Earlier this year, I read Martine Haas’ article outlining her 5C Challenges of Hybrid Work. Simple, diagnostic and prescriptive, its practicality holds great appeal and I’ve shared it with a number of leaders I’m working with. It also came to the fore when I was recently discussing the value of collective leadership development in a hybrid work environment.
We know that learning together supports the development of shared situational awareness and shared mental models. These foundations of team effectiveness are especially relevant in virtual and dispersed environments. Being explicitly ‘on the same page’ in terms of roles, tasks, measures of success, etc. reduces the noise and frustration that can otherwise get in the way of team performance, especially in hybrid or dynamic contexts.
Leaders learning and developing together also creates consistency. This is not about all leaders being the same. Looking at it from the follower’s perspective; it’s about being able to predict how my leader and other leaders in my organisation will ‘show up’. Who leads me (the person holding the role the role) may change; but the leadership I experience is familiar. Collective development supports a focus on leadership as an organisational capability and shared responsibility, rather than the traditionally narrow focus on leaders as individuals.
The 5C hybrid work challenges outlined by Haas are also addressed by collective leadership development:
As well supporting your leaders to develop and bring the best leadership possible to their teams, investing in collective leader development aligns with these known hybrid work challenges. It also helps overcome the ‘ships passing in the night’ nature of hybrid work environments - without forcing a one-size-fits-all set of rules for ‘office time’.
Rachael Stott is a Partner at Winsborough Limited, based in Auckland and Wellington.
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