Flexible Working

Flexible working. That's what we're going to be talking about on this episode of How to Lead, the podcast for CEOs, founders, and leaders of all sorts who want to find the perfect balance of empathy and authority when it comes to leading their people. I am Kate Waterfall Hill, and I'll be sharing some ideas from over 30 years of working in business and leadership development.

Before we start the show, here's a quick reminder that if you want to inspire better performance, achieve your objectives, and really enjoy the role that you worked so hard to get or find the freedom that you thought you'd find when you started running your own business, sign up to my free weekly newsletter or, better still, grab a copy of my book How to Lead at waterfallhill.co.uk.

So let's kick off with a look at what my alter ego Linda the Bad Manager has to say about encouraging people to come back to the office. As usual, she's having a quietly controlled meltdown. This time it's about empty offices and insisting that real work only happens when I can see that you're doing it.

Over to Linda.

“We know you've all been working from home successfully for the last three years and we're very grateful for all your hard work during this really difficult time but we really want to encourage you to come back to the office more. Why? No, it's not because we want to keep an eye on you because we're old fashioned.

No, it's because it's better. Better all around. Collaboration, communication, celebration. There's nothing better than being face to face with your teammates, is there? So, this is your new work pod. Quite a cool name for it, I thought. Yeah, it's lovely. I know it hasn't got any windows and you're not actually sitting with your team, but um, at least you can see them when you go to make coffee in the kitchen in your allocated morning and afternoon break slots.”

Oh, poor Linda. She's still living in that special world where productivity is measured by how quickly people minimise YouTube when she walks past their desk. But here's the thing, whilst Linda's approach to flexible working is giving us all a good laugh on social media, I know many of you are genuinely grappling with how to make it work.

How do you balance business needs with employee preferences? How do you maintain Strong team relationships when half your people are working from their kitchen table, and most importantly, how do you avoid turning into a Linda?

Well, let me share a story about a client of mine, an agency owner who was absolutely convinced his creative team needed to be in the office full time for what he called spontaneous creativity. He tried mandating office days only to find himself with a room full of quietly resentful people wearing headphones and avoiding eye contact.

Does this sound familiar? Well, here's what we discovered. Forced spontaneity is about as effective as a chocolate teapot. Instead, we developed what I called the purpose over presence approach. Rather than obsessing about where people sit, we focused on what they needed to achieve. It turns out some tasks genuinely benefited from face to face interaction, while others, well, they work better without Derek from accounts popping by for an impromptu chat about his weekend DIY disasters.

So, How do you make flexible working actually work? Let's break it down into what really matters. First up, as always, it's going to be about trust. I know that work makes Linda break out in hives, but here's the reality. If you don't trust your team to work effectively when you can't see them, you've got bigger problems than flexible working.

I was told that one agency I know of actually 30 percent when they stopped measuring attendance and started measuring outcomes. Hardly revolutionary, but you'd be surprised.

Secondly, communication, one of my favourite topics. And I don't mean those soul crushing daily check ins where everyone takes turns justifying their jobs or saying that they have no blockers, while secretly plotting their escape. I mean real life. Purposeful communication.

I mean, I've heard of a number of brilliant initiatives, including one called Connection Corridors. Don't know if you've heard of this one, but this is designated times when everyone knows they can reach colleagues for a quick chats, whether they're remote or in the office. No more of that awful, sorry, can you just drive by interruption that gives Linda such joy.

Thirdly, and this is where it gets interesting. It's good to understand that different tasks need different environments. So, strategic planning, probably worth getting everyone in a room.

Quick status update, please make that an email. Don't make it a meeting. And you'll find more about trust, communication and productivity in my book, How to Lead. The link to get your copy is in the show notes. I worked with a tech consultancy recently who cracked this beautifully. They mapped out their core activities and created what they called their flexibility framework.

Sounds fancy, but actually it's brilliantly simple. They set out a guide for which type of work or communication required which type of tool or environment. So they decided strategic work and creative collaboration. That would be in person. Focused work and individual tasks, wherever it works best for that particular person.

Team building could be a mix of virtual and in person. Quick updates, Slack or email. The result, high productivity, happier team, and not a single passive aggressive email about office attendance.

