According to one of the latest reports from Gartner, remote work will continue even after Covid-19. At least according to 90% of the HR managers surveyed. This is despite mass vaccinations.
I am also quite sure that this will be the case, at least in very many workplaces.
So in order to cope with the new way of working, all of us managers and companies need to think again, for real. It's about really picking up signals among employees, setting even clearer individual goals together, continuing to develop our trust in each other and developing a better continuous dialogue. Another very important thing that will become even more important going forward is to strengthen and anchor the company's core values.
It may sound like a given and you probably think that you are already doing everything above. I really hope you do, but unfortunately it doesn't look like that when I meet with managers and talk about leadership in their new workday.
Many people find it much more difficult to be the leader they could have been in the past and really want to be forward as well.
The most worrying thing is the sense of resignation that shines through in many people. Too many people are "going and waiting" for it to go back to normal. I often hear things like "as long as the vaccine ends up in our bodies, then it gets better again" or "after the summer we can probably get back to normal routines again".
I understand that many people feel resigned and/or cautious. It is, of course, about the fact that business may not be going as well as before, but since it will probably never go back to what it was, shouldn't we instead take spring to really prepare to be ready to start when it "turns"?
And by that I mean giving employees a purpose in the work. Give the right motivation! And how do we do that, well through what this text began with; create clear structures and goals, show trust, work with values and take our dialogues to new levels.