Managing Your Hybrid Engineering Workforce

You’ve read the news articles and LinkedIn posts: hybrid work is the way of the future!

Hybrid work is a flexible working model, where employees have some choice in when and where they get their work done. Typically, they divide their time between an office environment and another location, frequently home.

You’re already used to managing a distributed workforce. Engineering services, by their nature, are often delivered in small teams at client sites.

So, what has changed and what do you need to do to meet this new world of ‘hybrid work’?

Changing expectations

The past two years of response to the COVID-19 pandemic have changed the employment landscape. Your people are increasingly expecting to have a say in how, when and where they work. The workplace is becoming "democratised".

A December 2021 report by the Swinburne University of Technology surveyed Australian knowledge workers, including engineers. It found that:

• 73% want some form of flexibility in how they work
• 91% want office time each week
• 43% are prepared to leave if they are not offered flexibility

On top of this, your clients are now working hybrid as well. Your people are performing in complex combinations of working from home, remote sites, client offices and your office, if you’ve retained one.

Some of your regular ways of staying connected, such as weekly in-person team meetings and social events, don’t work anymore. And the new ways of working, like Teams video calls, risk overwhelming your team. Your video meeting is now just one more in a packed schedule.

What does hybrid mean for my communication?

To meet your people’s rising expectations of choice in how they work, you have to be comfortable with flexibility and adapting to individual needs. Become confident communicating through different channels and in varying styles.

This world of competing remote connections means each of your communications is likely to be less effective. Zoom fatigue and other distractions make it more difficult to get your employee’s attention. In this environment, miscommunication and misunderstanding are more likely.

Leading the hybrid engineering workforce

To effectively lead your people in this world:

• Come from solid ground. Firstly, manage yourself and increase your self-awareness. Hybrid work is happening in a changing environment. It affects you as much—if not more—as it does your people. Notice how the situation is affecting you and manage your own reactions.
• Eyes on the prize. Focus on outcomes, not process. As the leader of your business, your job is to decide the why and what, not the how. Become comfortable giving more choice to your people on how they get things done. Don’t worry—studies are showing that people are more productive when given choice.
• Double-down on connection. Communicate more regularly and repeat your key messages using different media. As well as emails, create videos, have regular Teams catch-ups and post blogs on knowledge sharing applications like Slack.
• Be available. Make sure that your people can reach you when they need to, and not necessarily when it’s best for you.
• Invite input. Regularly ask your team what their challenges are and how they would like to address them. Allow them to design their own ways of working and lead events such as knowledge sessions and social catchups.
• Build trust by trusting. The biggest killer to acting responsibly is to be given no trust. Build trust across your team by showing you trust them to do the right thing. Avoid the temptation to respond to uncertainty with more process and policy.
• Put the we in team. Encourage cooperation by recognising those who work well with others. Make a safe environment for people’s ideas by asking for, listening to and respecting inputs from everyone.

This is the future

Those articles were right: hybrid is the way of the future. You need to be able to lead a team where everyone has a different way of working. Times, locations and processes will vary between individuals. Your business's ways of working must be flexible, meeting your people where they are rather than demanding they fit a single operational model.

To effectively lead your engineering team, come from a place of self-awareness, focus on your vision and communicate regularly. Create a psychologically safe environment by being available, inviting comments from everyone and actively listening to what they say.

The hybrid working model has a lot to offer businesses and their people. It promises to make us happier and more engaged at work, and at the same time increasing our productivity. Make sure you are adapting your way of work to meet this future and realise these benefits.