Hybrid Workplace Hacks E-Book

Scott Stein

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 172

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Hack your way to a better hybrid workplace The COVID-19 pandemic forced many employees to vacate the office and work from their homes and find new ways of working. Now, employees are demanding more workplace flexibility, something between the daily office grind and working alone at home. Hybrid workplaces allow for the best of both worlds to create a unified culture between on-site and off-site employees. So in order to retain valued staff, it's up to business leaders to get hybrid right. In Hybrid Workplace Hacks, Scott Stein, leadership expert and best-selling author of Leadership Hacks, reveals proven hacks to make your hybrid workplace a resounding success, no matter where your employees are. Through in-depth case studies and relevant tips and tricks, you'll learn: * the hybrid trends and how to navigate them * which hybrid model is right for your business * how home and office layouts help or hinder hybrid success * the tools you'll need to keep employees engaged * how to foster an effective hybrid culture. Hybrid is the new way of working and it's here to stay. In Hybrid Workplace Hacks, you'll learn the best techniques for working and leading more flexibly and discover how to make hybrid work for your team for winning results.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

About the author

Acknowledgements

Introduction: The challenge — how do we change the way we work?

Hybrid Workplace hacks: a new approach for a new world

So what is a hybrid workplace hack?

Chapter 1: Understanding hybrid

Five global trends that will accelerate hybrid workforces

Hybrid: should we or shouldn't we?

Traditional, all remote or hybrid?

Chapter 2: Designing hybrid

Selecting your hybrid model

Adapting hybrid office design and layout

Ensuring remote staff have the right set-up

Chapter 3: Hybrid Success

Building a culture that supports hybrid

People: Setting up staff success

How to lead remote staff

Final words

Join the Hybrid Hacks community

References

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 1

Table 1.1: pros and cons of remote work

Table 1.2: workplace models

Chapter 2

Table 2.1: advantages and disadvantages of fixed vs flexible hybrid model

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1

Figure 1.1: what people want when it comes to remote work

Chapter 2

Figure 2.1: expectations of remote work days

Figure 2.2: sample common office floor plan

Figure 2.3: sample updated floor plan with hybrid space and examples of hybr...

Figure 2.4: visuals of hybrid spaces

Figure 2.5: different home workspace configurations

Chapter 3

Figure 3.1: Hybrid Success model

Figure 3.2: five key pillars of culture in remote settings

Figure 3.3: hybrid success model for remote staff

Figure 3.4: above the line mindset

Figure 3.5: the 3 R's of remote leadership

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

About the author

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Begin Reading

Final words

Join the Hybrid Hacks community

References

End User License Agreement

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HYBRID WORKPLACE HACKS

Strategies to Set Up and Lead Successful In-Person and Remote Teams

SCOTT STEIN

First published in 2022 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064

Office also in Melbourne

© John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2022

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

ISBN: 978-1-119-89833-7

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design: Wiley

DisclaimerThe material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

About the author

Scott Stein has worked with thousands of leaders from around the world, helping them to become better leaders by fast-tracking their thinking and their approach with their people, in person and virtually. Scott is a highly sought after international speaker and mentor who has worked with a range of global and Australian businesses including American Express, Carlton & United Breweries, McDonald's, REA Group, City of Sydney, Westpac, Link Group, Toyota and Habitat for Humanity, to name a few.

He is based in Sydney, Australia, and travels the globe to help leaders identify and implement strategies that inspire their people to do the things that matter in less time to achieve greater success. This includes face-to-face events as well as delivering online across the globe. (During the pandemic he delivered over 100 virtual presentations!) As the CEO of an international learning and development company, Scott understands the challenges that leaders face when trying to manage a hybrid workforce. In addition he is a Thought Leaders Global Mentor, assisting the community to help clever people become commercially smart by improving the capturing and communication of their ideas.

His previous roles included National Operations Manager for a leadership development company based out of Atlanta, Georgia, that used the outdoors to accelerate learning. He was also the Learning & Development Manager for five manufacturing plants in Detroit, Michigan. Both of these roles gave him an opportunity to hone his practical business skills as he assisted in turning leaders and businesses around by improving communication and lifting performance.

Scott has a Master's Degree in Communication and taught Communication and Public Speaking at Central Michigan University. He has also received the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation from the Professional Speakers Association, which recognises him as one of the top speakers across the globe.

He is an author of five books including Leadership Hacks: Clever shortcuts to boost your impact and results, the smart leader’s guide to achieving more in less time, from which this book is excerpted.

Scott believes successful leaders need to build community and give back. He is a founding board member of Hands Across the Water, an Australian charity established after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami that has raised over $25 million and cares for more than 600 children across seven homes in Thailand. Supporting Scott's philosophy of hacking ways to boost impact, donations the charity receives go directly to the Thai projects without funds being spent on administration staff or marketing in Australia.

Acknowledgements

Over the years before and during the global pandemic I have been fortunate enough to work with amazing clients and colleagues, who have inspired me and allowed me to see firsthand how leadership hacks can boost results for leaders and their people. Thank you.

