In-Office? Remote? Hybrid? Hmm.

After a year that challenged the limits of resilience, adaptation, and improvisation, we're now faced with the next big challenge: go back or move forward? CEOs across the globe are making their choices to shape their corporate culture. I contend we're overlooking a transformative discovery.

First, an important qualifier. I believe that finding and recruiting talent with the right skills, behaviors, growth potential, cultural fit, etc. is the most important thing a manager does to influence the success of their team. If you haven't assessed your staff for these attributes or aren't confident every single person who reports to you has the right stuff, stop reading this and get started on that. Without that full confidence, what follows is irrelevant.

March 2020

Our world changed. We stopped shaking hands. Started social distancing. We were told not to wear masks. Then to wear masks. But not those masks. We stocked up on hand sanitizer and scrambled for toilet paper. And on March 13, the governor told us we'd be safer at home. We packed up our computers and set up shop where it was safe. Then we got right back to getting sh*t done.

As we settled into our new reality, we set clear and consistent expectations for how this would all work. On our team, those expectations took the shape of a 2020 goal. Not only was this a way to ensure that we reviewed them regularly, but people were really rising to the challenge and I wanted to make sure they were formally recognized for their efforts. Here's how our goal read.

Safer-At-Home Transition

Effectively transition to working from home by meeting and/or exceeding leadership expectations, supporting universal adoption of defined collaboration tools, and demonstrating the highest level of engagement and interpersonal connections with the team for the duration of the Safer-at-Home directive. This includes (but is not limited to):

• Transitioning in-person meetings to virtual meetings in Teams

• Actively managing your calendar and updating your status in Teams to accurately reflect your availability to connect and collaborate with others

• Leveraging our existing systems (Jira, Confluence, etc.) to communicate with workgroups, project stakeholders, etc. as appropriate for those channels

• Addressing obstacles to effective collaboration quickly and transparently

• Adhering to work-from-home best practices including managing distractions, establishing a functional workspace, and maintaining a focus on self-care

• Engaging with Workplace by Facebook to stay informed of updates, leadership broadcasts, and connecting with co-workers

June 2021

Business is booming (well at our company, anyway). Vaccines are stemming the tide of the virus. The governor has announced that the state will lift restrictions in a few days. Articles are popping up everywhere debating what's next for the workplace. Is remote work good or bad for corporate culture? Do we go back to the office? Is it safe? What about a hybrid arrangement?

Hang on. I think we've skipped a few steps asking these questions. Isn't the first step to evaluate what we learned from all of this? Wouldn't that evaluation inform new, more nuanced questions that help determine what's next?

For years, I've been passionate (okay, maybe a little obsessive) about making sure my team prioritizes balancing their work with their life. "Work-life balance is everything," I told myself. "Tending to the needs of the whole person enables them to perform at their best." Works for me, anyway.

Through this pandemic, however, my conversations with my team have changed. They've become more dimensional. More personal. Rather than encouraging them to tend to their work-life balance, I found it more important to check in on how they are prioritizing themselves. "How are you holding up?" and "How can I help?" were new questions for staff one-on-ones and team meetings. "There's a reason airline attendants tell you to put your mask on first and then help others, you know." It's even baked into our 2020 goal in the 5th bullet: maintain a focus on self-care.

And there it is. That transformational discovery. That learning that should inform our decisions, discussions, and consideration. HUMAN BEINGS ARE 3-DIMENSIONAL.

Each member of my team has a very different story of how they adapted to working remotely. And each reflects all 3 dimensions — work life, home life, and self.

One team member managed her transition by reworking her schedule to accommodate focus time for high-concentration tasks, collaborative time with stakeholders, and quality time with her small child. She's fully integrated the needs of her life with the needs of her job and her team. And she's finding that flexibility empowering and fulfilling.

Another team member discovered remote working allowed him to better manage his attention. He functions best when he's able to unplug from office chatter to focus on complex challenges for long stretches. And because he understands the value of strong connections, he makes a deliberate effort to plug back into the banter, share his quick wit, and bond socially with his peers and partners. He's getting what he needs and results are simply inspired.

I have 8 more stories just as unique, personal, and focused on success at work, fulfillment at home, and prioritizing self-care as those. Each person on my team is making all three dimensions work and continually adjusting to optimize them.

The point? You can't just focus on the balance of life and work to effectively support a whole person. How each person focuses on their self-care is the dimension we've left out for too long. And it's the reason we should be having a different conversation. Where you do your best work is directly related to how you care for yourself. It's deeply personal and unique to every individual. And it can't be one-size-fits-all.

Our CEO will be making the announcement of his choice soon. And I'll support whatever he defines as our new normal. That's my job. And I am hopeful that choice sees all of us in 3D.

#Management #Remote #WFH #Hybrid #Forward #CreativeTeam