In today’s blog post, I have another tip in our ongoing video series about hybrid leadership. Today’s strategy is to give equal “air time” to your virtual and onsite employees. In other words, don’t fall into the common hybrid leadership trap in which out of sight becomes out of mind.
Give equal “air time” to both your virtual and onsite employees
A lot of our communication as leaders occurs when we see our people. Whether it’s at the coffee station, the water cooler, or even in the elevator lobby, most of us take the opportunity to provide quick updates when we see each other. Sometimes we, as leaders, do the talking, and other times, our staff give us the 2-minute updates. But it’s always prompted by the fact that we see each other.
The thing about hybrid leadership though is that we don’t always see all our people, all the time. Which means that unless we take deliberate steps to overcome this shortcoming, there is a tendency to talk and listen less to those we don’t see as often. At the end, what that usually means is that we tend to discuss issues, listen and adopt ideas, and give interesting assignments to those who are in our line of sight. Ergo, those who are out of sight become out of mind.
You have to be deliberate to overcome this hybrid leadership trap!
The only way to overcome this common hybrid leadership challenge is to be deliberate and conscious about giving equal air time. Make the best of any one-on-one meetings you have with the staff you don’t often see. Bring them up to date on issues and problems, and ask for their input on possible solutions. Make it a point to rotate projects or non-routine assignments amongst ALL your staff, no matter how often you physically see (or don’t see) them.
This is not an insurmountable obstacle, you just need to be thoughtful about getting past it. And a little effort on your part will go a long way towards successful hybrid leadership.
Looking for previous strategies in this series on leading a remote team? Here are some of the more recent videos.
- Strategy #16: Trust your people
- Strategy #15: Deliberately get to know your employees at a personal level
- Strategy #14: Utilize online collaboration tools
Or just access the full series here: Leading Hybrid and Virtual Teams Video Series