To my wonderful wife, Natalie: I want to thank you for all your support and encouragement. You continue to be the amazing person I met many years ago — full of life and energy that you unselfishly give to so many people and the community.

To my incredible children: Jazzy, your wonderful smile always lights up a room and your quiet determination continues to impress me; Bella, your passion and commitment to push yourself to new heights inspire me; Luca, your cheeky laughter and can-do approach remind me to appreciate the important things in life. I would also like to thank my parents, Larry and Lorene, for inspiring me and telling me that I could do or be anything.

To Helen Macdonald for being a wonderful business partner and friend and to The Learning Difference team for helping us lift performance for so many people and organisations for over 20 years.

To Matt Church, thanks for being a true friend and mentor and helping me stick to my path. To the TL Mentors, Black Belts and the rest of the Thought Leaders Global tribe, thank you for your support and brilliance.

I would also like to thank each of the case study and contributing leaders: Ben Day-Roche, Greg Barnett, Amit Chanan, Ian Macoung and Michael Rosmarin. It is incredible to have such wonderful leaders willing to share their updated insights and hacks with others.

In addition, I would like to thank the team at Wiley, including Lucy Raymond for her belief in this book, Chris Shorten, Leigh McLennon and Ali Hiew for her incredible editing skills, which improved the overall flow of the book in this new edition.

Once again, my awesome business manager, Katrina Welch, also needs to be recognised. Year after year you keep me organised, make incredible things happen behind the scenes (through lots of hacks pre and post pandemic!) and can switch directions at a moment's notice. Thank you for your patience, friendship and commitment.

I would also like to thank you, the reader, for following your intuition and picking up this second edition of my book. My wish for you is that you can use these leadership hacks to boost your impact and results, working in person or remotely.

IntroductionThe challenge — how do we change the way we work?

When the global pandemic hit the world, leaders had no choice but to change the way their people operated. With lockdowns being used to reduce the impact of COVID-19 many people had to quickly shift to working remotely. This created an entirely new way of working, with kitchen tables becoming the new desk and back-to-back Zoom meetings becoming the new norm. Leaders had to deal with isolation, staff mental health challenges and a massive amount of uncertainty that stretched them beyond typical business practices, and most had to make it up along the way.

Work and leadership has changed. In the past, the pace of life and business was very different from today. Leaders used to have time. They had the luxury of spending their evenings and weekends thinking, and recharging their batteries, knowing that the rest of the business world was also on hold until the next business day. They had the security of knowing that they could work face to face with their people in the office. Now they are leading remote teams with their workforce spread out and trying to identify the best way to work moving forward.

Over the past 25 years I have observed and worked with a range of business leaders in the United States, Asia–Pacific and Europe across corporate industries, the government and the military, as well as frontline managers and small-business owners looking for strategies for improving their performance. During COVID-19 lockdowns some of them increased their performance and operations while others have had to pivot to a hybrid and remote model that they are continuing to navigate beyond the pandemic. Some were able to pivot and maintain or create incredible cultures and achieve amazing results; others have stumbled. I've watched as governments and businesses spent millions and millions of dollars to keep businesses going and identify how to work in this brave new world.

I'm constantly looking for hybrid and remote models that work and can be used in multiple environments and are transferable to other businesses. My goal is to share with you the strategies and pathways that actual leaders are using to achieve increased results in less time, whether in the office or leading remotely.

Throughout this book we will explore issues leaders are facing, such as deciding whether to transition to a hybrid workforce, and, if so, discovering the most effective and efficient ways to make that transition.

Hybrid Workplace hacks: a new approach for a new world

Let's have a look at just some of the changes that have affected workplaces due to the pandemic lockdowns. As you read through these scenarios, consider the difficulties CEOs face when trying to create and execute a traditional business approach in these fast-paced environments.

The business environment has changed …

Prior to the pandemic, technology allowed many people to work from home, but few actually did. According to the Productivity Commission in 2019 around 8 per cent of employees had a formal work from home arrangement and worked a median of one day per week from home. This has increased to around 40 per cent of the workforce working remotely, and, during the height of the pandemic, many organisations had 90 per cent of their workforce working from home.

Hybrid work is inevitable with leaders having to make major changes to accommodate what employees want. The Microsoft 2021 Work Trend Index shows that 73 per cent of employees want flexible remote work options to stay. At the same time 67 per cent of employees want more in-person work or collaboration post-pandemic!

Organisations are struggling to keep their people skilled and effective for the future. The 2020 Deloitte Insights Global Human Capital Trends survey shows that 53 per cent of businesses say that between half and all of their workforce will need to change their skills and capabilities in the next three years.

Employee dynamics have shifted …

Employees are looking at their next employment options; The Microsoft 2021 World Trend Index shows that 41 per cent of the global workforce is likely to consider leaving their current employer within the next year.

Employees continue to be disillusioned at work, with 80 per cent of employees worldwide either not engaged or actively disengaged at work according to Gallup's 2021 State of the Global Workforce Report. To keep this in perspective, this trend has continued since Gallup started its engagement surveys in 1997, showing that leaders continue to struggle with how to motivate and retain their workforce.

