Work from home has exposed a huge problem that has been sitting in so many organisations like a ticking time bomb for so long. That of poor management and even worse leadership. We have seen a large number of high profile organisations (you know who you are) with “leaders” and “managers” who can’t cope unless they have physical control of staff by ensuring they are actually in the office. No consideration is taken as to whether the job and the objectives of the organisation can be better performed remotely, it’s a simple “I want you where I can see you” mentality. That’s why work from home needs a different type of leader.
I would be the first to admit that there are some jobs that can’t be done remotely, some that are better done centrally and some times when it is vital for the whole team to be physically in the same place. Human interaction is best done face to face (at the moment). However, insisting that everyone is back at the office / business all the time is the type of “we’ve always done it that way” mentality that has held back organisations and individuals for decades.
In a recent interview with Julia Hobsbawn the author of “The Nowhere Office” many relevant points came out summarised below:
Leaders of organisations need to adjust to the realisation that they can’t just demand and impose a return to office policy without making a case for it.
Pointless presenteeism is just that – pointless. Definitely not effective.
Good leaders should have seen this coming pre pandemic but very few did.
It is vital to understand when remote is best and when face to face is essential.
In summary:
There has to be a good reason for being where you are and the fact that some “leaders” of organisation are so poor the only way they can cope is with a top down surveillance culture is no longer acceptable. If you want good people (especially those of the generation Z age group) simple, mindless instructions will not work.
Do I care if someone does their job in bed in their pyjamas? No, I care that the job is done. I want them to be effective and where and how they do that is irrelevant. For too long we have had a leadership culture of form over content in the UK. Flexible working possibilities have begun to expose the stupidity of work for works’ sake.
AI can do the things, where in the past we needed ranks of people doing relatively mindless jobs in the same room. Even where it can’t provide the answer at the moment some other cheaper country can. Never before have organisations needed leaders more and managers less.
Address this situation before it’s too late. Good, effective people are flexible and mobile. If your leaders are not then they the good will vote with their feet.
If you want to receive our regular blogs, please subscribe at Subscribe