Where is my team, have you seen them?

How did you first react back in 2020, when overnight, your workforce was ordered to go remote.

What are they doing? How do I reach them? Are they being productive? How can I manage them if I can’t see them? Are they even working?

These were common reactions within many organisations when the pandemic imposed the reality of remote work on a largely unprepared business landscape.

With no choice in the matter, everyone has been forced to accept, confront and manage this evolving dynamic.

Now, more than two years after the initial COVID19 impact, it’s worth reflecting on what we have learned and what’s to come as we head into an era of hybrid working.

As ManpowerGroup’s Chief Innovation Officer Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic stated in a recent Forbes article, the idea of hybrid working is not new.

“…hybrid work is mostly a new name for an old idea: e.g., working from home, working from anywhere/everywhere, smart working, remote working, virtual working, teleworking, telecommuting... these are all older (now less fashionable) names for the same phenomenon.”

While the idea is not new, the speed, abruptness and scale of change that took place in early 2020 was daunting. There was little time to plan, adapt, trial and assess the results.

Today, what we do know is that hybrid work (or some form of it) is here to stay. There are millions of people who have experienced working remotely who will not be easily persuaded to return to the office. Many organisations have invested in the infrastructure to support hybrid working and openly advertise their hybrid attributes as a recruitment tool.

As Dr Chamorro-Premuzic observes, for managers and executives, the hybrid model raises complexity – requiring more attention and planning. It can also create a sense of inequity and unfairness between those ‘at home’ and those ‘in the office’.

He suggests some of the misguided resistance to hybrid working stems from managers and leaders who ‘may not trust employees as much as we think”.

As he notes, it is ironic to assume that someone who is not engaged or motivated to work from home will somehow become hyper productive once they return to the office.

What seems clear is that many companies and employees are embracing the mix of in-person and remote work, they are excited by it and they are looking at how it can be part of program driving sustainable workplace, personal and social improvement.

Martine Haas, the Lauder Chair Professor of Management at the Wharton School has developed a useful ‘5Cs’ framework. Effectively a checklist, it allows organisations to assess where they sit on the key areas of challenge in the hybrid work transition – communication, coordination, connection, creativity, and culture.

Ms Haas concedes that dealing with these new arrangements can be challenging, but, the good news – we’re learning quickly, and overcoming the obstacles.

When the COVID crisis first emerged, few could have imagined the road we would travel. It is remarkable to think how far we have come, what we have endured and what we have learned.

The workplace was the epicentre of the disruption. Now, as leaders, we have a chance to re-engineer what work looks like to future generations.

This is something I think of almost every time I walk into a traditional office environment, dominated by large, unoccupied spaces, an empty lunchroom, and masses of spare desks. I see the angst that these environments can create for many people that choose to work “in the office”.

Getting the physical work environment right is key. Large empty spaces, expensive facilities and costly fit outs – are these things still important? In my opinion, the future is smaller, more inclusive and practical spaces which drive engagement, collaboration and activity. Spaces that enable engagement across a hybrid workforce without creating an “us and them” divide between those that choose to work remotely and those that feel more comfortable in an office environment.

We have already seen a significant shift towards shared facilities, hubs and co working spaces, I have no doubt this trend will continue.

So, after more than two years am I one of those leaders still asking “Are they even working?” No, I am not.

I am excited by the opportunity to redefine the traditional constructs of work and I know that as a leader, if I cultivate a strong culture, provide a clear hybrid working framework, stay genuinely connected to my team and build a common vision across my business, the physical location of individual team members should never be an obstacle.

You can learn more from some of the leading experts on hybrid work in the articles below.

Power to the People: Workers Take Center Stage, ManpowerGroup

5 Challenges of Hybrid Work — and How to Overcome Them, Harvard Business Review

The Challenges Of Hybrid Work, Forbes