Because of employees' desire to have more control over where they work, a 2021 Steelcase Global Report found 87 per cent of leaders agree they will have to offer more choice for employees to work from home or elsewhere.

Leaders are being stretched to keep up …

According to a 2021 Oracle and Workplace Intelligence report, 85 per cent of C-suite executives reported issues working out of a traditional office environment. Leaders struggled with collaborating virtually, increased stress and anxiety and difficulties learning new technology.

Leaders are struggling with ways to keep employees working the way they used to. Good Hire's recent State of Remote Work in 2021 report surveyed 3500 workers and found that 25 per cent of Americans would quit immediately if their job forced them to return to the office, with 45 per cent planning to quit immediately or start a remote job search. With the risk of losing key talent, many leaders are kept awake at night trying to identify the best way forward.

This is just a small glimpse at how things have changed. The tsunami of information and new technology is flowing in 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And, as research shows, it's getting faster and faster. Leaders need to re-wire and hack their approach and create flexible workplaces in order to keep up with this new world.

Gone are the days when leaders had the time to analyse a year's worth of data and spend six months preparing a five-year strategic plan. The days of slow thinking and slow execution are gone.

So what is a hybrid workplace hack?

The word ‘hack’ has changed meaning over time. Initially, the Oxford Dictionary defined the verb ‘hack’ as ‘to cut with rough or heavy blows’. According to Ben Yagoda of The New Yorker magazine, the noun ‘hack’ was first used at MIT in the 1950s to describe the act of adjusting machines (primarily electrical systems) in ways that were not common. This morphed into a sense of working on a tech problem in a unique or creative way. In the 1980s the word ‘hacker’ had a negative connotation, describing computer programmers who illegally gained access to early computer systems. Steven Levy's book Hackers described the positive and negative activity of these innovators in the field of technology. This promoted the term ‘hacker’ and brought it into more common language.

It wasn't long before the meaning of ‘hacker’ started to gain more positive connotations. Before the launch of Facebook's 2012 IPO, Mark Zuckerberg published a manifesto titled ‘The Hacker Way’, which provided a unique insight into the meaning of hacking. In this document he says, ‘In reality, hacking just means building something quickly or testing the boundaries of what can be done’. He added more around his belief that The Hacker Way is about continuous improvement and finding ways to get things done better and faster — often by moving projects around people who are too comfortable with the status quo and unwilling to change.

More recently, the word ‘hack’ morphed even further when technology writer Danny O'Brien coined the term ‘life hack’ to describe how computer programmers were creating shortcuts to make their lives easier. This, combined with the explosion of videos on YouTube, enabled anyone with a smartphone to share their hacks or shortcuts with others who could benefit from them. This has led to the sharing of a plethora of hacks, including life hacks, parent hacks, game hacks, political hacks, happiness hacks and — my personal favourite — a potato hack (which is actually based on a diet from 1849 that focuses on eating mostly potatoes to lose weight!).

Dictionary.com defines a hack as ‘a tip, trick or efficient method for doing or managing something’. It adds the expanded definition ‘to handle or cope with a situation or an assignment adequately and calmly’.

A hybrid workplace hack is anything that helps you effectively facilitate a transition to a hybrid workforce in less time. This can include:

shortcuts that may not be commonly known

simplified steps that make transitioning easier to do

fast-tracked processes that speed things up and increase success.

Simply put, hybrid workplace hacks are about identifying ways leaders can work with their people to create smarter and more efficient hybrid workplaces that enable people to work remotely and in the office.

Leaders who are successful in their transition create hybrid workforces admired by others because of their ability to work smarter and more efficiently. Wise leaders know they need to develop new ways of working that empower their staff and improve their quality of life — without sacrificing productivity and the commercial needs of the business.

This book is designed to help leaders who are considering a shift toward a hybrid workplace or those who are in the process and are looking for ways to effectively transition in less time. Regardless of where you as a leader find yourself, there will be a number of practical strategies or hacks you can use to help increase your success.

To keep things simple, I've divided the book into three chapters that will help you understand, design, implement and improve working in a hybrid way.

Chapter 1 looks at the question of whether to transition to a flexible hybrid workplace. This includes the benefits, the challenges and the three most common models of working.

Chapter 2 explores how to design the hybrid workforce in a way that increases your chance of success. These include selecting a fixed or flexible model, seeing which industries are suited for hybrid, and the keys to designing the office and remote staff workspaces.

Chapter 3 identifies the keys to creating a successful hybrid workforce model. These include the five pillars of culture required for success in remote and hybrid settings, how to set your people up for success, and hacks for leaders to motivate and connect in a hybrid world.

Throughout these chapters I have included a range of case studies on various incredible leaders. I have worked with many of these leaders and had the pleasure of seeing firsthand the brilliance in their approach and how they have considered, innovated and implemented the transition toward an effective hybrid workforce.

I have also included self-hack exercises that you can use to help integrate the concepts and hacks described in the chapters.

Use this book as a fast-track guide to help you identify smarter ways to understand and transition to an agile hybrid workforce that is prepared for the future.