Bentley Incorporated : Leveling The Playing Field Managing A Hybrid Team

SVP, Chief Information Officer and Chief Administrations Officer at Bentley Systems, advancing infrastructure every day.

Countless surveys are now showing what we already knew: Many people like working from home. A recent survey conducted by MarketWatch found that four in 10 workers say that if they are forced to come into an office full time, they will look for another job, and a survey by Monster (granted, it may be slightly biased based on participants) found that 95% are at least thinking about switching jobs. These insights have led to what Anthony Klotz, associate professor of management at Texas A&M University,has labeled 'The Great Resignation.'

Given mobility in the job market, companies are faced with several choices, each impacting how well they can attract and retain talent. They can require employees to come in full time. They can let everyone work from home. Or they can support a hybrid model - one in which some employees come into the office some or all of the time, and others work from home some or all of the time. In light of the data cited above, my guess is that most knowledge-based companies will end up with some sort of hybrid model.

The post-Covid-19 hybrid model of working will present challenges to everyone. Managers will bear the brunt of the change. Managing teams that are all in the office is relatively straightforward. Managers can rely on 'drive-bys' and coffee chats to monitor and physically see work performance. Managing teams that are fully remote is more complicated. Managers have learned that they can't rely on 'seeing' performance. They have had to switch to more tangible time-based, measurable goals so they know who is performing and who is not. They have had to learn skills of engaging and motivating over videoconferences, and many have tried to make space to support their at-home teams. In both cases, the playing field was level. Over the past two years, many managers either managed a collocated, office-based team or a fully remote team. Everyone was in it together.

Times are likely to be different now. Adopting the hybrid model means there will be people fully in the office and people fully out. There will be people in between as well. The playing field won't be level at all. If managers aren't careful, they could end up with an 'A-team' and a 'B-team' mentality, in which those who are in the office receive more frequent promotions, better bonuses and more feedback, while those out of the office are overlooked and don't receive much feedback at all. This is likely to lead to disengagement and reduced productivity.

To help ensure everyone feels part of a team, managers should focus on learning some new skills:

Understand And Empathize: Everyone has a story. Everyone has a situation. Everyone has their own personal circumstances, which dictate whether they feel comfortable coming into the office or not. Maybe the delta variant of Covid-19 has made their locality a hot spot. Maybe they have children under 12 and don't want to risk bringing the virus home. Alternately, maybe they just can't wait to get out of the house and into the office. In any case, managers have a responsibility to understand their team members' perspectives and demonstrate respect for the choices people make. They need to make sure that everyone on the team is comfortable with the choices they are making and does not feel judged in any way. Any team member in doubt will be distracted and won't perform as well as they could. It is the manager's job to engage all team members through acceptance and understanding.

Purposefully Create A Sense Of Team: This one's hard. Managers need to remind their team members that they are part of a single team. The team should understand its collective vision and goals. Team members should know that they all have each others' backs - and that the manager does, too.

Measure And Monitor Performance: Measuring and monitoring performance must be done the same way for everyone, in or out of the office. As previously mentioned, many managers transitioned from 'seeing' people work to laying out clear goals or objectives so they could measure performance from afar. Managers should keep this habit for everyone. They should not lapse into different forms of performance measurement. The idea is to level the playing field and not allow it to become different for one group than another.

Be Flexible To Alternate Schedules: Some people may want to come to the office, but only when it isn't too busy. Or they might only want to come in if they can avoid a messy commute. Similarly, folks who work from home might value a two-hour lunch so they can get to the gym. Put some framework around the day by having flextime within a given window or by making sure everyone understands what their team's working times are.

Be Deliberate About Calendars: Managers must be sure to spend the same amount of one-on-one time with remote employees as they do with in-office team members, or the level playing field will disappear. Similarly, managers should be sure that any discussions regarding work should involve the right members of the team, not just the team members who are in the office.

Create Fun: Most managers don't think of themselves as social directors. However, in order to create and reinforce a sense of team, it is important to try and find ways to incorporate fun into the day to replace the water cooler conversations or lunchroom chats missed in a hybrid world. One idea is to include a coffee hour with everyone on Zoom, regardless of whether they are in the office or not, with no agenda and just a chance to chat. Another is to plan a day when everyone joins Zoom and works independently but can shout out to a co-worker whenever they want to.

In short, managers will need to learn new skills to level the playing field for their team to maximize productivity and engagement. The success of the business depends on it.

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