In this rapidly shifting working and living era, the first aspects still unaligned with what is currently becoming our new norms.
One of them being that managers are not being trained to run hybrid teams. At the heart of operations, trusted to pull the strings, are managers, many of whom are promoted to their positions after excelling in non-management roles.
Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, published in March, concluded that “managers feel wedged between leadership and employee expectations.” The survey, featuring responses from over 30,000 workers across 31 markets, revealed that 54% of managers say company leadership is out of touch with employees, and almost three-quarters (74%) lament not having the influence or resources to implement the necessary changes for their teams.
“The future of work is here, and managers are not prepared,” said Sathya Smith, founder and CEO of Piper. “Managers are expected to guide hybrid teams to success, manage employees’ emotional well-being, and promote a culture of unity with little to no training.”
Managers need fresh training and new forms of support to thrive in this new environment. “People were promoted too quickly during the pandemic, mainly for retention purposes, which has led to a management crisis. They have moved from being project managers to people leaders, without receiving the training or support required for the shift”, says Cate Murden, founder of PUSH.
Similarly, heightened emotional intelligence is vital to support and motivate remote teams. Observing remote team members’ well-being – body language or demeanor, for example – can be key in understanding how they’re actually doing, but is challenging on a Zoom call.
Part of our Work Retreat recipe are creative boosters, and that means that we provide teams with specialists, trainers, facilitators who can enhance the productivity, creativity and connection within a group. All this while managers are able to learn some tips and tricks behind the scenes, to motivate their teams further on.
