Leading well in the distributed office
Michael Swinsburg
Executive Search and Leadership Advisory - Managing Partner and Non Executive Director
In our Meet the future leaders in the distributed office?(March 2021) we asked does leadership style differ depending on how work is organised???We met the f2f ‘talker’ leaders and the virtual ‘doer’ leaders with the distributed office requiring a skills evolution.??
Now we review: the pros and cons of distributed working; how the office offers connections to people, purpose and place; and our desire to adapt to new ways of work.??Leaders will need to focus on smarter productivity measures, strengthen culture, clarify purpose, and improve their skills with greater intentionality.
As leaders strive to bring their teams back to CBD offices, we owe it to ourselves to keep the best of WFH for our teams’ and organisations’ future health.??Research and our leaders’ conversations confirm the flexibility genie has leapt from the bottle!?
When can you come back in? Maybe never!?
Many reports globally have told us most prefer a balance of office and WFH. Last month’s?‘Equitable Flexibility: Reshaping our Workforce’?report[i]?from Chief Executive Women Australia found: about 2/3rds of employees want their flexibility to continue; 95% said they would take flexible arrangements over the next three years; while some expressed concerns about always being ‘on call’.??Such results during high stress, forced lockdowns is quite telling.??The genie had been ready for a while!
The IT, professional and financial services sectors appear well advanced with the distributed workplace recognising the opportunity to improve diversity and inclusion.[ii]???Australia’s Telstra Group[iii]?and Deloitte[iv]have recently announced that work can be done ‘anywhere, anytime’.?
Unpacking the distributed workplace?
The challenges have been canvassed widely with key concerns including maintaining organisational culture, capturing innovation, employee career growth and mental health wellbeing.??Atlassian research[i]?suggests that many of these concerns differ on?three factors?that organisations need to consider when supporting distributed teams:??Role complexity?– including stakeholder interactions needed;?Household complexity?– care responsibilities and household density; and,?Network quality?– access to personal and workplace communities that support our sense of inclusion. We might canvas more here in a future article.
In praise of the office?
Co-researchers from INSEAD and Harvard published ‘In Praise of the Office’ (July 2020)?[ii]?revealed?that while the majority found WFH refreshing we can feel lonely.?Office camaraderie was the top reason to return to the office. Managers, extroverts and those with good team dynamics felt lonelier. The introverts were less concerned - maybe preferred some solitude vs. loneliness. They inferred that leaders might get affirmation from f2f interactions. In part 1, we saw that ’talker’ leaders found WFH less rewarding.??Perhaps the simple human need to feel connected happens more easily in f2f.?
Winning in the distributed workplace needs four critical connections: to people, to purpose, to place and routine.
The team found the happiest with WFH had consulting experience where they often build the?four connections: to people, to purpose, to place and routine.??These office connections are often bundled imperfectly and taken for granted.??We now realise building connections?intentionally?takes real effort. A casual chat may need planning and ends up as all day ‘zoom doom’ that reminds us what we are missing. The researchers suggest we accept that work has changed.??We rushed into WFH and copied the office – it’s clumsy!??We can now build a sustainable, distributed workplace.?
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Leaders need new shoes?
In his ‘Embedding new ways of working’ report, Dr Brendan Rynne, chief economist, KPMG Australia?[iii]concludes “different capabilities are required to lead and manage workforces that you can’t physically see…working at different times and places.”??Many thinkers suggest we need to start with?strengthening culture, clarifying purpose?and investing more in?leadership development?to handle greater complexity.??To support our people to continue to connect, perform, and thrive, greater focus will be needed in the following areas:?
Talent - a brave new world
The pandemic has given us the opportunity to build back better by reimaging the workplace.??Can we move on from central HQs derived from industrial age factories with Taylorism management practices when towns were small? Talented 21st?century knowledge workers are global and expect much more.???We prided ourselves on how quickly we could sprint to WFH. Now let us seize the opportunity to run the marathon to a more sustainable workplace.?A new opportunity to attract the best.
