New management challenges in a hybrid world: what you need to know

Célia Ratouis

4 minute read

Gone are the days of "copy-pasting": with the growing trend of remote work, companies must revamp their activity organization and management style to stay competitive.

Hybrid work is the way of the future, and employees are all for it – 83% of workers prefer a hybrid work model, according to Accenture Future of Work Study, 2021. However, when it comes to managing teams, many consider it a daily challenge, even though employees believe they're more productive with this new setup.

As a result, they're looking to their management team for support and guidance.

Many teams are becoming siloed and experiencing digital exhaustion. According to Microsoft Work Trend Index (2021), 65% of employees are craving more in-person time with coworkers, even though the stats show they prefer working from home or hybrid.

Many employees believe their managers prefer on-site employees over remote workers, and they worry about their chance for career advancement if they aren’t in office.

Navigating Hybrid Challenges: Building Team Cohesion and Communication

Hybrid work is not something that can be improvised. It will require questioning the relevance of work methods and adapting them, providing training programs, and deploying technologies that are suitable for teams that work together from different locations.

Managers face many questions when it comes to maintaining engagement and a sense of belonging among their teams. They must figure out new forms of communication and interaction to keep the team spirit alive while activating levers to ensure individual and collective effectiveness. Additionally, managers must prioritize their employees' well-being and find ways to strengthen it. Above all, strengthening the relationship with the team, as a group and as individuals, is essential for success.

Rethinking Management: A Range of Options to Explore

Professional experts and insightful analyses offer strategies that can be classified into four overarching categories: first, establish a robust structure for hybrid work that allows for both structured and autonomous time management; this can be achieved through regular team meetings and one-to-one sessions. Secondly, promote employee empowerment through trust-building and performance-driven management.

The third aspect to consider is communication, which entails selecting and using the right channels and tools, as well as adopting an active listening approach in management - which will help identify weak signals, such as a team member's sense of isolation. Last but not least, it's vital to encourage interactions, both formal and informal, such as hosting virtual coffee breaks or arranging team-building activities that align with the hybrid work model.

The Future of Management: Prioritizing the Employee Experience

As remote work continues to grow, companies must adapt to stay competitive. This white paper explains critical management trends regarding employee experience and what your company needs to do.

New modes of management and organization: 6 practices to reinvent

Suzy Canivenc, researcher at the Futures of Industry and Labor Chair at Mines Paris – PSL, conducted a survey of 20 companies to learn lessons from experiments in NMMO (new management and organization), to which hybrid work belongs.

An analysis that identified six practices, and as many points of vigilance in the implementation: