Coaching Conversation 20: Hybrid Working

The pros and cons of office versus remote working.

We’ve reached a significant milestone in the Coaching Conversation series. These articles are a Linkedin and twitter-specific networking initiative that I started after publishing my second book, Brand Champions , at first involving a handful of my coaching network, later expanded into the wider HR and Comms space to ensure that we captured a decent breadth and depth of views and experiences.

After the pandemic struck, I evolved the conversations further so they became discussion vehicles about pragmatic best practices. This was in response to the fact that the people-centred change territory has become increasingly uncertain and unpredictable.

Now, as we enter a new phase in the Covid-19 crisis and the most unpredictable leadership epoch; as we face the relaxation of lockdown regulations linked to a concerted push to get people back into communal workspaces, the timing of this conversation feels…white hot.

Given the last 18 months or so of blended, smart working, largely from home, never has the pressure been greater to learn, while evolving, to reflect without standing still. Never has the leadership challenge been greater|: to maintain credibility, find better ways of working and keep working in better ways.

Fittingly, never have we had so many people wanting to share this platform….

So this time, I expanded the participant pool to include a truly global blend of Coaching Conversation veterans commenting plus fresh professional voices from around the world.

Format

The core group first brainstormed their killer questions. They then set about answering the pooled questions, without conferring or seeking consensus.

What follows are some of their varied thoughts, suggestions and best practices The outcomes are rich with diversity, free-thinking and nuggets of wisdom that may well help you in adapting leadership practices as we enter the truly hybrid working age.

Have a read, feel free to share and harvest ideas as you see fit.

Even better, join in the debate in the thread.

Participants (in no particular order):

Ian P Buckingham:, Marc Weedon; Neil Mundell-Phipps; Krishna Priya; Jeff Palkowski; Jay Polaki; Michelle Reid; Valentina Hynes; Tina Marie Wohlfield; Lior Locher; Krishna Priya; Hanna Rau; Tom Horne; Lisa Hodge.

Question 1: If we didn't spend so much energy squabbling over "how many days a week in the office" - what deeper issues would we all want to look at right now?

Innovation. Team well-being and support.

?Leadership and employee professional development to cope with change.

?Impact of increased remote or hybrid working on our culture, leadership, people management practices, ability to deliver.

?How we need to change our approach to performance management to meet today's needs. Many organizations’ approaches were antiquated BEFORE the pandemic.

?Mental health of employees and supporting it to be as strong as possible prior to returning to the physical workplace

?How ongoing smart and hybrid working can help deliver our purpose. There's nothing more important.

Trust and the creation of a psychologically safe environment for people to thrive, wherever they are. People need connections, support and to feel their contribution matters.?If we focussed more on providing these then the subject of “bums on seats/how many days a week in the office” wouldn’t even factor.

How to help teams adapt to their new hybrid setting without losing their team and enable deeper communication between teams who aren’t co-located.

?How remote work has impacted the mental health and well-being of our employees.

?Question 2: How do you make up for the important "incidental conversations" that occur by naturally interacting with colleagues in the workplace while working remotely?

Encourage people to utilise the options they already have i.e. phone, zoom, teams, social media platforms etc, incidental conversations come when someone has a need anyway, they have just taken the opportunity when they see them – its about creating the same opportunities but more consciously.?Also create an “open space” for people to drop in / connect whenever they wish and encourage them to use it as part of their day.?

Virtual cafes, away day experiences for team building, one on one conversations,

?Leveraging technology for organic conversations including Teams Channels, Watercooler

?Connections and tech platforms like Huler to make collaborating remotely more intentional and personal

You can't. There's no such thing as an ad-hoc, on-the-spur-of-the-moment, incidental Zoom call! But that's not an excuse for not engaging by communicating in a variety of ways,

?Acquire and utilize the tools of today to spark conversation and interaction with your team. Systems like Slack / Teams can be great connectors for your team. Don't just use it for work, have a "Thank You" Channel, a "What are your listening to channel" and other spaces to get people interacting. It creates the connectivity, humanizes your colleagues and leads to the "oh yeah, hey I have a question for you"

?Things like daily 10 minute check-in’s with team members. Conversation may not be spontaneous but is an opportunity for a lighter conversation.

