Is It Time to Unlearn Physical Interaction Styles & Behaviors?
Establishing Meaningful Connections in the digital Era of “Mix Model Teaming”.
How Did We Get Here?
The 4th industrial revolution may have started with the personal computer in 1977, but digital acceleration did not occur until the popularity of the internet in the early 1990’s. The ability to share ideas, content and images without face-to-face contact became a reality, driving increased capability from the internet. In the early days of the internet, we learned we needed to change the way we communicated and shared content. Simply adding static text and images into a stationary web page was difficult to navigate and hard to consume. The internet enabled a major shift in the way people communicated as we learned that we had to adopt how we connect, interact, engage, inform and yes – entertain.
The Rise of the Knowledge Worker, The Demand for “Mix Model Teaming”
Fast forward “Post Pandemic”: Covid-19 required the adoption of digital tools to enable collaboration across locations and time zones. The successful activation of digital knowledge workers and the ability to be productive virtually shined a light on the decades old, unspoken shifts in the employer-employee relationship. Gone were the days of employment for life and pensions. Outsourcing, offshore and nearshore, had been popular corporate strategies for decades.
For the first time in history, we have the greatest number of different generations working side by side in the workforce. As the largest group “The Boomers”, continue to retire and “Gen X” start to retire, they take with them legacy work behaviors and the comfort of physical ways of working, face-to-face collaboration, concepts of employment for life, pensions and Social Security. As these groups retire and the next generations expand their numbers, the demand for new ways of working increases. The Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha have had a very different experience and relationship in the workforce. They value time and experiences over material things. They understand they will be, in many cases, working longer than prior generations. As a result, they want to pick the locations and schedules that they work best in, that support their quality of life while meeting the company’s objectives.
The demand for “Mix Model Teaming” will continue to grow stronger as the shift in generations continues. The “Mix Model Team” can include various working locations, schedules and time zones. This has left many traditional physical interaction-based organizations grappling with how to make it all work. What strategies and tactics enable people to connect, interact and effectively collaborate? Leaders, teams and individuals need to unlearn the physical-only interaction styles and behaviors and shift to interactions that enable connections fueled by digital technology. It’s time to change the conversation to –
“how might we connect and engage effectively regardless of location or schedule?”
Adapt to Accelerate Business Innovation & Value Delivery?
How can “Mix Model Teaming” be effective, if people are working different schedules and locations, how do they engage each other, collaborate on deliverables and obtain transparency to work? During the Pandemic, companies did their best to adjust to working remotely, but they were not always intentional in shifting the culture and behaviors to virtual ways of working. There was always a thought that they would go back to the “old ways of working”. In many cases they simply transferred the physical ways of working to the new virtual world. It got them through the pandemic, but it was not as effective in engaging people, including all voices on the team, managing workflow or managing time. For example: The measure of productivity and success in many cases stayed the same. A common statement leaders make, “I know they are working and doing a good job, because I see them in the office” (managing the optics), vs. shift to data driven measures focused on team objectives and outcomes (They are doing a great job because, the data indicates they saved X$ or produced X results). Many companies are struggling to adopt critical motivators such as how reward performance, advance careers, define bonuses, etc. raises, promotions are still heavily influenced by relationships-optics, physically based factors.
Mixed model teaming impacts payroll. It requires policy and system changes to PTO, holiday pay and taxes. These changes require adopting a more flexible configuration and workflow. HR and Payroll departments are struggling to manage the SME capacity for current ways of working while trying to reimagine workflows, immersion learning experiences, program management, employee communications and change management in support of the new working models.
In the global race to hire, sustain and retain the talent required to innovate and deliver in the modern digital era, companies need to shift from the legacy physical ways of interacting and adopt of a mixed model team approach which includes multiple working styles. This requires targeted strategies that can enable speed to value, reducing critical costly miss steps due to fragmented communications and disconnects in workflow.
Empower your HR/payroll teams
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Embrace change
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Thrive amidst uncertainty
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Empower your HR/payroll teams 〰️ Embrace change 〰️ Thrive amidst uncertainty 〰️
About the Author:
Cat Collins has been a pioneer in business digital transformation for 30 years. Her focus is on organizational, service, functional and experience design, enabled by emerging digital technology. She has held executive positions in global companies and consulting firms. Her background in psychology/business and hands-on digital transformation experience, have guided her to an innovative human-centric approach to successfully develop solutions and products while helping people transition to new ways of working.