Work happens in brains - not offices!
The Smart Working Revolution
In days gone by, ‘work’ was a place you went to. Today, it’s more often something you do, anywhere and everywhere. Leaders who manage a team of smart workers – those who work in flexible locations, such as hubs, mobile, remote and office – need a very different set of skills to those who manage people in an office. Could you be a Smart Leader of the Future?
How can you develop this new set of skills? Here are a few challenges that Smart Leaders prepare for….
Which smart and flexible options will suit your unique business?
There is a vast array of smart working options including different location and different contract/hours. The Smart Leader must determine what will work in their unique business and what will not. What works for you competitor or a large successful corporate will not necessarily work in your business and Smart Leaders will begin with a feasibility study.
How to avoid the pitfalls of managing smart teams
Smart Leaders understand the pitfalls. Smart working is not just about issuing employees with a smart phone and a laptop. There is much more to it. For example, there will be those who feel that there is no replacement for 9-5, Monday to Friday, office-based collaboration. They will undoubtably scupper your programme if you don’t address this challenge. Smart Leaders know how to shift that mindset?
How to connect the business vision with a person's life aspirations, so that both are successful
Smart Leaders don’t use an appraisal system. They don’t need to. They have a much better system in place. People want to know how work will balance with their own unique goals, so Smart Leaders ensure their people know just how they add value to the business. Using a set of guiding principles, they ensure that their people know what’s in it for them – for their personal life and their work life. That way they are more comfortable and ready to give it their all.
How to foster trust with a team who are not necessarily office based.
Smart Leaders develop the ability to build 2-way trust. There are a few engagement techniques that they use to build trust between themselves and individuals. Our results show that when Leaders successfully deploy these engagement tools, their Employees are 17% more productive. That’s almost a day per week!
How to manage by outcomes
Some traditional managers measure performance by the hours an employee sits in front of a computer screen, but Smart Leaders recognise that just because a worker is present in the office, it doesn’t mean they will be productive. Smart Workers achieve anywhere – shirkers shirk anywhere. We use a simple, but thorough method to set goals and then we take a step back to allow the employees we have so carefully selected, do their best job.
How to motivate a distributed team
Motivating a team who are working across many locations and hours requires a different set of skills to enable collaboration and drive. For a start, team conference calls are handled differently to office-based ones, to ensure that not just the loud voices are heard. Meanwhile, presentations become a whole new challenge if people are to project passion and inspiration for continuous improvement.
Fit for the future
Learn how to develop a skill set fit for the future and avoid the pitfalls by joining or Smart Leadership Masterclass on May 17th in Birmingham, 10 until 3pm to avoid the traffic.
We will share 20 years of experience of leading Smart Teams as well as how other organisations deploying smart working, how they are avoiding mistakes and driving improvement to productivity by up to 13%.
What are you waiting for? Join the Birmingham Smart Leadership Masterclass.
Ruth Gawthorpe is the CEO of the Smart Working Revolutio, a team of practitioners who support business to adopt smarter ways of working, thinking and operating. www.smartworkingrevolution.com