You schedule non-agenda connection time and you make an effort to balance transformational conversations in meetings with transactional (not everything is about the actual doing, most should be about the feeling).

?Schedule time to hang out without an agenda. Develop little rituals with the team (like share food pictures or whatever you like).

?These still occur, albeit with online chat either throughout the day or during large meetings.

?Question 3: What are the enablers that can maximize the output of any job regardless of the location of work?

Clear expectations of what’s required including the success measures & how the job contributes to the organisation (purpose), understanding of the support network available, training (knowledge, skills, behaviours) and the tools to do the job.

Empathy and Compassion from leadership, Voice, Learning Opportunities, Reward and Recognition, Mindful Inclusion in every area, Investment in holistic Wellbeing Support.

?Leadership support and giving employees the latitude and knowledge/support and mechanisms to be successful in their role.

?Recognition that what you do is more important than where you do it. Leaders need to be equipped with the skills to lead and engage dispersed teams.

?Step 1 starts with a good hire. Get the right people in your organization that are dedicated, coachable, resilient, & bought into your organization. Give them the tools THEY need to be productive, don't just have a companywide approach that dictates the same tools for all. Different tools maximize work for different people. Ask your employees, listen to the answers & personalize the approach.

?Positive team culture; supportive and empathetic management; appropriate challenge and stretch

?Having clear objectives. Agreeing ways of working that suit your team and line manager. Regular check ins. Listening and adapting.

?Fast Wifi. A life with little troubles. Clear adult communication. Good leadership. The willingness to make it work (on all sides)

?Trust, stability, good and thought through communication

Regular, quality communication, which should include feedback, appreciation, and gratitude.

Clear expectations and objectives, KPIs and regular performance conversations and feedback

- A) The right technological tools accompanied by micro-training modules available anywhere anytime to ensure maximum utilization of the tools.

- B) Frequent and meaningful communication by the leadership team about the status of projects and processes.

Question 4: Discuss what skills and motivations our managers need to ensure that colleagues can operate effectively independent from the office and how HR can help them achieve that?

Listening, Keen Observation, Empathy and Compassion, Provision of Adequate and Safe working conditions (laptop stands, chair support, care packages, provided there’s a budget).

?We need to coach leaders to "LEAD" not just manage. Empowering leaders with the skills to engage in necessary performance related conversations and listening/being engaged in the employees development is critical. HR can help support that leader/manager by helping them identify - Is the employee struggling due to environment, workload or a controllable barrier - if not have you provided them with the necessary feedback or opportunity to improve? In addition - leaders need support from the person they report to as well. Many leaders stop leading the higher they are in the organization. HR can help create mechanisms that help address that issue making it a collaborative process.

Managers need to understand what people do is more important than where they do it from. From this, all else flows - equipping managers with the tools to look after org, team and individual health regardless of location(s). HR also need to ensure that all people management practices (hiring, onboarding, development, engagement, comms, performance etc) are all remote-enabled.

?Honestly, I've been motivated just by the desire to keep working like this. I have a life, 1 whole life. Not a work life not a home life, just my life. The new workplace has allowed this and I'm motivated as heck to keep it. Outside my own head, growth and development. With team members operating outside the office it may not be top of mind for the organization but the employees are certainly thinking about how they can and where their career goes from here (here being at home!

Managers to have effective support from their own management. Managers need to be invested in the success of their own team. Be prepared to appropriately challenge when necessary. HR aware the sounding board in preparation for conversations and work with managers / L&D to upskill where needed.

?They should be assessed for their people skills. HR should help provide frameworks, mechanisms CPD journeys and support and ensure at least part of reward is based on how not just what?

?Seek to understand and to help. Find the awesomeness in your people. Look after yourself and model self-care with your team

?They need to trust their team first and provide them with infrastructure to collaborate effectively second. They need to learn how to communicate in a hybrid world and that’s different from an all online one, so there’s the next change for them. They need to realize if they fall into destructive patterns, so coaching them to see the wrong turn might prevent them from taking it.a month ago

We need to help managers to focus less on tasks and more on outcomes. HR can help with strategies to help managers to measure output and goal attainment rather than micromanagement of tasks.

