Virtual and Hybrid Working and Complexity
My how the time flies! On July 3rd, just under 400 folks joined Deputy Minister Gina Wilson and I in the webinar hosted by IPAC discussing my book, Managing In Complexity: How Our Fears of Uncertainty Can Hurt Us and What To Do About It. Gina did an excellent job of moderating the session and David Fulford and the IPAC team of hosting.
In our discussion, we explored how we can be more effective in the new world of hybrid and virtual working in our complex world in which we cannot predict, control, or determine the future and where there are no recipes and no guaranteed tools and techniques. Instead, we discussed that what is going on is the product of what we are all doing together affected by our norms and values (our constraints and what we value), our emotions and the power dynamics of the situation. Out of the mix of all of this, patterns of how we relate to one another arise. When a significant change in ‘how’ we interact with each other happens (e.g., less face-to-face) we need to give careful thought as to how that will affect our working together. Obviously, this will vary depending on the nature of our work and the type of activities, however one way or another, we are all interdependent and perform as a collective, and thus such a change is highly significant.
Think for example of how employees become aware of the rules of the road, the ‘way things are done around here’ – often referred to as the culture. How will they come to understand the assumptions, expectations and shared agreements that provide the basis for how we work together. In a workplace where chance encounters at the water cooler are much reduced or non-existent, where people do not get the opportunity to share a cup of coffee and get the chance to check each other out, where interactions are largely limited to virtual and electronic modes of communication, how will they get to know one another and determine if they can trust each other?
In our chat, we gave some examples of what managers and leaders could incorporate into their practice to help meet this challenge. Don’t just assume that zoom, team or google meet gatherings are a replacement for in-person meetings, because they are quite different in their impact on how we relate to one another. Virtual meetings can be ‘warmed up’ by allowing some personal sharing and/or discussion of aspects of ‘how’ we work together. When folks do get the chance to gather, try to ensure that they have the opportunity for both formal and informal social interactions. Forcing employees back into the office where they attend meetings virtually and/or have little contact with colleagues does not qualify as in-person working. Focus on your direct reports to get a sense of who they are, how they are doing and how you can better support them. They in turn need to do the same with their direct reports.
If you are interested, the following link will take you to the full session. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6gR-d2GbGI
