Weekly Business Insights from Top Ten Business Magazines | Week 293 | Leading And Managing | 1

Extractive summaries of and key takeaways from the articles curated from TOP TEN BUSINESS MAGAZINES to promote informed business decision-making | Week 293 | April 21-27, 2023

Leadership Strategies for the Hybrid Workforce

By N. Sharon Hill | MIT Sloan Management Review | April 24, 2023

Listen to the Extractive Summary of the Article

Leading teams of hybrid workers can be a double-edged sword because managers must satisfy employees’ desire for flexibility without compromising overall group effectiveness. This may harm group dynamics and hinder organizational alignment and agility.  The CAARE framework combines four interconnected elements — configuration, autonomy-alignment, relationships, and equity — to help leaders balance individual flexibility with group effectiveness.

1. Configuration.  The leader must keep the bigger picture in mind when working with each employee to agree on a hybrid work configuration that balances individuals’ personal and job demands with those of their team.  An effective configuration, therefore, requires careful consideration of which tasks the employee can perform remotely, such as independent work and routine information sharing, versus those that call for in-person interaction, such as collaborative tasks or the navigation of complicated interpersonal or task-related differences.
2. Autonomy and Alignment.  A typical response is hybrid work is to tighten the reins by closely monitoring and controlling employees’ work, but this can undermine a primary benefit of hybrid work for employees: flexibility. A better approach is to empower employees by granting them more autonomy over when, where, and how they do their jobs.  However, autonomy must also come with guardrails to ensure that employees use their freedom in ways that align with the interests of their team.  Another alignment strategy is to share information about group members’ work activities and accomplishments.
3. Relationships.  Building a culture of trust should start in the configuration component of the framework by creating a hybrid work structure that includes opportunities for relationship-building, such as periodic onsite activities that include all team members.  It is also essential to set and reinforce norms for virtual communication that promote trust, such as guidelines for keeping coworkers informed about work status and providing timely responses to requests.
4. Equity.  One potential issue with hybrid structure is proximity bias, whereby leaders value and give more attention to physically present employees than remote ones. All group members must receive fair treatment, no matter their work arrangement, to avoid feelings of isolation and fear of missing out.  Adopting a results-oriented approach to evaluating employees that promotes autonomy should help. Fostering strong relationships between group members based on trust also helps mitigate proximity bias.

2 key takeaways from the article

1. Leading teams of hybrid workers can be a double-edged sword because managers must satisfy employees’ desire for flexibility without compromising overall group effectiveness.
2. CARRE frame work, can help leaders balance individual flexibility with group effectiveness,  comprises of:  Configuration – The leader must keep the bigger picture in mind when working with each employee to agree on a hybrid work configuration that balances individuals’ personal and job demands with those of their team.  Autonomy and Alignment – Empower employees by granting them more autonomy over when, where, and how they do their jobs.  However, autonomy must also come with guardrails.  Relationships – Building a culture of trust should start in the configuration component of the framework by creating a hybrid work structure that includes opportunities for relationship-building, such as periodic onsite activities that include all team members.  Equity – All group members must receive fair treatment, no matter their work arrangement, to avoid feelings of isolation and fear of missing out.

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Topics:  Leadership, Hybrid Work, Teams