?Being clear on how they create clear intent with every conversation and know what impact they are trying to achieve. More preparation for these conversations than previously

It’s all about being able to clearly communicate and create a remote environment that helps people perform at their best.?This includes but is not limited to the ability to clearly articulate expectations that link with the purpose of the organisation, empathy & the ability to engage and provide support / guidance, able to communicate effectively & support their teams through change, be able to role model self-care and be accessible to their team.?HR can help by providing training, coaching and support.?They can also role model, practice what they preach and share stories to help others be confident in their approach.

Question 5: What impact will a hybrid way of work have on the way we communicate at work?

If done right and intentionally, it would enrich communication at work. Communication, however, is a professional discipline and should be treated as such, properly staffed. If you don’t get this at this stage in the crisis then you have a big problem.

?Management has to ensure they bring people together occasionally for well-being team events and brainstorming sessions. Management should also intentionally cultivate a culture that encourages virtual and live social interactions amongst employees.

?Hybrid work creates anopportunity for employers to meet employees where they are, as well as one that supports the needs of the organization. its authentic in many ways. The way work is done has evolved and organizations need to adapt and evolve with it. Hybrid isn't right for every organization but is an opportunity not a barrier. Start there.

?Inclusion is key. For meetings, some companies are insisting that all people join via their laptops to create a level playing field, rather than a situation where most people are in the same meeting room and dominating the call at the expense of those joining remotely.

?Communication will have to be more intentional. As noted in previous questions you can't just pop by someone's office on way to kitchen and get that question you have answered. I don't hear a lot about companies helping coach / teach better communication very much, I think this is a huge skill that could universally be increased. Lots of talk about the tools, but how about the skills to match the tools?

?Some of the nuance of face to face communication can be lost, so a little latitude me be needed on occasion! Prior to the pandemic, a lot of communication was already email or phone. For some, there will be little change. For others, a mixture of communication will be more of a challenge.

?It may well call for broader range of channels, more listening and adapting/ It should also be led and managed by professionals. Not everyone is a great natural communicator but leaders need to be. Are they and are they assessed?

It will make the good stuff better, and the bad stuff worse. We need to be more deliberate and run less on assumptions.

?A massive one. Communicating in a hybrid world doesn’t happen automatically. It needs to be planned differently and more thoroughly than before.

?We will need to educate ourselves how to ensure that communication with both on-site and off-site colleagues is seamless, consistent, and equitable.

?It must be prioritised. Strategy and plan in place. If we don’t raise our ability to have powerful and impactful conversations then hybrid working could lead to breakdown of relationships, performance due to misunderstandings of creative environments.

I think the key impact will be more communication with purpose and less “incidental conversations”.?People working remotely will have to reach out consciously whereas others in the office may revert back to the coffee cooler conversation in passing. The danger is increased silos and isolation, however conversely it may also encourage people to be more confident rather than too reliant on others.

Question 6: What do businesses need to put in place to enable effective working cultures, regardless of where & when people work?

A clearly defined culture and values that people understand and can role model.

?Businesses also need to ensure their leaders role model the culture and values, recognise success and manage issues quickly and efficiently.?

Four walls do not define the organizations culture - it is the people that work within them that do. As organizations we need to recognize that - and if the past 18 months haven't shined the spotlight on that (as an opportunity) then I am not sure what will.

?The starting point is "trust". Companies need to empower people to manage what they do and how they do it, and trust that their people will do the right thing. All this talk of surveillance software etc. is a step in the wrong direction. Review your practices with "remote" in mind, and make them people-centric.

?They need a system to connect with their employees throughout their entire life cycle. Companies should have a system to collect feedback from New Hire, Onboarding, Engagement, Pulse Survey's, Stay and Exits. Companies need managers that are leaders who can engage more personally via weekly conversations and real time coaching. Every company needs to ask, listen and act on employee feedback. Knowing your team will help every other decision you need to make r.e. workforce.

?Clear ethos and organisational values; demonstrable actions being taken by management towards these values; inclusive workplace with visible allies; clear goals and challenge for employees.

