C-Suite Blind Spot – The Hybrid Workforce of the Future – What Works for You?

Blind Spot

COVID19 has established and accelerated the emergence and possible unquestioning acceptance of the “Hybrid” remote workforce concept. Leading firms such as Microsoft, PwC, Gartner, Polymetal International and many others are all touting the popularity and value of a flexible remote workforce. As revenue and profits come under pressure, the potential benefits gleaned through lower costs, more flexibility for employees and smaller office footprints is extremely attractive to senior management.

Pause for a moment.

As you plan and envision the post pandemic organization, have you looked at the portability of your work force? Can the dynamics of what makes your company successful be transferred and accomplished long term, via multiple remote locations? Have you stripped down to find the core of what makes your business function? What truly binds your employees as individuals, as cohesive functional working teams? How will a permanent physical divide affect collaboration, engagement, creativity, culture, talent development? Is it sustainable and are their sufficient positive outcomes to outweigh the potential negatives?

Illumination

Companies that choose to embrace the hybrid model on a permanent basis primarily due to financial motivations and or perceived necessity in response to the COVID19 pandemic risk unsatisfactory results or even failure. In choosing to roll out the remote workforce using the hybrid model, there are two key questions that should be considered: what factors are you trying to optimize and what factors can you actually optimize?

As senior executives’ structure and launch the hybrid model within their organizations, the two central optimization questions appear to be driven by three factors related to business operations:

· What percentage of your workforce can feasibly work remotely - 10%, 30%, 70%?

· Are the production capabilities or service deliverables portable?

· To what extent is core face-to-face communication important to your operations presently?

A research completed by MIT and Harvard found that the most valuable form of communication was, and is, face-to-face communication. Email and text were the least effective. Also, important to note, it was determined that the effectiveness of team-based functionality and performance was highest when they were engaged on the level of face-to-face communication.

In implementing the remote work force, organizations that do not factor the role and the degree of importance that in-person communication, collaboration and interaction have on their business success today, risk a breakdown in effectiveness and performance at all levels.

Many of my accomplishments have been win or lose situations. For me, second place was not an option. My key to success was to assemble a diverse team of specialized individuals who were experts in their fields. Together, we were able to develop strategies that helped me to identity, address and eliminate my “blind spots”. Executives may want to approach their blind spots similarly. When winning or losing are the only two choices, choose to win.