Motivation and Change in the New Normal: Strategies for a Hybrid Office

Although restrictions in Sweden have been lifted, the traditional office workspace may never be the same for many companies. The uncertainties caused by rapidly changing restrictions are over, but the world continues to evolve at a rapid pace. The “new normal” in the workplace is characterized by flexibility and a hybrid office. Employers face the challenge of motivating and engaging remote workers while still meeting goals, which may be even more significant than before.

Leading in a flexible environment where employees can be anywhere requires higher levels of motivation from leaders. But how do you motivate people when the workplace is no longer synonymous with a desk at the office, and employees can be anywhere?

The pandemic has accelerated digitalization in society. A rapid transformation forced new routines, system solutions, and home offices. Today, most employees are used to working from home, and for many, it has become a difficult habit to break.

Changed goals and demands require fast buy-in from employees. The pandemic has shown that productivity does not have to be negatively affected by working from home, but the challenges are more significant for leadership. 63% of leaders in Howwe Technologies’ CEO survey reported that they had changed their goals and priorities due to the pandemic.

Leaders often need to find new ways to reach their goals. A trend that has accelerated significantly during the pandemic is that leaders need to act and find new ways much faster. The time between the management of a company deciding on a new direction and getting the frontline to work in the same direction proved critical during the pandemic.

Leaders in the CEO survey were asked if they find it more difficult to steer the organization and create focus with remote personnel. What is most interesting about this question is that it was not even conceivable just a few years ago. It was entirely new to most of us.

However, leaders report negative consequences of remote work, including reduced engagement and focus loss. There are significant opportunities to use modern tools to bridge the gap in engagement and focus that could impact the company’s performance. Our clients have been affected by the pandemic, just like everyone else. Therefore, we are immensely proud to report that the majority of our clients have increased their employees’ satisfaction by using our modern tools.

The need for modern and customized work tools has increased. In the “new normal”, it is necessary both to drive necessary or externally imposed changes. There is also a greater need for support to create an understanding of the goals, to successfully transform the goals into actionable activities, and to unite employees behind the goals if there is a chance to get them on board quickly when the goals change.

A key to successfully achieving goals with a large portion of the workforce remote is regular meetings and follow-up. Many can diagnose themselves with “Zoom fatigue”, and staring at a screen for even more hours is hardly something one longs for. The secret behind Howwe’s work method is short, weekly acceleration meetings where all employees see exactly how they are progressing towards the goals they have set, make commitments to achieve them on time, and gather motivation together with their team.

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