Forcing employees back into the office because of sunk costs?
Good excuse.
Maybe, the real reason you resist a hybrid or fully remote workplace is because your managers don’t have the managerial capabilities to make it work.
Hybrid is not new.
Hybrid is the way many sales professionals and consultants operated before Covid- with lots of travel, working wherever they were, with little in-office time.
Most employees prefer remote work.
Why? Here’s a shortlist:
- It saves the time and aggravation(!) of commuting.
- It allows people to create an environment which fosters their individual productivity. Everything from lighting to temperature, desk chair, screen height, and what we eat impacts our ability to focus and produce quality work.
- It minimizes gossip and time at the water cooler. It lets people get things done without distractions from passers-by.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked in tech and services firms that suffer from the constraints of geography-dependent clients and talent.
Classic scenario: A client is ready to pay us a million dollars to customize the app for them. The recruiter has been trying for 4 weeks and can’t find anyone qualified to do the job AND work from the office. We’re going to lose the deal!
The days of walking the cubicle have proved to be both passe and an ineffective management tactic.
Really, the habits needed to manage remote employees are ones that create better managers. Period.
If unimpeded growth is the goal, you’ll want to make sure these are practiced.
Four ways to get managers successfully managing remote workers.
- Manage by output, not hours. Set clear timelines and goals for your team member; then, equip them with the tools they need and let them have at it.
What matters is not the number of hours employees spend in an office or on a task. What matters is what those employees accomplish.
“Manage by output” is an approach that holds people accountable (accountability paired with compassion, please). Colleagues know who isn’t pulling their weight, usually before managers do. Managers need to rapidly address unfairness as it is a huge de-motivator.
While accountability is typically associated with under-performing, accountability also enables managers to recognize those are doing well- and that motivates others.
- Hire for productivity. Develop specific interview questions to assess how well a candidate will work with remote colleagues and their experience with hybrid/remote work. For example, “share a strategy that helps drive effectiveness when working from home.”
- Mimic in-office behavior. Whatever messaging platform you’re using is essentially the new office. When we mimic in-office behavior, we create an inclusive environment that makes people feel acknowledged and seen.
For example, encourage everyone to say hello when they get online in the morning, say goodbye at end of day and update calendars. Not to micro-manage but so your colleagues and team members know why you may not be reachable. That doesn’t mean filling every minute; it means being more thoughtful about your environment.
If persons on your team are inexplicably disappearing for any length of time, their employment should be likely to disappear, too.
- Overcommunicate. A CEO I know says, “distance exponentially multiplies miscommunication.” That means more of an effort is needed to ensure remote workers are aligned, feel included and contribute.
In one of my workplaces, we had a new manager who had a post-it note to remind himself to “first call on those not in the room” to ensure inclusion in our hybrid workplace.
Managers should explicitly communicate these habits so anyone new to hybrid /remote can learn and adopt them.
Nuances of communication are critical to managing remotely. If you’re one of those people who say, “I’m not good at texting” then chances are you’re not good at managing, either. Every form of communication we have at our disposal can and must be used to convey appreciation, inspiration and guidance.
My recommended strategy and one that has repeatedly proven itself?
Hire great people wherever they are and let them work wherever they chose- as long as it’s legal, they produce and contribute to a professional, productive work environment, and prioritize availability for client calls and team meetings.
Productivity = profit. Busy-ness does not.
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