If you are like me, one simple way to separate work and home is to get dressed, walk out the front door and work from somewhere else – in an office, a coffee shop, library, a park - anywhere really, as long as it isn’t at home. This is my way of setting boundaries. 

Studies by Ashforth, et al (2000) and the University of Zurich (Wepfer et al, 2018) have illustrated the importance of boundary management and wellbeing recovery strategies to achieve better general wellbeing and productivity in life. 

These studies show the importance of setting both:

• physical and
• psychological boundaries

for effectively achieving a level of work and life wellbeing. 

Physical space

1. Separate work-space 
2. Number of people in home (less = easier to set boundaries)       

Psychological space

1. Say no    

Time space

1. Scheduled work hours – willpower/discipline to stick with them
2. Set guidelines e.g. no work on Saturday (no matter what). Lunch times, break times (With activities other than work)                                                  
3. Diarise pleasure activities – gaming, walking, reading, brain puzzles, cooking, eating, learning, shopping, swimming, golf, exercise.

All these suggestions are great practical tips…..and they all mirror the neuro science evidence based knowledge relating to boundary management & maximising the brains level of attention…which is

1. Physical space – Separate areas for work in the home environment.
2. Mind space  – your ability to concentrate, self-regulate, control impulses and be mindful.
3. Time space – time limits and time structure between  work, family, and personal wellbeing.

We have 5 more tips that will help you focus, concentrate effectively and maintain high levels of attention.

The Neuro science based knowledge 

5 tips for maintaining high levels of attention: 

1. Work on one task at a time

Establish work routines where you only focus attention on one task, goal at a time. We can all multi-task a little, however, it means we may recall less and burn up energy faster. 

Reduce distractions - close all ‘pop-ups’ and ‘alerts on your computer or smart phone unless they are to alert you to stop and change activity. 

1. Take micro-breaks

1. Aim to finish meetings early. 

If you have one-hour meetings in your schedule – aim to finish the meeting in 45 minutes. Each time you do this, take a 15-minute micro-break. 

1. Take time to reflect

Our brain needs time to process the events of the day. Create a time in the middle or end of your workday to reflect, make notes, record actions, check and reset your schedule and check your emotions and energy levels. 

1. Set goals

Have daily goals to complete. Have a goal for each meeting you attend. Set both wellbeing goals and work goals each day for yourself. 

This episode provides tips for presenting virtually. It is presented in three segments:

• Organising your virtual presentation
• Conducting your best virtual presentation
• Engaging the audience throughout the virtual presentation

Unlike face to face presentations where you have direct feedback from audience reaction, a large visual area to move in and inclusion in the energy within the room, virtual presentations require heightened use of tone & sound, minimal visual body cues and increased use of targeted images...and a dose of technology knowhow.

Organising:

Choose roles - Roles – speaker, producer, moderator, timekeeper.

Speaker sequence

Create opening/closing statements

Anticipate FAQ’s (prepare your responses)

Rehearse online (check tone/slide sequence/image quality/sound/pace)

Rehearse online (check tone/slide sequence/image quality/sound/pace)

Conducting:

Secure internet connection (prepare for worst and copy slides to one other computer (producer)

Positioning & background

Lighting

Know technology – spotlighting, share screen, troubleshoot with audience, breakout, chat, reactions

Look into computer camera

Be yourself -relaxed (turn your view of yourself off to stop looking at yourself and playing with your glasses/hair/clothing).

Engaging the audience

Every 8-10 mins is the rule of thumb

Engage at the very beginning – find out something about the audience by asking :what they know about the topic, how they feel about the topic or how high their energy levels are (Slido poll, ask for comments,)

Use your voice (not body) to project energy

Use images (sight major sense)

• Use some of the 161 interactive tools available (Break out rooms, chat, annotate, polls/Slido QR codes, short videos (Less than 2.5 mins)
• Use presentation producer for – chat, break out rooms, time. Presentation speaker/s for – slides and presenting. Presentation moderator for Q&A - directs questions to specific team member/s, time-keeper.

Leading in a hybrid work environment

Over the course of the past 18 months organisational leaders have been implementing changes to the way we work.

Firstly, they adapted to the working from home situation by providing employees with access to equipment, data, files, security, images, information, and documents. They also created systems guidelines and protocols for communications and IT security.

