The Time For Hybrid Clarity Is Now

In a recent newsletter I shared my thoughts on the findings in the Microsoft Work Trend Index 2022 report. Microsoft engaged 31,000 people across 31 countries to determine how organisations and their leadership can make hybrid work work.

I wanted this week to deep dive into one of the findings as it is one that is fundamental to employee wellbeing, whilst it may not appear to be a first sight.

Back in June 2021, I wrote an article for Remote Report called “Your (non-existent) plan for future work is causing strife for remote staff.”

Lack of clarity spurs anxiety

It reflected on the findings of a McKinsey April 2021 article which revealed that the lack of information from organisations regarding post-pandemic working arrangements was spurring employee anxiety. The survey of over 5,000 employees revealed the following.

·       40% said they had yet to hear about any vision from their organisation

·       28% said that what they had heard was vague

·       47% agreed or strongly agreed that the lack of clear vision for the post-pandemic work was causing concern or anxiety.

Another McKinsey article from May 2021 revealed that:

·       68% of organisations did not have a clearly articulated vision or plan in place for hybrid work.

Employees feeling anxious due to a lack of organisational communication were three times more likely to report feeling burned out.

One year on and the Microsoft report clearly shows that little has changed. There is continued confusion due to the lack of clear direction and communication 

·       38% of hybrid workers say the greatest challenge of hybrid is knowing when to/why to come to the office, yet only …

·       28% of companies have created team agreements that create team norms around hybrid work.

·       43% of remote workers say they do not feel included in meetings, yet only …

·       27% of companies have created new hybrid meeting etiquette to ensure all feel included and engaged.

A lack of clarity leads to: 

·       Confusion

·       Chaos

·       Conflict

·       Crisis

·       Complacency

·       Cynicism

The time for clarity is now 

If you wish to retain your talent and attract the talent you need for success, the time for clarity is now.  Here are four things you should do starting today

1.   Transparency

Your employees are not stupid. They know that the pandemic has brought about unprecedented change. They know that the future of work is uncharted territory for most organisations. They realise that the hybrid operating model for their organisation will not be an out-of-the-box solution. It will have to evolve.

This is the conversation that should be taking place right now.

You do not have all the answers, so say so. There are too many executives that still believe they cannot communicate until that have a concrete answer to a challenge. They create a vacuum that must be filled, and it gets filled with conjecture and rumour which is extremely dangerous. Those misappropriated speculations can become false truths amongst employees and embedded into their reality.

The conversation should take the form of: 

·       We acknowledge the future of work for this organisation is hybrid

·       We have heard your preferences for ongoing flexibility and autonomy

·       We have listened and will be working toward an operating model that can best meet those preferences whilst delivering on business outcomes

·       We will work WITH you to define our operating model

·       This is uncharted territory for us, so we are on a journey of exploration, experimentation, and learning

·       There will be bumps in the road, but we will embrace them as learning opportunities and move forward

·       This will be a process of continuous improvement as together we determine what works and doesn’t work

·       We will have open and honest conversations

·       We are starting with a town hall meeting next Tuesday at 10:00 to outline our draft plans to move towards a hybrid model and get your feedback

Clarity does not mean you have all the answers. You are just clear on the way forward.

As Brené Brown said “Clear is Kind. Unclear is Unkind.”

2.   Delegate - not dictate

There should be clarity that the hybrid operating model to be adopted will provide both flexibility and autonomy. Teams have the autonomy to determine the best way to use their flexibility to work where they want, when they want and how they want. I described this in a matrix in a November article.

Organisations that dictate the number of days employees must be in the office each week are missing the whole point of the hybrid operating model. Organisations dictating which days of the week employees must be in the office are just trying to go back to the way it was prior to March 2020. The only difference is that employee may only have to go back to the office for less days than they did pre-pandemic.

There is no one-size-fits all model for the entire organisation that determines the days in which employees should be in the office.

Leaders must be delegated the task to work out what works best for their team. If the team want to get together in person for team building, then that is a good reason to attend the office. If the team want to undertake some energetic brainstorming and feel that the outcomes would be better if co-located in the office, they that is a good reason to attend.

