This month leaders and managers all over the country are trying to figure out what to do with the office given the impact of the Delta and Omicron variants. In this actively COVID influenced world and market place, the hot topic is the definition and reality of how to create a successful hybrid office model. Lynda Gratton in her thought-provoking article called “How to Do Hybrid Right” in the May-June 2021 issue of the Harvard Business Review, notes that most leaders define the hybrid office by physical location rather than a combination of time and place work arrangements. Upon reflection, I think this is an important first step in the discussion around what is a hybrid office.
However, I think we need to look beyond just time and physical space if we are going to create a successful hybrid office. We could define office space as a physical location within a set time period, i.e. office hours. But recognizing the magnitude of the challenges within the work environment, e.g. staffing shortages, growth expectations and the impact of supply chain challenges, I think we should define the hybrid office space as being a psychologically safe work environment within a physical or digital location.
Still, we need to zoom out before we zoom in to define and solve this problem. Currently we are operating within an on-going VUCA environment, borrowing a term from the United States military. This kind of environment is defined by being volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Here, instability is chronic and uncertainty is permanent. Change is accelerating and disruption is common.
As experience tells us, psychological safety without accountability and demanding goals, owned and understood by those who have to execute them, is merely a comfort zone. And in a comfort zone, people are not challenged and do not work hard to achieve their goals or get better at their jobs.
But listen to people who like where they work and they will say the following common phrases: “this is a good place to work” and “this is the place I am meant to be.” They are saying this in spite of demanding goals and accountability. They also are saying this while operating within a global pandemic and a VUCA environment. It is not the physical location or the defined office hours that is generating these comments. It is the health of the work environment within the physical or the hybrid space that makes all the difference.
Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business (Jossey-Bass, 2012), defines organizational health by the following characteristics: “minimal politics and confusion, high degree of morale and productivity, and very low turnover among good employees.” Given what we have experienced since March of 2020, this sounds like seventh heaven, a true aspirational goal to achieve.
To make that a reality during the next two years, managers and leaders, and all those who supervise and coach them need to remember the following four core concepts:
- focus on teams.
- create understanding, not just awareness.
- build on strengths.
- focus on purpose.
When it comes to thinking about the subject of the hybrid office, take the above into consideration and focus on organizational health, not just whether the office is in a physical or digital space.
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