Secondly, leaders were active in providing well-being activities to maintain employee mental health. They offered virtual team events, apps and online training webinars and sessions.

Currently, in our business of developing future leaders and coaching executives, we are noticing a rise in requests for how to sustain team engagement, development, and productivity in the hybrid work environment.

Australian research has shown 78% of workers say they are more productive or just as productive when they work from home. 

Recruitment agencies have reported that organisations that advertise flexible workdays are attracting the most talent in today’s recruitment market.

A Price Waterhouse Coopers employee engagement survey determined most workers did not want to return to the office 5 days a week – employees are seeking a 3:2 or 4:1 model, this is what we call the hybrid work environment.

What does this hybrid workplace model mean for the leadership role?

A leader’s role is still to create shared meaning around organisational purpose and to be able to express it clearly and concisely. Without meaning (purpose) employees will flounder – not flourish.

They still need to create and maintain psychological safety for the team and part of that is implementing routine and consistency.

There are currently 161 collaboration software tools on the market. Find ones that work for your organisation and embrace them.

Here are some points of focus a leader of a hybrid work environment will need to consider.

• Increasing virtual touch points that create and reinforce meaning and employee engagement.
• Revise work into projects with SMART goals. Use measures that include quality, team involvement, deadlines, and development opportunities.
• Increase engagement for motivation and wellbeing.
• Increase relationship communications.
• Do more personal scheduling (planning).

Examples of what successful leaders are doing.

Create rules of engagement with the team – e.g., communications to be fair, honest, open, virtual meetings attendees must turn video function to ON, etc

Hold 8-minute meetings – this leader and their team hold an 8 o’clock meeting (for 8 minutes every workday morning. The meeting is where tasks are delegated, questions are answered, and progress status is reported.

45 minute weekly virtual meeting – all team members attend (video must be ON), 30 seconds allocated to all for the giving of ‘High 5’ to another team member. (Someone is given time keeping duties to keep this on track. The whole meeting s dedicated to team member wellbeing – no WIP talks.

On a scale of 1-10 rate – how you are feeling today (this week) or status of project (1 is going no where and 10 is completed), access to resources, timeliness of communication responses, how you feel about being a member of this team, how your communications with your buddy are going etc.

Meetings are designated for specific purposes e.g., virtual meetings cover routine catch ups and f2f is for creative work.

A leader freed up their time on Zoom by allocating buddies within the team so they could check in n each other daily.

One leader opens zoom for 2 hours in the middle of the day for any of their team to ‘drop in’ (it’s the virtual equivalent of the open-door policy in the office.

One organisation gave leaders access to an app for recording coaching and development meetings.

What skills do I need as a leader in a hybrid workplace?

Mostly communication skills are required (your technical skills specific to your job are of course still relevant).

• Relationship building & maintenance
• Coaching
• Facilitating
• Setting goals
• Influencing
• Digital
• Planning/scheduling

The first 3 are particularly relevant at present. If you have the skills to build and maintain relationships (think rapport, trust, feedback, empathy) coach others and facilitate an engaging meeting you have the means to express purpose and meaning, engage individuals and groups around a common goal, monitor and measure progress and quality and sustain a productive team environment.

The Circle of Conflict was originally theorized to support mediations. This makes it a flexible tool to utilize in conflict resolution. The circle, divided into five components, illustrates the potential sources of conflict in negotiations. Understanding the impact of imbalances within the circle forces all parties to first identify and diagnose the source(s) of conflict, and then parley for resolution. Listed below are the characteristics of each component within Moore’s circle of conflict.

Interest Conflicts

In any negotiation, people will voice what they want; or what we call their ‘position’. Interests are their motivations, or the why. They are what drives one’s position and they will often be challenged. Understanding party interests and proposing solutions to their issues and fears will play a vital role in conflict resolution.

Structural Conflicts

Perceived power inequality, competition over limited resources, and divergent interests amongst groups are the fundamental factors that contribute to structural conflicts. External factors make one or all parties perceive the other to be in a stronger, more privileged position. For example, meetings between an employer and their workers union see each other as having the upper hand in negotiations when in reality, both need each other to survive.

Intervention Strategies:
Refine and/or change roles,
Eliminate and replace destructive patterns of behavior,
Redistribute ownership and control of goods,
Introduce a fair decision-making process,
Transition from position based to interest based negotiation (focus more on the problem, not the person),
Change the way how parties influence each other (less extortion, more permission)
Redefine external pressures.

