The Perfect Hybrid or Virtual Leader
Founder & Managing Director
Leadership in an office environment may seem straightforward: you can see people, observe their behaviour, build relationships, go out for lunch, give guidance, and motivate them to achieve great things. You can monitor performance, coach, share knowledge, and create a positive vibe. However, this romantic view doesn’t always reflect reality. Office politics, personalities, and inconsistent management can often hinder performance.
Many leaders create the conditions that enable their teams to flourish, but many more find this tough. Some still believe they can only manage teams effectively face-to-face in the same space. However, research shows that moving to a virtualized world puts leadership skills to the test. Leaders need to be consistently on their A-game to have teams and communities deliver excellent performance while working remotely.
In a traditional office, teams share a single physical and social context, with a constant flow of visual and auditory information. In the hybrid or virtual world, each employee’s home throws up different challenges, from unique stresses to varying domestic circumstances. Leaders must navigate these complexities to keep hybrid or virtual teams connected and productive.
5 Traits of a Great Hybrid or Virtual Leader
- Empathy and Fairness
Understand and consider the unique challenges your team members face at home. Be fair in your expectations and provide support where needed. - Effective Communication and Listening Skills
Communicate clearly and listen actively. Ensure that team members feel heard and understood. - Authenticity
Be genuine in your interactions. Authenticity builds trust and fosters a positive team environment. - Decision-Making
Make informed decisions and be transparent about your reasoning. This helps build trust and ensures team alignment. - Inspirational Leadership
Motivate your team by setting a clear vision and bringing people together. Know your team members as individuals and foster a sense of community.
The Importance of Transformational Leadership
In the 1970s, American historian James MacGregor Burns identified two contrasting styles of leadership: transactional and transformational. Transactional leadership is conventional management where risk and reward function as key motivators. Transformational leadership, on the other hand, focuses on empowering people and tapping into deeper needs and motivations.
Research by my organisation, in partnership with the Centre for Evidence-Based Management, found that hybrid or virtual workers respond well to transformational leadership. This approach fits the new dynamics at play in a virtual or hybrid world, offering new understandings that leaders can apply to the management of hybrid or virtual teams.
Building Trust
Trust is the foundation of effective leadership and teamwork. People need to feel it before they can build relationships, communicate, and exchange information freely. However, trust doesn’t come easily in the virtual world because teams have limited opportunities for face-to-face, same-space interaction. Transformational leaders must be clear about their expectations from the outset and agree on the rules of engagement with everyone. They need to make more time to catch up with team members and get to know them as people.
Providing the Right Support
An employee’s perception of supervisory support has a considerable impact on their performance and commitment. A leader’s trust will make that person feel psychologically safe to take risks without fear of being blamed or ridiculed if things go wrong. Hybrid or virtual working gives leaders less information to go on, which means suspicion and misunderstandings can grow if both parties fail to make an extra effort to communicate.
Hybrid or virtual working also makes the command-and-control nature of transactional leadership almost impossible. It democratises teams by giving individuals more control over their time, schedules, and settings. Managers can’t peer over the shoulders of their team members, so transformational leaders need to trust virtual workers to complete their tasks and meet expectations without micromanaging.
Creating Social Cohesion
The simple things that an office enables, like saying hello or having the occasional coffee, allow people to form friendly relationships and provide emotional support. The social cohesion that develops from these small actions gives people the confidence to participate in intellectually challenging discussions without feeling challenged or insulted. But maintaining that social glue for virtual communities is an altogether different prospect.
Leaders must make an extra effort to keep virtual teams connected through social gatherings and regular one-to-ones, using virtual tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Investing in friendships and creating moments for socialising online are essential for hybrid and virtual teams. Leaders themselves need to build better personal relationships with team members to understand what’s happening in their lives.
Mastering Hybrid and Virtual Leadership
In the ever-evolving world of work, mastering hybrid and virtual leadership is a critical skill for success. By embracing empathy, authenticity, and effective communication, hybrid and virtual leaders can build trust, provide supportive guidance, and cultivate a cohesive and engaged remote team environment.
By focusing on these key areas, leaders can navigate the complexities of hybrid and virtual work, ensuring their teams remain connected, motivated, and productive.