?1.????Take culture strategy as important as you take marketing pr finance. 2. Have a clear idea of desired/optimum culture. 3 Measure existing and desired. 4 Role model desired when changing. 5. Be inclusive and focus on line managers. 6. Remember optimum culture won’t always be "optimum ethics". If employees don't like it they should either argue for change or leave. They will find symbiosis eventually...their tribe" Owner managers have a right to insist on a culture they believe works for them. It's their business.

?Human: Trust and good, clear communication. Tech: Sensible infrastructure to make things work

?Tech must be working, collaboration tools, leadership that doesn’t lose anyone, a fear-free culture as ppl need to feel able to just call someone.

?Opportunities and events to encourage interaction, team building, and other engagement initiatives that can be more challenging to initiate and maintain in a remote environment.

?The ability to continuously focus on the business objectives tightly linked with a continuous connection (or reconnection) with all employees.

?Question 7: How can you address differences between leaders who want to see people back in an office, and employees who want to work more remotely?

Be curious, ask questions to understand why and bring people together to work through their differences with the aim of coming to a shared consensus.?Remember, there doesn’t need to be a one size fits all approach, rather options & approaches that support the business and its people and that can be communicated effectively.

Meet in the middle. To do this, leaders have to be willing to look out through another window, for a chance to appreciate a different part of the same view. Doing this enables them to step back and find the best place to amalgamate both parts

?When an employee has been performing exceptionally working remote the past 18 months, it is hard to justify that the work has to be performed in an office setting. Many organizations had their best fiscal years ever and are now stating that employees are NOT productive remotely.

?Ask your employees what they want. Surveys regularly indicate that 70% of people do not want to return to the office full-time, and 40% of these express a preference for working 1 to 2 days a week at the office. It would be a brave company that moves out of step with what their employees are thinking - they will be the first to struggle to hire and retain people.

?Conversation. Be open, give all a voice and be considerate to all the opinions in the company. If companies focus on the outcomes that would best move the organization forward I think both sides have a better chance of getting on board with the final direction. Training for leadership is now as important as ever. We need them to see the bigger picture, be amazing communicators and genuinely effective in all parts of their roles

?Explore the concerns the leaders have; look at ways of alleviating them; support leaders to manage staff effectively; remind them that being visible in an office is not a marker of effective performance!

?They're all employees. All colleagues. If there's a capex business case for occupancy, share it. Accentuate benefits of being together physically (there are plenty). Assure safety. But enable hybrid and flexible working. If it's ascribed from the top, lose people who don’t get it...starting with senior people.

?Find out what people really care about, what sits behind this. And then work with that.

?Coach them. Ask why they think how they do and see if they can provide real reasons for their opinion.

?Help managers to verbalize why they want to see their employees in-person and then address methods and strategies where this can be done remotely.

?Start with the “why” for both parties. To achieve a good outcome both sides need to understand and appreciate the opposite position.

?Question 8: Since one size does not fit all, what can be done to ensure engagement. equity, and belonging for all employees, both those working on or off site?

?Consider first the people. Their personalities and behavioural styles, their identities (race, gender, culture, religion, values, abilities), then consider the Mission of the organisation. How can you create a culture that unifies the people and your core mission? Finally, create and implement a policy that is people centred and holistic well-being strategy. Build partnerships with specialists that would support your goal.

?Being inclusive in engagement programs no matter the location - alternative meetings (100% virtual verses blended) and creating opportunities for interaction for both onsite and remote teams.

?It's all about (1)making sure key people management practices are reviewed and adapted to a remote-ready environment and applied consistently, and (2)making sure that meetings, collaboration etc. are done with inclusion in mind..

?Have tools in place that work for both parties, there are genuinely amazing platforms out there that are cost effective, can simplify the process and reach employee's throughout the year at a cadence that matches the organizations needs. Don't just ask, but act. You have to act on the feedback you receive and communicate to the team about those actions. Sitting at home wondering what happened to their feedback is not what you want your team thinking about. At a very high level, organizations need to be genuine and intentional about their culture and engaging their teams. It's real easy to spot for the employee's when the company is "going through the motions.

