The Remote/Hybrid Worker Challenge: How Managers Can Motivate And Engage Teams

As we emerge from COVID hibernation — and begin to deal with the social and economic fallout from the pandemic — one of the most pressing issues businesses are faced with is managing and motivating a remote workforce.

Some human resource professionals and business prognosticators believe COVID only hastened the trend toward a largely remote workforce. Others believe that the “hybrid model” of in-office and at-home employees is here to stay. And still others, most notably Bank of America, whose recent “back to the office” mandate for all employees came with the now famous statement that “we work from work,” are committed to returning to a pre-COVID work environment.

The Media Financial Management Association’s (MFM) member companies’ approach to this issue crosses the spectrum from fully remote to completely in-office. And no matter which model they choose, all come with challenges, from hiring (is there an IT professional who is willing to come to the office every day?), to training (MFM’s networks can certainly help here), to teambuilding, to motivating.

In the Last Word column of the May/June issue of TFM (The Financial Manager), the publication for MFM members, Veronica Landers, director of credit collections at Bonneville International, teases out the challenges around motivating workforces whose working situations have changed dramatically — and perhaps permanently.

It’s a complicated situation, Landers points out, and remote and hybrid work models likely require the most attention from managers to keep employees engaged and productive. Working from home during the pandemic became a welcome option for much of the media industry. And indeed, the industry is fortunate that most staff in TV, radio, streaming, publishing, advertising and other media-related businesses were able to shift to a WFH model fairly seamlessly.

Now that a number of media companies are moving to a hybrid model, the situation is becoming even more complex. Add to that the fact that a large percentage of remote workers say they want to remain remote — or even accepted specific jobs because they were assured they could work remotely. Some of these employees have no choice but to WFH full time due to having school-aged children still at home or other factors. Still other employees — particularly those who thrive on personal interaction and face-to-face teamwork — want to be back in their offices full time. Ultimately, a large percentage have embraced hybrid work as the best of both worlds.

Any way you slice it, motivating individuals and teams has become exponentially complicated. Back in the day, managers and team leaders could hold yearly staff retreats, bring in experts to conduct day-long team-building exercises, spend a small amount of their budget on lunches and birthday celebrations, reimburse staff for ongoing education, and other standard practices to keep them dialed into their jobs. Many of these practices don’t work with remote or hybrid workforces. Managers must get creative to keep their teams functioning at consistently high levels.

Landers believes that team and individual interaction is paramount when managing remote and hybrid staff to keep them engaged with their work, and with each other. The ability to brainstorm, solve problems, and foster team dynamics also dovetails with maintaining high levels of productivity. Landers wisely notes that mangers themselves need to shift their mindset from “performance equals hours spent” to “performance is quality of output.” That change is one that has been needed since before the pandemic.

The good news is that there are a number of proven ways to counteract declines in motivation and productivity, and Landers lays out several very practical tactics in her column:

• Ensure all team members are up to date with the most recent information related to their work. This tactic will help maintain seamless business continuity.
• Assign trackable performance and service-level agreement targets so managers can offer immediate feedback and coaching opportunities.
• Set weekly meetings when managers can highlight the team’s wins and provide a sounding board for employees to discuss any roadblocks they may have encountered.
• Use Monday morning Zoom calls or daily stand-up meetings to focus on three key areas:
  • Discussing the impact of actions that took place during the prior week (or day).
  • Setting goals for the week/day ahead.
  • Determining if cross-functional team assistance is required.
• Shift from a transactional team culture focused on short-term performance goals to a relational team culture that prioritizes employee retention.
• Provide growth opportunities by broadening the team’s knowledge so members gain a sense of purpose and increase their value to the organization.
• Build a strong rapport with each team member.
• Be transparent.

Landers points out that it’s most challenging to motivate remote teams. If team members live in the same area, making a point to meet in person to build team dynamics and camaraderie is critical. These gatherings don’t need to be overly structured or expensive: think about finding a hike in which all team members can participate, a lunch at a casual restaurant or even schedule monthly or quarterly game days where staff play board games for half a day.

If meeting in person isn’t possible, look to virtual events to foster positive team connections. Set up virtual campfires and ask each team member to participate in storytelling. Try a virtual escape room, a bingo game where you can create bingo cards tailored to your team dynamics, or virtual charades. Consider offering prizes to game winners to encourage friendly competition.

Landers concludes with this sage advice, to which I agree wholeheartedly: The future of the traditional work environment is not likely to ever return to what it was pre-pandemic — and it continues to evolve. In order to be successful, today’s leaders must take on the mindset of being nimble, adaptable, flexible and tuned into their teams’ needs.

The topics of employee retention and productivity are among the sessions related to managing and motivating today’s workforces that will be featured at Media Finance Focus, MFM’s annual conference happening next week in Tampa, Fla. Issues around hybrid and remote work are also likely to come up during the less formal roundtable sessions throughout the event. It’s not too late to register for the conference, either for the full three days, or to attend on specific dates. I hope to see you there.

Joe Annotti is president and CEO of the Media Financial Management Association and its BCCA subsidiary, the media industry’s credit association. He can be reached at [email protected] and via the association’s LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.