Managing a virtual or hybrid team isn’t easy. Where once checking-in could be as simple as bumping into someone in the office kitchen, now it needs a bit more planning. Managing the balance between this casual-but-no-longer-spontaneous “checking-in” and “checking-up” can be tricky: get it right and your team feels supported by a manager who takes an interest in their work and wellbeing; get it wrong and your team feels your looming presence over their micromanaged virtual shoulder.
It’s a balance many managers are struggling with, particularly in the face of the workplace changes that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought and the shift in expectations around flexible working.
A 2020 study by Harvard Business Review found that 38% of managers surveyed believe that remote workers perform at a lower level than that of people who work in an office, with a further 22% being unsure.
That’s a whopping 60% of managers who have doubts over the performance of their remote employees.
Visibility of work is a serious concern when managing virtual teams.
However, micromanagement isn’t the answer.
This same study found that employees who report high levels of close monitoring are less likely to feel trusted by their managers. This can have a detrimental effect on psychological safety, engagement and productivity and increase levels of stress and absenteeism. Having an element of self-direction is an important factor in workplace happiness – autonomy can help people to feel more empowered and is one of the key factors in increasing employee motivation, focus and creativity.
Getting the balance between the need for visibility and this desire for autonomy can be tricky. So, what can managers do to get it right and build more empowered, happier and more productive virtual and hybrid teams?
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For many managers, the first step to managing autonomy is challenging pre-existing beliefs about motivation.
Managers who believe that people see work as a burden, who believe their employees come to work because they have to rather than because they want to, are more likely to adopt an authoritarian motivational style (Theory X). We’ve all met this person – the one who waves a carrot whilst brandishing a stick! This style is based on the assumption that people need extrinsic motivation in order to perform well – without close attention and clear reward, people are likely to become less productive.
On the flip side, managers who believe that people are internally motivated to work, who believe that their employees take pride in their work and want to do a good job, are more likely to adopt a participative motivational style (Theory Y). These managers are more likely to take a collaborative approach to management, to trust their employees to take initiative and offer higher levels of autonomy.
When managing virtual or hybrid teams, these beliefs can become more apparent. A manager who has low trust in their employees can no longer stroll through the office and subtly (or not-so-subtly) check they’re hard at work; instead they have to email, message or call – something that can feel more intentional, obvious and intrusive. A Theory X approach to management can quickly cross over into micromanagement and an unhappy and unproductive team.
As the world embraces flexible, hybrid and remote working, it’s essential that managers challenge these beliefs around employee motivation. Though most workplaces will require a combination of Theory X and Theory Y approaches, this should be informed as much as possible by this question of visibility vs. autonomy, rather than by pre-existing personal assumptions.
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