?Talk to employees and understand what they need to feel engaged; ensure available opportunities are accessible for those both on and off site; look again at organisation and team values to see if they are fit for all employees and amend accordingly.

?Have a broad strategy with common and local elements. But have a strategy and plan that adds up. Link it into the biz plan and strategy and goals and enablers. Have kpis. Set an engagement baseline and sell the reasons for it. Make it part of everyone's job.

?Make it safe for people to speak up. Don't let your privileged majority decide what the future should look like for everyone else.

?Make sure no one is forced to work from home or (if their work allows it) to come on site every day. Also make sure no one is left out of the information loop and make sure they all participate equally I.e. at team meetings. That could mean the whole team meets virtually for some meetings, so each voice is heard. Let ppl participate in the organization of these things.

?Know your audience. In the physical workplace, create meeting settings that allow employees to participate and engage equally regardless if they are in the room or joining virtually.

Find a way to engage and listen to your people, use this knowledge to inform business decisions and communicate clearly to people the WHY of whatever decision is made alongside the WHAT is required.?Also don’t be afraid to have hybrid solutions across your business, if you need 5 days a week in the office for a particular team but not for another then that’s fine, as long as that’s communicated well and any options available to people are made clear.

Question 9: If good and happy moods can impact on performance, due to chemicals released into our bodies, what can be done to influence employee moods in this post pandemic hybrid working environment, that can affect outcomes and performance positively.

They key thing is ensuring people understand the purpose of their role and how it contributes to the success of the organisation.?It’s impossible to make people happy all of the time, people have different wants / needs / motivations, however what we do know is that the majority of people want to feel they have purpose and are valued.?This can help enable the “happiness” chemicals that impact performance. Communicate and reinforce purpose and value and this will help drive positive outcomes and performance.

People respond to compassion. Compassion builds on empathy and motivates one to act in a way that makes the other person feel better. With compassion, leaders listen more effectively, create safe spaces for people to speak, empower people to grow, nurture relationships through collaboration and social interactions. To influence employees moods, start with compassion, create a holistic well-being strategy and partner with well-being specialists for implementation

?Check in on your employees - no matter their worksite status. Acknowledge and celebrate those things that we celebrated when everyone was onsite - there is still ways to bring people together regardless the medium.

?By giving people ownership of when and where they work. By reframing what "productivity" means - e.g. working from home for deep thought, project work, emails, etc. and working from the office for collaboration, updates, etc.

?It's really a mix, you have to be creative and keep introducing new fun ways to interact. We have a weekly team huddle, that is all about fun as well as a weekly recap email that highlights all the good things going on AND some fun links that always get a lot of conversation going. Be whimsical, surprise your team with something small or fun. It really resonates when the employee's don't expect it.

?Praise! It takes moments to thank employees and recognise their achievements. Explore with employees what motivates them to deliver excellence and use that knowledge to continue to improve their work experience.

?Well, ensure lots of opps for good and happy moods by upskilling managers to facilitate the and create totemic moments where these are led from the SLT/Middle to role model, led by comms and led by best practice champions. Coach it.

?Stay out of people's lunch breaks. (I'm not kidding, I had so many sessions on "resilience" I had to attend and I missed proper food and my walk on those days. Allow people to do appropriate self-care.

?Happy pills? Might collide with your no drug policy. Keep them happy :-) a good job with nice colleagues and a fair, open and approachable leadership tends to do that. Or happy pills. But I recommend the other option, even though it might be harder to achieve for some.

?Celebrate success and achievement! Employees that are remote must not be "out of sight, out of mind" but encouraged and celebrated help create a positive work experience.

?It is a leader / manager’s responsibility to create the most effective and productive working environment. There is no such thing as work /life balance ... it is life balance and it is a line manger’s job to ensure (where possible) that employees can achieve a happy life balance. Coaching at senior levels definitely helps. Try mentoring elsewhere.?

Increase opportunities for “play” at work. Experimentation and opportunities to solve problems that really matter to the business fuel engaged and thereby happy workplaces (Harvard Business Review, 2021). The more the opportunities to engage purposefully, the better the outcomes.