If you aren't adapting your change approach for hybrid ways of working - you are missing a trick

Change is becoming even more important to implement well and effectively in organisations. One of the challenges facing Change practitioners today however, is how to achieve cut through in a hybrid working world. Add to this the 'noise' that can exist from day to day.  

Managing Change in a virtual world or one where there is a hybrid of working types (in the office and at home) means spending more time in some areas that were potentially taken for granted before. For example coaching Change Sponsors on effective communication techniques, ensuring technology is available that supports communication in various ways, and achieving cut through via multi-channel interventions are just some of the ways organisational change managers will need to adapt.

In some organisations, investment has been made in various technology platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, GoTo Webinar. However that is just investment in the enabler.  It will take time and practice to develop matching capabilities. Here are three areas of your change plan you should revisit due to the hybrid ways of working. Take the time to consider whether you need to 'tweak' your change approach to get better results.

Three ways to adapt to get better engagement:

1) Strengthen the sense of 'connection' in your plan. With hybrid ways of working, you will need to ensure there is enough 'local' support. Considering the work from home factor, sometimes individuals will only see 5 - 10 people in a day. You will need to consider having a group such as change champions but take that concept to the next level to ensure people are supported.

This type of connecting community can utilise an online platform as a way to connect. As we experienced lockdown social media platforms exploded, and many organisations introduced platforms such as Microsoft TEAMS or similar technology platforms that connected their people. These community/connection platforms are extremely effective to support any change to gain real time feedback, respond to questions and provide post Go Live support. 

2) You used to 'walk the floor' to gather feedback when your change went live. Now we have to do something similar virtually as well as in the office. Have the leaders use checkpoints and TEAMS phone sessions, or conference calls to create the space for support if any of the impacted groups need it. A 'dial in' checkpoint is very necessary to provide an opportunity to engage and get real time feedback. Once again if your organisation has an online forum, optimise its use.

3) To achieve cut through and get engagement consider gamification as a technique to keep things interesting. When I thought about this, I recalled having a campaign in my early marketing  career where I sent pieces of a house out to teams as they sold a certain number of products. The first team to build their house won. This was 20+ years ago when email didn't even exist, it was more fax machines and internal mail. So 'gamification' existed even then and was effective. It's the concept of social pressure and competitive spirit. We haven't changed as humans and it will work even now. So introduce elements of gamification when introducing your change, to keep your change top of mind. Once again it takes more effort (hopefully you will not be sending pieces of a house puzzle out) but can create more interest and engagement.

Hybrid ways of working has its advantages and challenges but the question isn't  who will be in office or working from home. The question is how can I be inclusive and make sure everyone is engaged with this change?