The myth of engagement

‘When you lose ‘em, you’ve lost ‘em for good!’ said the shouty presenter at the leadership conference.

And that’s not true.

It almost sounds like a threat that you need to keep people hooked in or you’ll lose them.

But we all lose focus and attention, all the time. As leaders, speakers, trainers or facilitators, we can’t hold people’s engagement all of the time.

So yes, we will ‘lose them.’ We all drift away. But it doesn’t mean they are forever ‘lost’.

Attention ebbs and flows. We can’t give 100% attention, 100% of the time.

The task becomes then: how do you get them back? And when they come back, how do you catch them up (not catch them out) with what has been happening - whether they’re ‘gone’ for 15 seconds or 15 minutes?

The work then is to firstly DESIGN for engagement.

And then to invite, welcome and DELIVER for reengagement. And repeated reengagement, precisely because our attention lapses.

Rather than the control freak in us expecting or demanding 100% attention from a team or group (and performing games, tricks and ra-ra entertainment for fear of losing it), work to earn engagement and to hold it, understanding that it will leave at times.

And then work to always encourage, and warmly and kindly welcome re-engagement, whenever it comes. 

Work that works

So says PepsiCo with their new flexible working model, ‘work that works’... in this article

80,000 staff will never work a standard 9-5 working week again. 

“Instead, the business has empowered its managers to determine which of their team members are needed in the office and when, and what work can be completed remotely, on a project-by-project basis.”

Wow! It’s pretty big isn’t it. And yes, plenty of companies have been working like this for awhile (some for years) but for most leaders, this is new. 

This strategy has been 8 months in the planning and is rolling out across 200 locations. 

2.5 days in the office and it’s now all about ‘outputs’. 

Leaders will need to step up to higher levels of communication, engagement … and leadership! 

Good for employees? Yes, and PepsiCo says hybrid working is good for business too. 

As each company expresses publicly its hybrid strategy - or its ‘forever work from home’ strategy (hello Atlassian Twitter  Facebook  Unilever  Spotify  Square Microsoft Slack Google … and many more) - the competition for talent increases. And this could be some of the talent that’s currently working for you, with you. 

Don’t be complacent. What’s your ‘work that works’ strategy, PesioCo-style? 

Resisting the flexible future

It’s not that we have to work remotely, it’s that we are ‘clinging’ to office based practices. 

At least someone or some people are clinging. It may not be you. You might be good to go with a more flexible working arrangement. 

But clinging to old practices has happened for centuries. The new is uncertain. 

‘We’re not adopting new ways until we have proof that they work’, said a leader recently. ‘I’ll wait to see what the results are for others first, then I’ll consider whether I will adopt the new way,’ said another. 

These are examples of clinging. 

Waiting. 

Waiting to see. Watching others. Potentially you watch competitors moving first. And because there is greater flexibility on offer, many many more companies become your competitors …in the war for talent. 

The when, where and how we work are still clinging to location. 

And the meetings drain persists. 

There are absolutely better ways. I work with teams and leaders every day, helping them learn and experience new and better ways of working. We try things out, learn, experiment, get comfortable and do some new things. We do less clinging. 

This article in The Guardian by Alexia Cambon, Research Director at Gartner shares more. I’m keen to read her research, ‘Redesigning work for the hybrid world’. 👏🏽 

Let go some more. Experiment, learn and adapt with this change we are in. Less clinging. 

Leading change ... remotely

For leaders in these times of remote and hybrid work, change still has to happen. 

Guiding, leading and inspiring change can require some new and different techniques.

There’s still a requirement to have:

⏺ Engagement for change 
and 
⏺ Capability for change. 

This week I’m working with a leadership team to prepare them to better engage their team for change. 

We’ll be focusing on how to have better, more engaging conversations about change ... remotely. Handling tough questions, raising challenging topics, building greater human connection... online. 

Then it’s onto the skills the entire organization needs - to ensure teams have the capabilities to embark on the changes planned. 

This includes being able to work in a hybrid environment - where some people are onsite and some are working remotely. We’ll build problem-solving, sensemaking and decision-making skills. 

Whatever you’re changing, think about 
- engagement... for the leadership team,
and 
- capability... for the wider organisation. 

Tackle both for more successful remote, hybrid change. 

Finding your way with the new

Copying someone else’s way of working might just work. 

And it might not. 

While there are methods, techniques and new habits to start, sometimes the best thing to do is simply try them out. 

No strings attached. 

Try it on. How does it feel? What do you like about it? How might it work for you? 

As businesses change to new and agile ways of working, there can be a little too much ‘don’t mess it up’ and not enough ‘let’s try it out’. 

I’ve been working with leaders and their teams as they try tools, techniques and methods like 
- visual management 
- timeboxing for tasks and meetings 
- backlogs of tasks to be done
- co-creating with customers 
- running experiments 
... and 30+ more ways of working. 

This is no switch to flip overnight. 

It’s an opportunity to learn, experiment and experience... over time. You might even bring some of the greatest detractors into the experience. 

‘This was so much better than I thought it would be’, said a participant at a Better Ways of Working virtual workshop recently. 

Safe. Experimental. Collaborative. Supportive. Experiential. 

There’s no other way to make these transitions to newer ways of working, but to help people find their way.