Supporting Your Team in a Meaningful Way in Today's Hybrid Environment

As the leadership tries to adjust between having employees work on site, as well as work remotely, it begs the question, “How can managers best support their employees in this hybrid setting?”

When physically at the office, it's easy for employees to drop by their boss's office whenever they need help or simply want to chat. Having those spontaneous interactions are not as convenient when working remotely!

One adjustment a manager made to demonstrate support for her team, who were all working remotely was to schedule 15-minute meetings in the morning with the entire team, and, at the close of the day, another 15 minutes. Throughout the day, she checks in with individual team members to make sure that any issues they have are being addressed. These ideas are good ones, and it certainly shows a manager’s commitment to being accessible and for making sure that employees are being supported.

There is another option that is not so much of a one-way solution for attending to employees’ needs.. This involves engaging in a conversation with each direct report about how best to support them. While it may be more time consuming, by Individualizing a two-way exchange such as this gives team members greater control, and an opportunity to express their unique preferences! From there, it's up to you to develop a broader agreement that all parties can live with.

Taking a personal approach where you engage your employees in a two-way conversation shows respect and, at the same time, fulfills the leadership role where you acknowledge the old tried and true adage “different strokes for different folks”!