The Future of Work Was Already Here
The pandemic has illuminated many workplace practices that needed changing. Here’s how to effectively lead your team today (and always).
The unprecedented disruption, change, and uncertainty of the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic have shone a new spotlight on society, our organizations, and individual lives.
Without minimizing the massive scale and collective trauma of these times, the reality is that people were already overworked, mental health was already a crisis, social and economic injustice was already pervasive, and systemic and continuous change was already accelerating. But now, we see it much more clearly and realize the scale of the disruption, which can feel overwhelming at times.
Leadership is everyone’s responsibility.
In the workplace, it may seem that these issues are best relegated to HR departments to solve. But we should remind ourselves that we are all leaders, and therefore, addressing burnout and stress in our workplaces is our responsibility as well. I subscribe to Dr. Brené Brown’s deeply research-informed definition of leadership: “A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and has the courage to develop that potential.”
Leadership is not about title — it’s about courage and action. That courage requires deep self-awareness and continuous self-reflection as well as a connection to our personal core values, and authentic love and care for our colleagues.
We need to rethink many of our philosophies and processes more strategically to embrace newfound employee expectations, hybrid and remote ways of working, and continuous change. As an organizational psychologist, I’m constantly reminding myself to get back to the basics of my trade: How do we influence change in organizations? How do we positively impact people’s well-being? And how do we create personal accountability despite seemingly “too big for me” problems?
I have always been drawn to project-based type of work, which is increasingly pervasive in most organizations today. As leaders and workers, we know inherently that there can be so much daily frustration built into the projects we work on that is unrelated to boxes on a screen or plexiglass dividers.
Who doesn’t feel exhausted and cranky at the end of the day after working on a project you don’t even understand, with a team that’s poorly run and made up of others you don’t really know? As more people find themselves in this situation, leaders can take several steps to ensure their teams are better informed and more engaged in any project-based work.
How to make projects more efficient and effective across your organization:
- Tie business strategy to metrics.
Continue to ask “why.” Then ask “why” a few more times. Push teams to focus on the value and actual business metrics you are working for. Seek to tie project goals to big-picture company goals. If something is not clear, push for clarity. When we know “why,” we can make better daily choices, and leaders will cling less to hierarchical roles, driving greater autonomy at work. - Be diligent and strategic in project management.
Relentlessly organize, communicate, define clear roles and responsibilities, remove waste, proactively manage risks, celebrate wins, and continuously improve. When project management is done well, it is not about reporting on risks. It is about skill, courage, and diligence to manage and prevent those risks. - Proactively support employees through changes.
Employees are constantly bombarded with changes. By the time my morning coffee is wearing off, I’m usually fighting off the stress of an ever-growing personal and professional inbox, wondering what is important, what isn’t, and what it all means. Multiple changes hit the same employees, often without context, as work is done project by project. Disciplined change management brings empathy and organizational savvy to support employees, so they are a part of the change rather than mere recipients.
We have so much work to do as organizations and as a society to create a more equitable, inclusive, and impact-focused world, but we can each be a leader in our everyday lives, taking care of ourselves and one another by humanizing our work and better managing projects.
Adapted from Amy Marshall’s article in the New York Business Journal.
Slalom is a global consulting firm that helps people and organizations dream bigger, move faster, and build better tomorrows for all. Learn more and reach out today.
