As leaders, it is important to acknowledge the ongoing impact of the shift from full-time office roles to hybrid and remote work. The day-to-day lives and productivity of our employees hit an accelerated period of change in recent years and we need to continue to create realistic expectations for your team to ensure that processes and procedures are being optimized for success.
Be Empathetic.
Be it balancing family and a full-time workload or caring for a sick relative we’re all doing the best we can. As a leader and as a teammate, it’s important to be empathetic and considerate of what your colleagues are going through. If an employee is struggling, ask them what you can do to help. Maybe it’s allowing for a more flexible work schedule, or offering an extra pair of hands to help them carry their project across the finish line. Just showing that you care, even in small ways, can make a big difference in the lives of your employees.
Communicate.
Create a culture of open communication. When find ourselvs working miles and time zones apart, office communication is not so tangible and as easy as popping over to someone’s desk or catching up over coffee. To keep your company culture strong, consider creating new avenues for communication like weekly virtual all-hands meetings, randomized virtual coffees with team members, or setting time aside at the beginning or end of each meeting to catch up. Sync with your teams about which communication methods work best for them – some teams thrive best on Slack, while others prefer video calls, status emails at the or regularly scheduled in person meetings.
Set Clear Expectations and Check In.
Setting clear expectations is vitally important as a leader. Be sure that your employees understand what their assignments are, the deliverables and the due dates, and align those with timelines and benchmarks. Check in with your employees regularly about progress – this can help you identify roadblocks that you can remove for your team. Check in, and check in again. It may seem like overkill, but everything runs much more smoothly when everyone’s on the same page.
Consistently Think About How to Improve Systems and Procedures.
Listen to your team, pay attention to what’s working and what’s not, and think about how those systems could be improved. If the issues are technical, try something new – there are innovative tools being developed and released all the time. If they’re personal issues – like juggling childcare and work obligations – ask your employees what about the challenges they face, and then collaborate with your leadership team to develop systems and procedures to solve for those.
As technology and opportunity collide, we continue to see innovative and new approaches to the ‘future of work,’ the best we can do as leaders is to be empathetic, supportive, and creative when it comes to finding solutions for today’s needs – and tomorrow’s.