Taking up the hybrid-helm

As we cautiously return to the office, many leaders are considering afresh the changes they made to their management style during the pandemic. Four members outline how their organisation, team, and leadership outlook has changed since March 2020.

Gareth Gallagher 

Managing Director at Sacyr Concessions 

The biggest challenge over the last two years was having to continue operating our assets fully in as safe a way as possible for our staff and the public, and we had to allow anyone who could work from home to work from home. 

The government deemed keeping the toll roads safe and operational an essential service, so many of our staff had to work on site. Because of this, we had to continuously do risk assessments to keep our team safe and comply with public health guidelines, such as shift change patterns and fitting out internal structures in vehicles. 

Now, though, the staff that had been able to work remotely have started coming back to the office a few days a week. It is nice to have physical meetings with people again, but everyone must remain flexible. There could be times when more face-to-face meetings are required. 

The last two years have made it clear to people what is important to them, and that is why flexibility and a hybrid model is more important for job satisfaction than they might have been previously. The hybrid model gives people more autonomy over time and has been proven to work, but the last few years have also emphasised that in-person meetings are more efficient for certain work requirements. 

Above all, the pandemic emphasised that communication is critical, and it has probably made me more conscious that I need to check in with people on a more regular basis. 

Larissa Feeney 

CEO and founder at accountantonline.ie

The pandemic coincided with a period of rapid growth in our business. We were in the middle of hiring key staff and implementing new practice management software and about to launch other initiatives when COVID-19 struck, and the future suddenly looked very uncertain. 

Fortunately, we already had quite an embedded blend of hybrid and fully remote models in place since 2018, so the move to being fully remote was technically straightforward. 
Although we have an office presence in Dublin, Derry and Donegal, over 80 percent of our teams now work fully remotely, and the remainder almost all work hybrid. 

The move to almost fully remote working came about by necessity but is hugely positive in many ways for us. I’ve learned that working from home does not suit everyone, and it is undoubtedly the case that regular, daily contact is essential across the teams. 

I was concerned that remote staff would miss out on showcasing their talents, and people would become overlooked for promotion and development. However, we are working hard to avoid that with coaching, leadership training and career planning, which has had a positive impact on the visibility of talent development.

We have hired an additional 20 people in the last two years. It is still strange but becoming much more normal for me to work with so many people I have not met in person yet.

This year, we have planned a series of in-person meetings throughout the country for staff to meet in peer groups, and in May, we will have one larger gathering with all staff for the first time in two years. 

Since March 2020, I have supplemented my communication style by scheduling skip level one-to-one video meetings with all individuals so that I can hear staff feedback. I have found that to be a great benefit in understanding their challenges, ideas and suggestions for improvement. 

Working life might be easier if we all worked under the same roof, but there are significant personal benefits and cost and time saving to working remotely.

Derek Mernagh

VP Corporate Controller at KeepTruckin

I am a Corporate Controller leading an accounting organisation based in the San Francisco area of the US. I went from sitting in-office with my team five days a week in early 2020 to now managing my team remotely in a matter of days. 

I never imagined how the work culture I had gotten used to would change so drastically. I would have thought, at the time, that doing my job remotely would not be possible. 
I changed jobs last year and have never met any of my current team in person. This has been a considerable change to adapt to, as I had been so used to in-person management and felt that knowing the team in person helped build stronger working relationships and trust. 

Also, the dynamic of meetings was more open and transparent, as everyone had met each other in person, and I felt people were more comfortable in sharing their opinions. Building that connection with the team is more challenging in a remote environment, but I have learned to adapt. 

We meet more often because we feel we should check-in due to the work from home environment, but this brings some challenges. “Zoom fatigue” is a real thing. 

I try to check-in with my team using direct messages or group channels on collaborative tools like Slack to ask how they are and how things are going. I also have monthly team meetings that we try to make more light in content, so the team can get to know each other better.  

There are advantages with the current work schedule that my team and I appreciate, such as no commute time, but finding a hybrid solution for the future where some connection is possible will be a perfect balance. 

Una Rooney

Corporate Accounting Manager at Allstate Northern Ireland

In my company, we have always had the option of remote working; however, it was not often invoked. Since the pandemic, they have now adopted a hybrid working environment which I feel has created an innovative and energised work environment across all locations in Northern Ireland and America. Would I have answered this in the same way in June 2020? I’m unsure.

Through the pandemic, we had enforced a work-from-home model. This presented challenges as an organisation and management group in finance, such as onboarding, ensuring people took leave, keeping employee engagement, maintaining a high standard of deliverables, and retaining relationships virtually. 

In hindsight, as an already global team with team members in Chicago, we were achieving what we thought were challenges daily.

We initially took more time and effort to think outside the traditional corporate box to adapt. I did become more deliberate in my actions and aimed to be seen as much as possible so the team could practice what I was preaching. I ensured I was taking breaks, upskilling remotely and always available for a call. 

We did bingo, escape rooms, virtual team lunch, and breakfast for stateside members as a team. These activities were required to ensure collaboration and inclusivity since casual coffees and lunches were no longer on the table. 

I know this kind of engagement isn’t for everyone but by providing a non-busy period, we were able to look after staff mental health while helping integrate new starts and build up relationships with other team members and myself as manager. 

By building up this rapport and respect virtually, I felt we saw the deliverables and standards being maintained. Team members were open to asking questions, and I kept an open-door policy to ensure communication was still prevalent.

We all made a forced change. Before, I was an office worker and never thought of hybrid as an option. Now, the working world is evolving and, if used correctly, can bring a highly-motivated and highly-productive finance team globally.