Like every other company and Federal agency, Centennial works in a hybrid work model – we go into the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays and work remotely on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. After three years of primarily remote work, I adjusted to commuting to an office and not wearing sweatpants every day! 😊 Now, I’ve found that I enjoy getting back into an office environment again part-time.
Returning to the office got me thinking about the different challenges that come with in-person and remote work environments; and what it means for leadership to run teams and organizations in the hybrid world we live in today.
A little bit of background about me – I’ve been in public sector professional services consulting for about 27 years and have been fortunate enough to serve in leadership roles for all kinds of teams and people; from one person to teams of several hundred. I’m a new addition to Centennial – earlier in my career I worked in the U.S. Senate, spent about 17 years at Booz Allen Hamilton, and most recently spent four years at another company, helping them grow from small to mid-size.
Over time, I’ve learned a bit about leadership: People want to hear from their leaders and want them to communicate a vision and plan for where the organization is going. And people want to see a path for themselves – what might my career progression look like? As a leader, I’ve been lucky enough to create a sense of ‘followership’ in different organizations where people want to be part of my team. Hopefully, that means I’m doing something right.
I’ve always been a big proponent of more leadership communication. People are always looking to connect and communicate with leaders, and it can have so many benefits to the organization, such as greater connections within the team and to the Firm. In many cases, I have seen that there is resistance to transparently communicating when a leader doesn’t have all the answers. Leaders may fear saying, ‘I don’t know’ or they might prefer to not communicate at all instead of saying something that makes them appear vulnerable.
Last week, I attended a government/industry event and heard a Federal leader, new to his role, talk about external communications within the industry. He laughed as he shared that he asked his new team how they engage with private industry, and their response was, ‘Oh, we don’t do that here.’ They would be in for quite a shock as he changed things.
A couple of recommendations about communications:
- In-person communication is most effective. This article displays a chart that shows effectiveness on the Y axis and the richness or temperature of the communication on the X axis. Written communication or email is the coldest, with in-person being the hottest. And the curve is a diagonal line going up and to the right. If you are part of a meaningful or significant conversation, try to have that conversation face-to-face.
- Non-verbal communication accounts for 55-65% of communication. A lot is ‘said’ by everything other than the words coming out of your mouth.
,From your body language, and your facial expression, to the tone of your voice;.Your words account for very little of what is really communicated. Be attentive to these non-verbal cues, whether you are sending or receiving the communications.
While both workers and technology have remarkably adapted and improved to fit a remote work environment, nothing can replace in-person interactions! Leaders can have better engagement with their teams, be more effective and efficient in their work, and better help build the team and culture of their organization. Similarly, staff within the organization can make stronger connections with their leaders, leading to a better understanding of their leaders and the organization’s goals. Every organization chooses the best work environment model for them, but I can already see the benefits of two days a week in the office at my organization. To help with bonding and adjusting to a hybrid work model, Centennial provides free lunch on on-site workdays which is icing on the cake!
As most organizations work in a hybrid work model, I’ve also seen the value of conferences and other in-person collaborative government/industry events rise. With limited opportunities to have in-person interactions in the office, conference events have become more critical. Especially within this industry, I’ve seen the importance of in-person events with interactions with vendors and government clients.
In conclusion, I want to encourage leaders and team members to take advantage of every opportunity to engage in person with their teams. I promise you’ll get more out of it than you’d expect!
