As a motivational speaker on change management and the hybrid workplace, I hate to say, “I-told-you-so,” but I predicted the hybrid workplace well before anyone had heard of COVID-19. In fact, as a hybrid workplace, change management speaker, I remember an HR director at least two years before the lockdown introducing me as America’s Hybrid Workplace Motivational Speaker. There was a lot of head scratching at the description at that time. I considered it a tremendous compliment.
Suddenly, people are asking “How did you know?”
The trend was there
For many years much of my change management talks have focused on the blended workplace and celebrating as well as differentiating the contributions of Boomers down to the emerging Gen Z workers.
To ignore the creativity and out-of-the-box thinking of Millennials is foolhardy. One trend they helped us all to see was how America worked (and why we worked that way). This included a new and/or critical look at remote-enabling technology, increasingly longer and unnecessary commute times, the need to “Go Green,” remote sales offices, contract labor and office space costs.
As I was speaking to groups around the country on change management and blended workplaces, it became obvious that the workplace was poised to undergo a cataclysmic shift. The pandemic only accelerated the obvious: hybrid is not only here to stay but it may be more efficient. In the latest online edition of HR Forecast the statistics for hybrid workplaces are convincing to say the least. According to writer Oksana Lavri (December 28, 2021):
“The future of work is hybrid: 52% of U.S. employees prefer to combine work at home and in the office, saying that it positively affects their ability to be creative, solve problems, build relationships, and spend time with their families. Global surveys show that 72% of corporate leaders plan to offer a hybrid model. 13% of survey respondents say they expect to reduce their real estate footprint next year.”
Change management means managing hybrid
The future trends in change management focus on managing hybrid. As America’s Hybrid Workplace Motivational Speaker, I predicted this seismic change several years ago, and I see greater evidence of it each day.
The article I reference above was written in 2021 and the stated percentages will stabilize or increase in the years ahead.
Change management must now focus on expectations. What measurements, parameters and programs must be developed to hold team members accountable? This will open up new vista’s versions ahead of where the software and videoconferencing are at the present time.
Workplaces must undergo change to match the virtual trends. The corner office will yield to huddle rooms, huddle furniture and the virtual software to enable better group-to-group meetings, even VR breakouts within meetings.
As a hybrid workplace motivational speaker, my key message in this post is to encourage everyone to expect the change, don’t fight it. Manage the change, don’t curse it. We’re getting through this just fine. Let’s continue to have faith in one another.
To contact Mike Hourigan, America’s Hybrid Workplace Motivational Speaker, for an in-person or virtual presentation, please call. Contact Mike today at (704) 875-3030 or fill out the form below.
