Leading Hybrid Teams

Leading Well in a Hybrid World
Juliette Alban-Metcalfe, CPsychol.
PPMA Annual Conference
27 April 2023
© Real World Group 2023 @realworldgroup

The Latest on Hybrid Working
© Real World Group 2023
• The majority of organisations in the UK adopting a hybrid model
• People seeking out hybrid work more than ever
• We are seeing a reduction in time OOO but still more significantly more hybrid
than pre-pandemic
• Need to understand the essential foundations to be adaptable and enable
resilience, greater wellbeing and success – never been more important
• Evidence that supports why these skills are so crucial for future success –
ongoing doctoral research, triangulated with wider established leadership
theory and practice
@realworldgroup

5 key leadership skills for leading hybrid
teams

1. Manage by outputs, not control

Manage by outputs
Successful hybrid leaders:
• Manage by outputs rather than visibility of work
• Try to be relaxed about hours of working
• Allow flexibility in day to day agendas
• Try to allow people to make their own choices about how much they will
be in the office

Requires trust & psychological safety
• We must shift from where we have traditionally been to leading by results
• Are you/your colleagues comfortable with this? How do you know you
really are?
• Watch out for all forms of presenteeism – in person and controlled hours
• If people don’t do things “right” why not?
• Clarity of expectations? Competence? Confidence? Wrong job for them?
• Are your teams psychologically safe? How do you know?

2. Act fairly
& embed
fairness

Try to ensure fairness in all directions
• Are firm about people coming in
• Are firm about fairness
• Ensure sufficient focus on people they don’t see as often – proximity bias
• Go out of their way to include others
@realworldgroup

What to reflect on:
• Who does our current way of working work well for? All? Some? Me?
• How confident do you feel tackling people who aren’t behaving fairly?
• Are you providing managers with clear guidance and support?
• Are you guilty of proximity bias?
• How can you help others avoid this error?
@realworldgroup

Demonstrating Appreciation is Essential
• Appreciating contributions and achievements is essential for motivation
and commitment (Alimo-Metcalfe & Alban-Metcalfe, 2013)
• Being hybrid means you have to go out of your way to notice what
people have done well, how they have contributed
• Be mindful not to only notice those who shout loudest about what they’ve
achieved
@realworldgroup

3. Actively empower your team

Promote a bespoke approach to office presence
• Allow teams to make their own rules about what works
• Coordinate people being in the office
• Balance between asking people to be in the office what was promised what
the team needs
• Consider how to onboard & develop talent
• Help make the time in the office as productive as possible
@realworldgroup

Source:
Jabra GN
(2022)
@realworldgroup

Proactively Develop Team’s Responsibility
• Distributing leadership is particularly important given lack of in-person
contact and potential dispersal (Bell & Kozlowski, 2002)
• Team members understand dependencies and coordination requirements
much better than leaders (Eisenberg et al, 2016)
• Having trusting relationships helps facilitate the emergence of shared
leadership in virtual teams (Liao, 2017) - create opportunities to build
relationships in person & deal with conflict quickly
• Ask yourself if all the meetings you attend really need you there
@realworldgroup

4. Try to ensure work is efficient

Try to ensure work is efficient
• Ensure meetings are prepared (and inclusive)
• Encourage breaks between meetings
• Encourage team members to be in the right meetings
• Provide the technology needed
@realworldgroup

Focus on Performance
• Satisfaction with work is correlated with having a performance-oriented
culture (Kwon & Jeon, 2020)
• A major source of stress in remote working can be lack of goal or role
clarity (Nayani et al, 2018)
• Encourage your team to check they are absolutely clear about what is
expected before they approach something
• Do they understand where their responsibility ends and their colleagues’
starts?
@realworldgroup

5. Treat employees as human
beings not human doings

Proactively build connections with individual team
members
• Are relaxed and build up a personal relationship
• Reach out to keep in touch regularly with conversations
• Proactively contact team members to ensure their wellbeing
• Make sure they are available when needed
• Make themselves accessible
• Use the right comms at the right time
@realworldgroup

Communication, Connection & Collaboration
• Effective communication across remote teams improves team functioning
& performance ratings by others (Eisenberg et al, 2019)
• Hybrid working must be coordinated to be successful – how can you
engage your team to work out what is the best way for them?
• Enabling and encouraging collaboration is essential – provide the
technologies & use them (Kwon & Jeon, 2020)
• Demonstrating belief in hybrid working enhances satisfaction (Kwon &
Jeon, 2020)
• Always be mindful that you are being inclusive (CIPD, 2021)
@realworldgroup

Which resonated with you as a key area for focus?
• Manage by outputs, not by control
• Act fairly & embed fairness
• Actively empower your team
• Try to ensure work is efficient
• Treat employees as human beings, not human doings
What will you do differently/ talk to others about/ reflect on further?
@realworldgroup

Any thoughts or questions?

For articles or to get involved in the research
Juliette.albanmetcalfe@realworld-group.com

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