But here's what really matters, and Linda, if you're listening, take notes. Good leadership isn't about control, it's about creating conditions where people can do their best work. Sometimes that's in the office, sometimes it's at home, and sometimes it's in a cafe pretending to write a novel.

So what's your next step?

Start by asking yourself these questions. What does my team actually need to collaborate on? When does location genuinely matter? And how can I measure success without counting heads?

If you have a flexible policy already where you say that people can work from home some days each week, but they must be in the office for a certain number of days, just make it clear why and when. What's the point? Is it just control? Or is it because you're paying the rent and you want to justify the use of the space to make you feel better?

Or do clients visit your offices? Is it a place where you hold events? Is it somewhere where you genuinely collaborate and unblock obstacles? If it's the latter, then how do you ensure people are coming in when you need them to and not just sitting on Teams calls all day at their desks? You could start with some fact checking. Are the right people coming in on the right days? Are they coming in with their teams or avoiding them as they're introverts and need some time alone to focus? Say you have three days in the office as a minimum.

If you make it so that those three days are the same for every member of the team, then how do you collaborate with other teams? Perhaps make two days mandatory, and then one day as a floating day so they can choose when it makes sense for them. If they want to do some work with somebody else from a different team, for instance, discuss with the team what they'd like to happen on the mandatory team days, so they don't just sit at their desks ignoring each other. How would they best collaborate and build trust?

Could you perhaps factor into people's workloads that the days when they're in the office won't be necessarily as traditionally productive as other days. So they won't be producing as good a detailed output as you would expect them to do in the silence.

Hopefully silence anyway, of their own home. But the days in the office will be really great for relationship building.

Up until recently, I used to go and see a client of mine once or twice a month, and I acknowledged that I wouldn't get to produce any work on my days in the office. I could happily focus on meeting individuals and teams face to face, and just not fret that my emails were stacking up.

But that was maybe a luxury that I could afford. I could decide when to do my detailed work, the analysis, or the creative work, or the stuff that I needed to focus on. I just left that until it was a day that I wasn't in the office. Um, But for you, let's bring it all together. If you're setting office attendance requirements, just be really crystal clear about the why.

And because I'm paying for the office isn't going to cut it. Think about your genuine business needs. Are you hosting client meetings? Are you running workshops? Are you creating space for real collaboration? Brilliant. Now build your policy around that purpose. Here's what I've seen work beautifully.

Consider a two plus one approach. You set two team days for genuine collaboration plus one floating day that people can choose based on their cross team needs. And here's the game changer that transformed my own relationship with office days. Just stop treating them as regular working days. Instead, view them as investment days.

You're investing in relationships, team dynamics, and solving those sticky problems that always seem to take ten emails to resolve. Most importantly, involve your team in designing how these days work.

A friend of mine told me about a time when their team came up with loads of fantastic ideas for making office time count. They sometimes did monthly sessions where people would share their skills. They also did this thing called cross team lunch roulette where anybody interested would put their name in a hat and you'd get paired up with some random person to have your sandwich with in the lunch room or even go out for lunch.

They also had this idea that they had a rule on certain days which was called no Teams calls. So on certain days, they weren't allowed to have Teams calls when they were all in the office. They had to have actual face to face chats. So remember, good leaders don't just manage presence, they create purpose.

And unlike Linda, who's probably installing desk sensors as we speak, they know that trust and clarity beat control every time. That's all for this week. If you've enjoyed this episode of How to Lead, do follow for more leadership insights. And remember, whenever you're wondering what would Linda do, do the opposite.

Please like, leave a review, and share with your fellow leaders to help spread the word. It really does mean the world to me. And if you have any suggestions for future episodes, please let me know. My contact details are in the show notes. And remember, Bye. Bye. You don't need to pull your hair out anymore when you think about team management.

You too can enjoy being an authoritative yet empathetic leader. It just takes a decision to be more intentional about your interactions with others. Some great tips for how to influence positive change, and of course, a good guide. Don't forget to grab a copy of my book, How to Lead.

Until next time, listen more, advise less, lead well.