This week, we're sharing some tips from our Modern Mentor podcast about how to make hybrid work work for you. Her first tip should be obvious, but it seems that many organizations have been forgetting this crucial step:
Set Clear Expectations
"Setting clear expectations for one’s team has always been a leader’s job. But if we’re honest, back in the day when going to work generally involved putting on shoes and pants, a leader could get away with a little bit of blurriness.
As long as the whole team had a rough idea—a general sense of direction around where a project was headed—that was enough to get started. Because when you hit a roadblock or point of uncertainty, you’d just pop into someone’s office or cubicle and ask a clarifying question.
Like someone would be working on the client presentation or the inventory plan or the patient care survey. And they were pretty sure they were on the right track. But hey—why not peek over the cubicle wall just to get a second opinion from a colleague?
We took the old peek-over for granted. But what I’m seeing too often today is this. That same someone is working on the pitch or the plan and they’re pretty sure they’re on track. But there’s no one sitting just over a wall. And the uncertainty just doesn’t seem to warrant a Slack message, text, or email. So they just run with it. In slightly the wrong direction.
What we all need to understand about hybrid working is that many conversations —even the casual ones—take more planning, prep, initiative, and effort than before. So we need to work just a little bit harder at the front end of a project to ensure all parties are clear and aligned on the outcome.
Here are some simple practices I’ve seen hybrid teams implement to ensure this clarity and alignment:
· Leaders should not only strive to be super-clear on timelines, budgets, shape, and quality of outcomes, but should also test their teams’ understanding. Do not assume that what you said equals what they heard. Ask questions to clarify what they took away.
· Employees should push for specificity when they aren’t hearing it. Asking even the most fundamental questions like “Exactly how many questions can we have in the survey?” or “How many options do we want to present to the client?” can be helpful.
· Have key dates, timelines, budgets, and other details posted somewhere centrally in writing so there is little room for misinterpretation.
· Have a regular cadence of check-ins on the calendar to ensure alignment at key milestones rather than waiting until a final product has been developed."
“Vivid, thought-provoking.” —Malcolm Forbes, Star Tribune
In 1979, as violence erupts all over Ireland, two outsiders travel to a small island off the west coast in search of their own answers, despite what it may cost the islanders.
