Our practice has been operating as a geographically distributed group for decades. We’ve always relied on various technologies to stay connected with each other and our clients.
Our leadership teams have learned a lot along the way. We’ve observed there are some basics in structure, process, and culture that predict success in distributed organizations.
Some critical variables have proven to be:
(1) delegating opportunities, needs, and outcomes rather than job functions or tasks
(2) celebrating and rewarding shared values and dedication to purpose to sustain trust
(3) hiring for intellectual, emotional, and behavioral competence rather than for salary level
(4) collaboratively defining what will constitute success and managing and coaching for those outcomes
(5) encouraging informed intuition for innovation and using relevant data for knowledgeable and nimble decision-making.
Absent these basics, organizations have always needed to “snoopervise” rather than empower. That hasn’t changed with shifts in work location.
Thanks to Volodymyr Hryshchenko for sharing their work on Unsplash.
However, the tools of poor management have changed. It used to require electronic entry that tracked time in and time out and staff in an office to be watched. Now it requires software that monitors their time and visits online and counts their keystrokes.
Perhaps, by now, you have realized that transparency does not equal trust and trust issues have come to the forefront when you can no longer enter into a staff person’s physical workspace.
Structure, process, and culture need to align with strategy regardless of workplace. Knowledge, trust, and nimbleness remain the predictors of success in associations.
Join the Conversation!
Do you trust your staff? Does your staff trust you? Join KiKi L’Italien and me for our free webinar on Thursday, August 27th 2-3 pm ET, “Replacing the Timecard Mentality: Are you sure you’re cultivating trust among your staff?” #assnchat #associations https://bit.ly/Trust4
