The face of leadership – in fact, the face of the workforce – has changed dramatically over time. From long, 6-day, eight or nine-hour days, we moved to five-day or 40-hour weeks, and there has been talk of dropping to just a four-day week for a long time now. But the main catalyst for the biggest change is two-fold: firstly, the advent of constant connectivity and secondly, the Covid-19 pandemic that began in 2019. When much of the world was locked down in 2020, it didn’t take long for businesses to realise that they didn’t actually need to have all their employees under one roof to achieve the same productivity and profit levels. Let’s have a look at how this, and other factors has seen the rise of hybrid leadership in recent years.
Imafe by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Remote Work or Work-From-Home
Since VoIP capability came along, there were far-seeing companies that set up a work-from-home model, for example, for call centres. This reduced the need for large offices, multiple phone lines and hundreds of expensive computers, and gave the workers much more freedom about when they could work, enabling them to book work in half-hour blocks. These ‘lucky’ employees had to work from one place in their homes, usually logged into central intranets, often using equipment supplied by or specified by the employer, and they were carefully monitored when at work. For many, especially women with child-care duties, these jobs were a godsend, allowing them to earn a little money in between the school run, afternoon activities and after the children were in bed. With simple performance metrics to measure workers’ success rather than the hours worked, many have very successful businesses now with most of their employees working-from-home!
Introducing the Home Office
When Covid-19 came along, and people had to hastily find a place in their houses from which they could work, there was a slim body of articles available advising them on how to do this, including items like:
- Dressing for work, even if you are not leaving the house
- Making sure that your workplace is clean and uncluttered, no matter the state of the rest of the house
- Setting alarms and timers to make sure you focus on work during the work slots, and maximising break times for any chores – emptying the dishwasher, perhaps, or switching over a load of laundry
- And hosts of listicles detailing the best computers, headphones, telephone headsets, desks and chairs and more
Today, as well as a huge plethora of articles on the topic, companies produce templates for home offices for their employees to use, and often provide the equipment to be used in the home (or elsewhere, as we shall shortly see).
The Rise of the Digital Nomad
Digital nomads do not work from home, but nor do they work from offices either. Instead, they populate community hubs, coffee shops, and even trains – anywhere they can get good data signal and have an environment conducive to working, whether that is reading and writing reports, attending or leading meetings or running projects. Some digital nomads even travel abroad while working, enjoying the best of both worlds: an uninterrupted income stream and exploring beautiful countries. Prioritising your well-being and finding the right work-life balance has become such HOT topic for many entrepreneurs and influencers online. From the days Tim Ferriss published his book “The 4-Hour Workweek” the outsourcing craze had started, and it is now easier than ever to pack up your laptop and jet off to any destination still being as productive and successful at your work, if not more!
How Does Leadership Work?
In this new working landscape, leadership can feel wary – as though there is no way to check up on their staff or to control them as easily as if they in the office under direct supervision. But while there are always one or two workers who will test and push boundaries (avoid these rare bad apples with a little help from Eagle Headhunters Agency), if permitted, most people understand their obligation to their employer – and actually work better when trusted to get on with the work! Leadership today involves properly training your workers, ensuring company policy is clearly laid out, setting clear expectations and trusting your employees to do the best they can for their own job satisfaction and the good of the business.
Embracing AI integration
Some research online and detailed data analysis is a matter of few seconds now with many companies and entrepreneurs utilizing the technological advancements of the AI. Enhanced productivity makes for a better and faster results and a streamlined workflow, with some people using AI as a personal virtual assistant, taking away all the mundane work leaving you with more time for you and your team.
Leave A Comment