If I was asked to attend the office three days a week, I would ask why. If the answer is, “we need to utilise space” then that is not a good enough reason for me to make a two hour commute each day just so there is a bum on a seat.

If I was asked to attend the office every Wednesday and Thursday, I would ask why. If the answer, is “we need to spread out the attendance across the week”, that is also not a good enough reason to attend.

When a leader says I am going to ask you to come into the office in three weeks’ time, and I am looking at a Tuesday and Wednesday because the collaboration space is available and we can get our brainstorming underway, then that is a good reason.

Office space must be managed by a booking system that allows teams and individuals to book the space that they need that optimises a particular activity. This may be a collaborate space, a quiet space, a desk space, or a socialising space. Teams and individuals will attend the office at a time that the appropriate space is available.

Utilisation must be monitored indicating which spaces are under-utilised and those for which there is high demand. The informs decision-making about which space types to reduce and which to increase.

3.   Teams decide

Be absolutely clear that the model offers flexibility and autonomy which empowers leaders and their teams to decide what they believe is good reason to attend the office. This could be a series of questions such as:

Does it optimise achievement of outcomes?

Does it increase inclusivity and equity?

Does it enhance our ability to work effectively as a team?

Everyone must agree that if the answer is “yes” then attendance in the office is for a good reason.

The conversation that leaders have with their team must be about experimentation. This is a learning experience and there will be changes along the way as a result. Each team will work out what works best for them.

Individual team members must be given the autonomy to decide when they wish to attend the office. A team member that needs to conduct focussed work and does not have a home environment that supports that sort of work due to noise and distractions, can decide to work in the office and allocate themselves a focus room for the day.

Create team agreements that provide clarity about team norms in a hybrid world. Workshop the agreement as a team and incorporate three areas: team, information, communications, and collaboration. The agreement should be a team agreement, created by team members themselves, and details precise ways of working and communicating (usually virtually) that will best support team connection, collaboration, alignment, and productivity.

Ask questions such as the following:

Team

What is our purpose?

What are our values? How do the values we have had in the past apply to our hybrid working environment?

What are some of the challenges, opportunities, and solutions we may face as a team working in a hybrid manner? How will we handle them together?

What we do in-person? Create a clear and comprehensive list of those things you really do need or want to be together in person to undertake.

What we do remotely? Clear and comprehensive list of the things that are more effective when done remotely.

How will we know who is working on what in the team?

How can we amend / update the agreement if needed?

Information

Where will we store information?

What information will we share?

What information will we curate and how?

Communication

What channels will be utilised for communication?

Which channels will we use for what type of communication?

What is the expected response time for each channel?

What ceremonies will we have to aid communication? Decide when, where, and frequency.

What will be our meeting principles by which we operate?

Collaboration

What tool(s) will we use for collaboration?

How will we collaborate intra-team?

How will be collaborate inter-team?

How do we deal with conflict if it arises?

4.   Hybrid meeting charter

Everyone should be clear about what is expected of them in a hybrid meeting. Just as you would do with a team agreement, workshop the charter with the team. The team must “own” the charter and hold each other accountable if team language or behaviour does not align with the charter.

The charter could include the statements:

·       We will respect each other regardless of location.

·       Every must feel included regardless of their location.

·       Everyone can speak – no-one will be allowed to dominate the conversation.

·       We will encourage participation – we will pause to ask everyone what they think.

·       We will be fully present. We will not multi-task – as it says I am not interested.

·       We will check-in with everyone about how they are feeling today – we will make the meeting relational not just transactional.

·       We operate in an environment of psychological safety whereby no one will fear speaking up, asking a question, or challenging thinking.

·       We will record the meeting for those that could not attend.

·       We will meet within camera on unless there is a legitimate reason for join the meeting with audio only which will be explained to the team.

·       We will be on mute when not speaking.

·       We will hold each other accountable for language and behaviours that do not align with our charter.

Conclusion 

Unless you want to become another statistic in The Great Resignation, the time for clarity is now. Lack of clarity just says you do not care about your employees, so why would they stay with you?