Leading Your Team Back to the Office? A Few Pointers...

By Eilidh Corrigan - guest contributor

After 18+ months of leading a remote or hybrid team, you may feel you have finally mastered it - or that it will never quite replace face-to-face working. Or perhaps a bit of both. With many businesses returning to office or permanently adopting a hybrid model, the time is right for some pointers for leading in this new era of work.

Know that change is the only constant

The majority of businesses have adapted significantly since the beginning of the pandemic. Regardless of your own organization’s adaptations, you most likely will experience a change in the way you interact with business partners and clients. It’s important to have an understanding of broader industry changes and of your team’s needs in order to help lead your organization through yet another set of changes. 

Listen to your team

Empathy has always been a leadership asset, but never more so than when helping employees through 2020 and beyond. This shouldn’t change as we navigate the next chapter of the pandemic. Some people may not be comfortable returning to office just yet, whereas others might be eager to get back. If your workplace can offer a phased return, try to match the timeline to the needs of each employee. But first, listen - to gauge who is comfortable with what and to help them thrive during the transition.

Create a level playing field 

In a hybrid world, one of the biggest challenges in supporting employees is to maintain a fair working environment. One that allows all employees to contribute, be heard, and be meaningfully considered for promotion, regardless of their work location. If your workplace is adopting a hybrid model, try to schedule employees in person relatively evenly, so all have the same level of access to key leaders and can benefit from team connection in person. For remote employees, try to schedule regular meetings (1:1s as well as team meetings) and to carefully facilitate hybrid meetings so that all voices may be heard. Some leaders have changed meetings to video calls only, to ensure that no one is working without vital information. 

Refresh workplace policies to meet new needs

Policies in general must be adapted to cater to the needs of remote staff. Your HR or legal team can likely advise on any company-wide policy changes, but, just as you were pre-pandemic, you will be charged with ensuring your team functions well in practice.

Consider the communications implications of hybrid, for example. Will your team meetings now be via video-call only, to help foster inclusivity? Will you use instant messages or Slack for particular types of communication - and if so, which ones? How will you onboard new team members so they can adopt these norms from day one? Try consulting with your team to surface new approaches together - and get buy-in early on.

Consider your team’s new culture

Workplace culture is always a work in progress. How has your team’s culture evolved since early 2020? Beyond the practical and work-focused implications of returning to the office, how will you refresh and maintain a healthy, human-focused culture? Consider the soft skills each person will need to excel, the intangible aspects of the culture that may have changed (trust and accountability, for example), and the example you will set as the leader.

For most of us, the pandemic has fostered a strange period in our work-lives. Many industries have struggled to maintain robust cultures and subsequently, employees working from home have felt their sense of belonging to their organizations has changed. By taking a thoughtful approach to the next phase - whether that is hybrid, in-person, or fully remote - leaders can help facilitate a refreshed and positive reengagement with work.

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Eilidh Corrigan is a Saltire Scholar and is serving as Pencil or Ink’s Research Consultant Intern during summer 2021. She is currently conducting research into the future of work.