Data Conflicts

This conflict is based on the possession of information, or lack thereof. Inaccurate information and the different interpretations of data are grounds for conflict. Examples of data conflict are legal disputes arising from ambiguous interpretation of the law, conflicts based on contradictory research results, or on false information, such as hearsay. Interventions are necessary to avoid a conflict evolving into a destructive one.

Intervention Strategies:
Unify data,
Select relevant information to the specific conflict,
Consent on one data collection process,
Form a common criteria for the evaluation of the data,
Seek expert opinions in the case of stagnation.

Relationship Conflicts

Parties with previous negative experiences with each other are most prone to relationship conflicts. Fueled by emotion, stereotyping the opposing side, personal animosities, and poor communication contribute to these conflicts. Relationship conflicts do not give much leeway for parties to consent; interventions are needed.

Intervention Strategies:
Create procedures for when parties become too emotionally invested,
Encourage parties to verbalize their emotions (rather than acting out),
Change how parties perceive each other,
Build a positive image,
Eliminate repetitive negative behavior by changing the structure,
Inspire a positive approach to the problem.

Value Conflict

Much like interest conflicts, value conflicts arise because parties have different values and principles. Unlike interests however, values are nonnegotiable and unwavering because they are the foundation of personal identity. Individuals, let alone parties, will swiftly defend their values when challenged. Value conflicts do not give parties an opportunity to come to an agreement making interventions, necessary.

Intervention Strategies:
Avoid defining the issue by value,
Allow the parties to agree and disagree,
Create a sphere of influence in which one kind of value dominates,
Seek a superior goal for both parties

In this episode, Jeanine and Paul unravel the model, tasks and competencies change leaders require to lead an organisational change. Research from: Anderson & Ackerman Anderson (2009) is featured along with the well known models and frameworks from: Bridges, Kotter, Lewis, Lewin & Demming.

There are three types of change occurring in organizations, each requiring different change strategies. 

1. Developmental
2. Transitional
3. Transformational

Developmental change requires an improvement of the status quo. E.g. get better at customer service but still providing the same product.

Transitional change requires a change of goal. E.g. customers no longer want your current product, so you need a different one.

The models of Kurt Lewin, William Bridges, John Kotter and Demmings’ continuous improvement model provide suitable frameworks for managing these types of changes. i.e. developmental & transitional change.

The third - transformational change, is more prevalent in organisations these days and requires more than change management, it requires change leadership. 

The major difference is the status of the end goal at the beginning of the change i.e. The end goal in transformational change is unknown at the start. 

The conditions and situation of the change are also more VUCA (US Army Education Centre, 2018) (Bennis & Nanus, 1987) i.e. volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. 

In transformational change, (Anderson & Ackerman Anderson, 2020), the change leader is required to:

• Build an integrated strategy including:
• Content (business strategy)
• People (overcoming resistance and building growth mindsets)
• Process
• Transform mindsets
• Design, implement & course correct the process change

The 4 competencies required of transformational change leaders (Anderson, 2020) are:

1. Facilitation (of groups – all levels of stakeholders)
2. Designing (structures, scenarios & processes)
3. Role modelling (walk the talk and show others how to act in the new world being created)
4. Learning (expanding your mind to be open to new/different ideas & to let go of the old).

According to Human Capital Management, 2018, during the transformational change process these critical competencies will shine at different stages and can broadly be categorised as:

1. The Broadcaster – facilitator and communications expert
2. The Architect- designer of scenarios, structures, and processes
3. The Coach – overcoming resistance and developing growth mindsets.

NB For change leaders: Employing your own leadership coach is beneficial as they can help you reflect, acknowledge, accept, innovate, practise and mould successful behaviours, develop skills and ways of thinking to lead transformational change.

References:

Anderson, D.  Ackerman Anderson, L. (2009). Awake at the wheel: moving beyond change management to conscious change leadership. Available: https://beingfirst.com/resources/beyond-change-management-ebook/ Last accessed 22 June 2020.

Anderson, D.  Ackerman Anderson, L. (2001). Beyond Change Management: Advanced Strategies for Today’s Transformational Leaders 

Anderson, D.  Ackerman Anderson, L. (2001). The Change Leader’s Roadmap: How to Navigate Your Organization’s Transformation. 

