you reach people “behind the screen”? 
4. How do you want to ‘show up’ differently for people?

Ways to cultivate and maintain a connection virtually

• Make time for ‘small talk’ 
• Create a ‘culture committee’ 
• Don’t forget your one on ones 
• Establish a virtual social ‘water cooler’
• Hire a facilitator to run virtual events
• Use virtual breakout rooms for speed networking
• Deliver loot bags to add a physical element to virtual events 
• Set up virtual ‘co-working’ on an open audio or video conference 
• Nominate a communications prime to disseminate key messages
• Implement “open door” hours when people can text with you in real time 

What’s possible? Commit to one creative new way of connecting with your team and your family in the next week and be intentional about asking and listening to what is really going on for them.

In the third and final part of this series we will look at post-pandemic planning and flexibility.

The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.

Peter Drucker

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Pay attention to your wider context as we move into the ‘next stage’ in order to respond most effectively. Think about leading with ‘flexible certainty’ as you make decisions and communicate with others.

This is the third of a three-part series of learnings from the pandemic. Previously we highlighted the importance of prioritizing personal well-being and sparking strong engagement with others. Only after you have prioritized yourself and your relationships will you have the creative focus required for your best problem solving and planning in the emerging hybrid work structures and environment. This fall we look at how we can effectively approach future planning.

Key Leadership Considerations

• Ground yourself in a creative mindset – be curious about what is possible.
• Identify key issues – focus on the top 3 priorities that need your attention.
• Customize your plan – connect key issues to a strategy and clearly articulate actions.
• Lead with ‘flexible certainty’ – provide clear direction while remaining ready to pivot.

Grab a notebook or open a file on your computer to answer these questions and better equip yourself for what’s ahead.

1. What does ‘back to the office’ look like for you this fall?
2. What are the actual issues and challenges you are facing currently? 
3. How will you bring the concept of ‘flexible certainty’ into your thinking?
4. We know that things can change ‘just like that’ – how are you planning differently?

Planning Strategies

• Be realistic about the uncertainties and evolving nature of the current context.
• Approach your plan with a positive, open mindset that sees opportunity and possibility. 
• Identify what is in your control and what is not.
• Create plans for each priority with timelines, action items and key people. 
• Communicate clearly and frequently to ensure alignment.
• Position your plans so they are clear, actionable and flexible.
• Create feedback loops to learn how the new initiatives are being received.
• If things don’t work out “fail fast”, move on, adjust, and try something new. 

Create a one-page strategic plan for your business and personal life with clear goals and actions. Include how and when you will communicate it, and create feedback loops to ensure both flexibility and clear direction.

“The leader is one who, out of the clutter, brings simplicity…out of discord, harmony…and out of difficulty, opportunity.”

Albert Einstein

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