At the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, 61% of US jobs were remote. Now, three years later, nearly 30% of US jobs are still remote and 74% of companies are using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid model. While Americans tend to favor a work-from-home lifestyle, the shift forces companies, and their leaders to question how they manage a team and reinvent the strategies they utilize. The traditional in-office team structure allows for quick communication, easier access, and more rigid schedules. However, a successful virtual environment demands perhaps greater flexibility alongside concise and transparent communication.
Neither structure on its own is indefinitely better than the other. It all comes down to the individual in charge of the structure. Regardless of the modality, noteworthy team leaders are tasked with striking a balance between management and humility. It is imperative that a leader can admit faults as they strive for progress, not perfection. They should be committed to learning who their team members are as people rather than employees. They should model communication that is honest and transparent and agile; and perhaps most important, they should be passionate about what they do. An employee’s ability to witness pride in their leader’s work is motivating.
The virtual switch that was forced upon the world simultaneously forced changes to the way that we knew our work teams. While it wasn’t easy, it presented companies with a way to develop and shift together. Individuals had to become more adaptive and understanding of one another as their own lives changed because of the pandemic. It allowed a degree of separation to exist, or be sought, between home life and work life whether we knew it or not. The fundamental changes endured by employees as people over the past three years have perhaps ushered in a positive and foreseeable change to leadership approaches that will only prove beneficial as time goes on.