 Bennis, W. Nanus, B (1985). Leaders: Strategies for taking charge

Bridges, W. (1991). Managing transitions: making the most of change. Reading, Mass, Addison-Wesley

Demming, W.E. Managing Change in Organizations: A Practice Guide ... [online] Available: https://deming.org/management-system/pdsacycle. Last accessed  1 February 2017. 

Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996.

Parker, C. Lewis, R. (1981). Beyond the Peter Principle, Managing Successful Transitions. Available: http://www.ralphlewis.co.uk/Change_files/Beyond%20the%20Peter%20Principle.pdf. Last accessed August 2020.

U.S. Army Heritage and Education Centre (February 16, 2018). "Who first originated the term VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity)?". USAHEC Ask Us a Question. The United States Army War College. Retrieved July 10, 2018.

According to medical and mental health experts, people really do have the ability to change. 

Three types of changes:

1. A change of process -e.g. 2 stage authentications on phone apps, covid-19 restrictions
2. A change of mind – e.g. different location, different relationship, different career
3. A change of circumstances – e.g. home ownership, adopt a puppy, promotion to leader, reduced salary, reduced headcount, isolation from peers, marriage, loss of family member. 

A popular framework used by psychologists to explain how humans experience change is the Kubler-Ross 5 stages of grief. 

E.g. Facebook announces they are going to make location marking on images mandatory...we could experience the following:

Stage 1: Denial. “They won’t do that, it’s fake news.”

Stage 2: Anger. “How dare they, that’s an invasion of privacy.”

Stage 3: Bargaining. “Check the fine print for opt out/out in options.”

Stage 4. Depression. “I’m over Facebook, I hate it.”

Stage 5. Acceptance. “I’ve opted out so I’m OK with it all really.”

The feelings experienced in each of the Kubler-Ross stages may be fleeting or drawn out…there is no hard and fast rule here – just an acknowledgment that they do exist. The Kubler-Ross model has traditionally been associated with unplanned changes.

Ralph Lewis and Chris Parker, in their article ‘Beyond the Peter Principle – managing successful transitions’ describe a 7-stage evolutionary process that can help explain what happens to us during planned or unplanned changes, negative or positive changes.

Using the example of the feelings experienced when a person gets promoted into a leadership role above their peers, Lewis and Parkers’ research concluded the following 7 stages:

1. Immobilisation – pleased yet shocked that they got the job. A sense of overwhelm.
2. Denial of change – minimising or trivialising the size of the change or the effort put in to obtain the change
3. Incompetence – flat performance, frustration, difficulty in coping
4. Acceptance of reality – letting go of the past (skills) and accepting the situation
5. Testing – trying new approaches, mostly new ways of communicating, reshaping self-image
6. Search from meaning, internalisation – a reflective period with an attempt to understand all that has happened. Accepting your new self-image
7. Integration – incorporating new meanings into new and enhance behaviours. Consolidating your new self-image.

Individuals can move more easily through a change if they are:

1. Self-aware – which phase of the change process am I in
2. Accepting of the change and the change process.

Employing a coach is beneficial as they can help you reflect, acknowledge, accept, innovate, practise and mould successful behaviours and ways of thinking.

What happens if I find myself in an untenable situation…how do I make the change?

Four options model (with examples of someone who isn’t satisfied with the role they find themselves in following after an organisational restructure).

1. Leave the organisation.
2. Change the situation. Take on extra responsibilities (of interest to you).
3. Put up with the situation. Stay in the job and continue to feel dissatisfied.
4. Change yourself or how you feel about the temporary situation. Acknowledge this is a temporary role and you will do as good a job as you can whilst looking for the next step in your career -this may help dispel feelings of dissatisfaction.

NB. Changing yourself is different from merely putting up with the situation since your thoughts, feelings and behaviour are different in the two cases.

References:

Bridges, W. (1991). Managing transitions: making the most of change. Reading, Mass, Addison-Wesley

Hyde, Peter. (2014). Personal transitions. Available: http://peterhyde.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2013/09/Personal-transitions.pdf. Last accessed February 2016.

Kubler-Ross, E. (1969). On death and dying. New York: Macmillan.

Parker, Chris Lewis, Ralph. (1981). Beyond the Peter Principle, Managing Successful Transitions. Available: http://www.ralphlewis.co.uk/Change_files/Beyond%20the%20Peter%20Principle.pdf. Last accessed August 2020.