One of the great opportunities we have coming out of the last 15 months is we get to choose how we re-emerge, re-engage, and how we lead and work.
We can either rush right back to the way things were, the way we always used to operate -- or we can choose to do something different. We can choose to make a change in how we lead, communicate, and collaborate.
Right now is a potent time to ask:
What are the lessons we've drawn from the last 15 months and how should we act accordingly?
What is the purpose behind gathering and how do I want people to feel?
Over the last two weeks I shared the first installments in a month-long series of tips for how to lead and communicate in a new hybrid remote/in-person work world and how to maintain casual and informal connections that are so much of the glue that binds us at work.
This week I'm focusing on choosing HOW and WHY we COLLABORATE and GATHER. Whether you're working remote-first or some hybrid version, how and when we come together in person -- and what we do when we're together, requires a more sophisticated, deliberate approach than we've had before.
As a reminder, gathering is any time people come together -- for a meeting, a conference, a workshop, a training, or informal coffees, social events, and team-building opportunities.
___
TIP 6: MAKE WORK ABOUT CONNECTION AND COLLABORATION, NOT JUST OUTPUT: How can you make work not feel like it's just about output and results, but about connection and collaboration? People want to feel like they belong and are empowered to do their best work and make meaningful contributions. Remote work has necessarily meant a lot of focus on work and output.
Getting back to some in-person connection gives us a chance to think: what really makes being in an office unique and worthwhile? How can we be explicit about the types of connection and collaboration that are worthwhile, special, and worth having? Related, are there ways you can empower people to own their own schedules? Can you provide guidance to people about what kinds of work you want them to do in-person versus which they can do at home? What kind of work must be done in a meeting, and what work can be done without a meeting? Treating gathering and meeting as a precious, valuable, expensive commodity may help re-prioritize how we work and collaborate.
___
TIP 7: BE MORE DELIBERATE ABOUT BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER: In a world where people have a choice about where and when they work, it's important as leaders to be deliberate about what we do when we gather in person. What makes gathering together in person necessary or important?
Here are my four pillars for leaders to anchor in whenever gathering in person:
INTENTION: SHARED AND KNOWN. There should be a shared purpose and it should be known by all participants. If you can't articulate and share the intention behind requiring an in-person meeting or event, re-think and re-assess.
CONNECTION: DELIBERATE AND PERSONAL. It should be deliberate and personal. Connection in and of itself is a worthwhile purpose for gathering. But, don't just assume that putting people in a room together, especially after 15 months of pandemic, automatically results in meaningful connection. Be deliberate about how you encourage and cultivate connection, through the content and activities you share to the ways you seat people, to the expectations you set. The more personal you can be the better.
COLLABORATION: USEFUL AND INCLUSIVE. Bringing people together at work is often done so people can collaborate with each other. So they can learn from each other. Collaborating requires a shared set of clearly-defined goals and ideally a shared process for how people can work together. Collaboration needs to be inclusive. Design processes and projects you want people to collaborate on in a way that intentionally includes everyone.
INSPIRATION: EMPATHY, EMOTION, DIRECTION. Inspiration comes to us from so many places. At work, the most common and powerful way to inspire, especially now, is through a clear direction toward some inspired future, and through empathy and emotion. What are the feelings you're trying to elicit in your colleagues? What excites them? What might make them feel cared for? Think: honest and real connections and a broader purpose.
___
The world of hybrid working is here to stay. Some companies are remote-first, some are in-person, some are both -- but we are all going to be working with people in each of these three categories from now forward. Being thoughtful and conscious about how we come together and what we do when we do is a core part of communicating and leading with purpose and success, and in a way that includes everybody.
___
I want to hear what you're thinking about and what you want tips on. Let me know what's on your mind. Navigating the new ways of communicating and and leading at work takes everybody's ideas and experiences, and I want to share the best of them with you.