Hybrid working: is your team working effectively?
How is hybrid working going? I have heard some mixed stories regarding hybrid effectiveness over the last few weeks. If you run a team, it is really important to keep a close eye on how it is working out and deal with challenges early on. Without people being in the same space most of the time, it is easy for small problems to create big issues.
In this article, I want to provide you with a list of aspects that you can consider to help you come to a picture of how hybrid working is going. You might want to score each one out of ten or traffic light them. For some of them you may not know and have to go and have a think or have some conversations.
Aspects to consider
Productivity & quality – I am hearing about lots of firms and companies who are short of resource which is causing challenges to workload management. However, aside from that consider how productive the team you do have is at the moment. Are most deadlines being hit? Have there been many complaints from internal or external clients about work delivered? If you feel productivity is low then take a step back and consider why this might be – poor morale/motivation? Lack of clarity regarding roles and responsibilities? Other factors blocking effective working? Adapting to hybrid effectiveness working? Until you know the cause, you can’t work on a solution. In a hybrid working world, there are more possibilities.
Team relationships – is your team currently feeling like a positive environment? Are people working well together or is there moaning and groaning? Have people left? If so, do you know why? Once again the reasons behind these relationships not working well can be numerous – from people’s personal circumstances, through to poor communication and/or lack of motivation. Hybrid working can, if not well-established, cause resentment and communication challenges as interactions have to be more intentional when people aren’t in the same environment any or much of the time. Take a step back and consider whether the relationships are less positive generally or whether this only relates to a certain subset of people before thinking about potential causes. Negative ‘Office Politics’ is common and the potential for it is greater in a hybrid working world. If you want to consider whether this is an issue for your team or organisation, you might like to read this article to consider how political your work environment is.
External relationships – if you are in a business where external relationships are really important to you (all service businesses for sure) then post pandemic it is essential to make sure these are reinvigorated. In person networking events are coming back so for those that are happy to, it is time to get back out there. Service businesses need to be visible and that means their people being out in the market. This might be to meet prospective new clients but also to engage with other business contacts and potential referrers. It is worth doing an audit of who your team was well connected with pre pandemic and where those relationships are now. You can then develop a plan for how to progress those relationships from where they are. This article on why your team needs to network and how to get them started that I wrote from We Are The City might help.
Team development – if this stalled during the pandemic then it is time to consider what your team’s development areas are. Not just for their benefit but for your company/firm. You want to keep people feeling they are being developed so you retain them. Additionally, so they genuinely have the skills they need to progress and fulfil their potential for your company or firm. Lack of development focus holds everybody back, as more senior people have to backfill into gaps if their team lack the skills they need. I emphasised to a group of law firm Partners just the other week the importance of work being delegated to the most junior level possible. Often this requires some trust and deciding how they will check in with you along the way. This article on delegation may be helpful for you or others who may struggle to delegate.
Some of these aspects are easy to forget or avoid in a hybrid working context, particularly if there are some team members you only see virtually, but they are key to attaining hybrid effectiveness within your team. Now is the time to focus on the relationships with those who report to you and think about the areas I have outlined. This article on people management might give you some ideas about managing your team more effectively.
If you want to chat through any of your thoughts, please contact me for a conversation. The below guide might help you to consider some of the areas your team need to work on: