Managing corporate teams in today’s hybrid world isn’t easy. If it were, you likely wouldn’t be reading this, or any of the growing array of content covering the topic. While many regions of the world return to 100% in-person office environments, others remain unable to do so, and still others are making the choice not to. We’re left trying to connect and motivate teams across a mish-mash of working environments, and there’s no telling when things might change.
Navigating this kind of uncertainty takes patience, poise, and a solid leadership team — one that, armed with the right approach, can be a major asset to strengthening your corporate culture in 2021.
As humans, our instinct when faced with uncertainty is to strive toward the familiar. This level of cognition keeps us grounded and provides reassurance, but it can also get us into trouble. In particular, with the pandemic, most of us approached our remote working environments in the same way we would the office, by simply swapping out in-person meetings for virtual, impromptu conversations for email, and collaborative breakouts for online collaboration platforms. Before you knew it our schedules were overloaded, our inboxes were overflowing, and we had placed the human element of our jobs — the heart of any company culture — on hold.
Hybrid setups are one of the key challenges facing company leaders today. Inc. recently reported that well-intentioned companies who encourage hybrid working environments run into issues like: overcrowded workspaces mid-week and ‘ghost towns’ on Mondays and Fridays; inefficient hybrid meetings that afford unfair advantages to in-person attendees; and imbalanced promotional practices catering to in-person employees.
Get on Track
How you communicate shouldn’t take the place of why you communicate. The real issue isn’t about solving hybrid setups specifically, it’s about building a magnetic company culture that inspires and engages your people. To do so takes a rock solid team of leaders who understand how to build team cohesion in any environment, are good storytellers, help people to belong, champion feedback, think creatively, and generate engagement. Leaders who embody these traits not only win over the hearts and minds of their teams, but also enable their companies to be 21% more profitable than their unengaged competitors.
Getting your leaders to this level is not as difficult as you might think. There are plenty of leadership training platforms out there that can provide the right education. At SongDivision, however, we’re always thinking about long-term retention of information and development of deeply ingrained beliefs — so that your leaders don’t have to repeat the course 6 months down the line.
This is why we love music. It reaches people emotionally, it inspires people creatively, it stimulates memory, and most of all, it’s fun. If that sounds right for your leaders, then check out the Culture Club: Leadership Track — 6 learning & development sessions designed to inspire and educate your top management, and rock your bottom line, using music.
Managing a hybrid work environment gets a whole lot easier with a great leadership team at the helm. If you’re continuing to see high turnover, disengagement, and low collaboration as a result of hybrid setups, or in general, perhaps it’s time to consider how your leaders can play a bigger role in the solution.
Get your leaders and your bottom line on track!
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