The Role of Psychological Safety in designing Future WorkPlaces
Research from the Human Behaviour Lab at MIT may explain why so many managers have a clear preference for having their teams physically co-located in the office.
Despite this, we’ve managed to be more productive than ever whilst working remotely. Video meetings have become a proxy for face to face, although they’re not as nuanced as in-person interactions. Leaders hanker for the return of the in-person office environment, more than team members.* Given their critical role in organisations, it would be wise to understand their concerns.
The Hybrid Workplace is the logical choice
Hybrid meets everyone’s needs, which is why it’s such a logical choice. It’s also the smart choice for employee engagement and productivity.
An organisation I worked with previously, had clear employee engagement data confirming people who work in both the office and from home, are more engaged. As hybrid offers the best of both worlds, it stands to reason.
In that organisation, sales leaders with high employee engagement scores, were 3x more likely to be in the top 10% of performers. Further more, for each + or - 1% of employee engagement, there was an EU 75M bottom line impact.
Employee Engagement Matters
- as do the needs of Leaders -
Despite a feature of the working from home environment known as “Zoom fatigue”, in combination with the risk of burnout from the always on boundary-less WorkPlace, and the challenge of juggling carer’s commitments (either elder or younger) for many women in particular, there has been upside to the remote-only workplace, which most of us don’t want to lose. Whilst we shouldn’t forget those who have struggled with the isolation, there have been positive outcomes for many, including greater connection to family and friends and the ability to manage life and work in a blended way, which has increased overall happiness.
Why is it then, leaders still want their people in the office in person?
It’s more than a Leadership Identity Crisis
For many leaders, there’s no doubt the new “workplace contract” and change of social expectations is unsettling and creating something of a soul search.
What is my value as a leader?
How do I create value when our team isn’t co-located?
Whilst the last 24 months have been challenging for us all, recent research from Zenger Folkman confirms frontline leaders have found the challenge greater than others.
They feel like the proverbial ‘ham in the sandwich’, managing the expectations of their leaders above, and relationships with team members (and customers) on the frontline. At times it can feel like a set of mutually exclusive needs.
Tasked with managing Wellbeing and Performance, Reporting and Relationships, whilst also juggling their own personal circumstances, frontline leaders have reached breaking point.
It’s not surprising Frontline Leaders want to return to the comfort and predictability of face to face communication, where everyone is co-located in the same office.
A Critical Moment in the Design of Future WorkPlaces
Whilst the Hybrid Workplace is the logical solution, just how do we maximise the benefits and minimise the risks?
Mitigating Risks and Maximising Benefits
When you ask managers and team members to articulate the risks and benefits of hybrid work, you uncover a list which typically looks a little like this:
Position dramatically impacts Perspective.
Many leaders feel they are operating blind folded, whilst being expected to support the health and wellbeing of their teams, as well as achieving results!
Team Members want autonomy and flexibility.
Leaders want accountability and performance.
Designing the Future WorkPlace to achieve it all!
What works in high performing teams of any persuasion?
The MIT Research referenced above outlines 3 relevant factors:
Equal energy and engagement in communication patterns;
Active “Explorer” behaviour, which casts a wide net for high quality information and new ‘intelligence’ to improve decision making;
Face to Face communication is more effective than email or text.
What is the ‘Magic Mix’ for your Team?
In any Future WorkPlace Design, we need to co-create the ‘magic mix’ just right for your team.
We recommend bringing your curiosity and compassion to have a conversation with your team. Together, the goal is to explore:
what topics are better discussed face to face versus remotely? (in person or via video?)
what are our team’s common / core hours and days?
The Importance of Psychological Safety in the Design Process.
If it isn’t safe for team members to be open and honest about their preferences and needs, you risk designing a new work WorkPlace which doesn’t meet their needs any better than the traditional.
Don’t fall into the trap of trading one set of suboptimal WorkPlace experiences for another.
As the Collective Intelligence of Diverse and Inclusive teams is what supercharges team performance, it’s critical you make it sufficiently safe for everyone equally, (particularly your most under-represented talent) to transparently table their constraints and preferences. As under-represented talent are likely to be the least confident in putting forward their needs, you’ll need to be sensitive of supporting the self disclosure process.
Without this, you’ll likely miss out on the opportunity of creating increased engagement, productivity, wellbeing and retention of your most valuable talent.
Moving Forward - Together
To redesign your Future WorkPlaces and High Performance Hybrid Teams, it’s wise to go on a journey of discovery to uncover what works best for leaders and team members, by blending both “We and Me” needs. If the traditional “on-site workplace” previously worked well for your leaders, Hybrid Leadership will likely be a significant mindset and behaviour shift.
It’s critical leaders are enabled with both the competence and confidence to make a smooth transition to a high performance hybrid team.
Curious conversations with a strong foundation of Psychological Safety, are critical in designing your Future WorkPlace.
At I LEAD Consulting we enable diverse teams, Inclusive Leaders and Collective Cultures to achieve the highest degree of performance and impact.
PRACTICE INCLUSION | EMBRACE DIVERSITY | ACTIVATE ALLIES
*MIT; Zenger Folkman;
