Remote Working Didn’t Fail, Leaders Did
In 2020, one of our clients asked our team an important question: “When it’s safe to bring people back to the office, should we? Do we know how this pandemic will change employee sentiment?”
We responded with a relatively simple, yet critical response. “The best way to know what will work for your people is to ask them.” And that’s exactly what we did. We spent six weeks interviewing employees around the globe for a Tier One Investment Bank about their hopes, fears, challenges, revelations, and ideas for the future of work. The response was resoundingly clear, best summed up by one response from our interviews.
“If leadership asks us to return to the office after proving we can work remotely, we’ll take that as a sign that they don’t trust us.”
Afterall, productivity was the highest it had been in years, despite the logistical (not to mention emotional and mental) challenges that accompanied the pandemic and the rushed transition to remote work.
Fast forward a few months and a successful vaccine later, and the company required all employees to return to the office, which led to a spike in attrition and a decline in employee engagement and satisfaction. Predictably, our next consulting project ensued.
As many organizations are demanding a hybrid workforce, let’s inspect what is actually working and not working about remote work, and what may be driving leaders to demand employees to be in person.
Perception: I can’t develop relationships with my team if we are remote, and relationships are an important part of our culture.
Reality. Relationships can be developed remotely if leaders intentionally connect with their teams and establish trust. I have personally led remote teams for years and have had some of my highest achieving team outcomes (not to mention made some of my life long best friends) with people I may have only met in person once or twice.
Tip: Set time aside with your team in a “no agenda meeting” to learn about your team professionally and as humans.
Perception: I won’t know if employees are actually doing their work if I can’t see them in the office.
Reality. You’ll know if employees are working by the simple fact that work is getting done. In fact, according to Daniel Pink’s book Drive, autonomy is an important motivator for employees.
Tip: Set outcome-based goals for your team to track achievement. This establishes autonomy and accountability.
Perception: When I was a junior employee, I needed to work in the office so our junior employees should have to do the same.
Reality: Today’s junior employees have access to more technology in their pocket than most of us did in our entire homes when we were at that stage of our career. They have phone lines, email, chat/messaging, even scanners and fax machines all on their smart phone. We are often asking our team members to be available long after the hours of 9-5. When there is trust and accountability established, we can afford to give employees some flexibility during ‘normal work hours’ to take a walk, make a pot of coffee, or even cook a real meal for lunch.
Tip: An important part of career growth as a junior employee is having access to senior people to learn from their experience. Make this a priority and reality by creating psychological safety to ask questions. Hold open office hours for check-ins. Schedule one on ones that are focused on career (not tasks).
Perception: We ideate and problem solve better when we collaborate.
Reality: TRUE! Two minds are no doubt better than one. However, collaboration is not limited to where your desk chair is located. With technology, communication and collaboration are enabled for teams across the globe. Collaboration is a matter of behavior and intention.
Tip: Try Mural.co for collaborative meetings with your team, regardless of location. Each team member will have access to contribute ideas in real time. Here’s one of my favorite Mural templates: Sprint Review.
Is there a time and place to bring your team together in person? YES. There is a certain energy that occurs when teams collocate. In-office days can replace what used to be offsites (more frequently and for less expense). Bringing teams together to discuss strategy, culture, product ideation and develop new skills are a great use of time and resources. But the “je ne sais quoi” of in-office work can be not only defined, but it can also be replicated in remote work.
When determining the future of your workforce, remember; remote work is not an either / or. It’s a both / and. You can have autonomy and accountability. Disparate locations and dedicated teams. Asynchronous and allied. When a leader is intentional about how they bring teams together in meaningful ways, location becomes a matter of where is your desk chair and not what your value is to your team.
If you’re looking for ways to connect, collaborate and communicate with your remote team, let’s chat. https://www.definitionscoachingconsulting.com/contact