Intentionality will be a key success factor in the distributed workplace.
[i]??‘Equitable Flexibility: Reshaping our Workforce’?CEW??https://cew.org.au/wp-ontent/uploads/2021/06/MEDIA-RELEASE_New-report-shows-men-and-women-_final.pdf
[vi]?INSEAD HBR ‘In praise of the office’ July 2020.??https://hbr.org/2020/07/in-praise-of-the-office https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-10-27/the-loneliness-of-the-long-distance-employee?sref=iF3fCXi9
Transformational Group Executive | NED | Specializes in growth strategies | Digital | CMO
3 年Michael, thank you for another insightful article. The genie is indeed out of the bottle. The pandemic saw Aon introduce 100% Flex which has been very well received. Productivity has increased, business outcomes have improved and our teams are more engaged in large part because we trusted them and cared for their wellbeing. The 'new now' has forced leadership to be very clear on purpose, expectations and create new ways of visibly recognising performance. Interestingly, we are finding the young generation miss office time due to the human connectivity, the work space and the career visibility it provides. And leaders do have new shoes.......sneakers!
C Suite Executive | Divisional CEO | CSO | CMO
3 年Hi Michael, As you say the genie has left the bottle in regards to WFH. @UniSuper we have recently rolled out a principles based approach on flexible working called UFlex. UFlex, is all logical and what you would come to expect with any forward thinking organisation. I am looking forward to a future where COVID restrictions are eased so we can give UFlex a good go and then if required make further tweaks to ensure we have in place an operating rhythm that both appeals to talent as well as ensures the organisation successfully delivers on its purpose. Cheers, AT
Lead Analyst, Compliance and Risk Consultant
3 年Michael - another thought provoking article - one thing that WFH has demonstrated for me is the incredible ability that humans have to adapt to changing environments and circumstances - all without needing a Harvard business degree* - and it is this incredible human capacity and extraordinary creativity which I think will be the key success factor in ushering forth the Brave New World. For those people - who really thrive on the face to face interaction - there will be jobs and industries that naturally cater to them. Whereas for others - for whom WFH suits them better - they likewise will be able to find roles that can provide this flexibility. It seems to me that if we step back - maybe what is really happening is that the world is changing to suit us - rather than us having to change to suit the world. If that is the case - then this requires us to change our perspective entirely to focus on the innate capacity within each and every one of us to naturally mould the work environments we operate in to support us - and away from the need to try and work out how to adapt to an ever changing world. As an example - you would think not working face to face would inhibit developing meaningful relationships - however I have worked from home over the last 16 months - and I have been able to develop meaning working relationships with colleagues that I have only met over the airwaves. The relationships developed as it is an innate part of who we are to develop connections (and this happens whether we work ftf or remotely) - and I am sure this is probably a common experience for many people working from home. Nic * (reference to Harvard business degree is a little tongue in cheek)
Chief Executive Officer, Shire of Wyalkatchem
3 年Yet another great and insightful article. Many organisations are struggling to support a distributed work place not from a lack of desire - but a lack of systems and support network. The resulting mental health issues from extended periods of ‘wfh isolation’ are still being very clumsily handled. It is a time when all leaders need to dig deep and connect regularly with their people to ensure key business outcomes are achieved . In recent lockdowns the greatest challenges were conversations around retaining talent and maintaining service delivery. Look forward to your next article Michael - stay safe
Non-Executive Director GAICD??Committee Chair??Investment Governance??Diversity & Innovation Champion ??Compulsive Learner
3 年Excellent article Michael Swinsburg. The recognition of the requirement to anchor in purpose, and to practice more intentionality in building and supporting the foundations of achieving long term business success is well made in your post. Creating a culture and supporting teams to thrive is absolutely key, and the flexible environment and work framework need to be accommodated to allow this to happen. Thanks for sharing.