Managing Hybrid Teams: Enabling Effective Virtual and Hybrid Work

April/May 2022 Volume 12 Issue 01

ISSN 2755-7561

What’s the Word on WordPress?

ex ec

ut iv

es up

po rt

m ag

az in

e. co

m

The Essential Training Resource for the World’s Administrative Professionals

Interviewing Your Interviewer: Why I Talked a CEO Out of Hiring Me

The Mystery of EBIT and EBITDA

RICHARD ARNOTT UK

SARAH RICHSON Kenya

SUE FRANCE UK

RHONDA SCHARF Canada

VANIA ALESSI Italy

VICKIE SOKOL EVANS USA

MELISSA ESQUIBEL USA

MICHELLE BOWDITCH Australia

NINA AUNULA Finland

MELBA DUNCAN USA

PAULA MOIO Angola

PEPITA SOLER Brazil

DIANA BRANDL Germany

ETH LLOYD, MNZM New Zealand

HELEN MONUMENT The Netherlands

BONNIE LOW-KRAMEN USA

JOAN BURGE USA

LIZEBETH KOLOKO-GREEN France

MEET YOUR EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

The global authorities for our profession, the members of the Executive Support Magazine Editorial Board are experts in their fields, dedicated to ensuring the administrative profession remains at the forefront of business. Board members regularly share their expertise within the magazine and provide guidance and inspiration on future topics and issues that are important to administrative professionals around the world.

A New Era

At a recent meeting with a client where we were talking about how they could better utilise their administrative function, one of the board members asked me whether I felt that an Assistant could work remotely.

It seemed a strange question. Matthew (my former Executive Assistant) and I worked almost entirely remotely for nine years, and haven’t we all just spent the last two years doing just that?

Communication, of course, is key. As are the right resources. When I suggested that it wasn’t necessarily whether an Assistant COULD work from home but rather whether they had the right tools to do so, the board member realised they hadn’t thought of that. I was astounded. It hadn’t occurred to them that not everyone had a dedicated space to work from, an ergonomically friendly chair, or high-speed Wi-Fi.

The latest research from Accenture shows that 83% of employees want the option of hybrid working moving forwards. In fact, 47% say they would look for another job if their company didn’t offer a hybrid option.

Employees want the ability to have a flexible schedule, less commuting time and expense and more time with family. But they also want the space away from distractions, time with colleagues, better technology, routine and visibility.

And yet for many, there is real anxiety about returning to an office. We worry about safety because it’s not clear how it’s going to work. Transitions naturally spike our anxiety, and whenever we have stopped doing something for a period of time, we feel anxious about returning to it. Our routines have changed, as have our social relationships and boundaries, so it’s natural to feel a level of anxiety.

Our cover story this month is from the excellent Peter Ivanov. He explains how to manage hybrid teams and enable effective virtual and hybrid work. Peter will also be speaking at our 48-hour online conference in June, ES Global. His session is one you won’t want to miss.

Elsewhere in the new magazine is a profile of my EA, Franziska Lielje. Change is always hard, and as most of you know, Matthew left in January. After nine years of working together, it was always going to be an adjustment, but Fran is more than up to the job and as much as I miss Matt, this new chapter is an interesting and exciting one.

Matt has set up his own Virtual Assistant business with his wife, Kayleigh, and I am sure it will be hugely successful. We wish them both the very best of luck with their new venture. Thank you, Matt, for everything you have done over the last nine years to support both me and the Assistant community. We look forward to seeing you at Executive Support LIVE in July and to celebrating your contribution properly then.

It’s the end of an era, but also the beginning of a new one.

Lucy Brazier OBE

CEO Marcham Publishing Lucy Brazier OBE [email protected] +44 (0)203 973 7752 Twitter @lucybrazier Skype lucy-brazier

Senior Editor Kathleen Drum [email protected]

Training Director Christian Russell cr[email protected]

Events Director Justin Roach [email protected]

Office Manager & EA to Lucy Brazier Franziska Lielje [email protected]

Sales Office, Javea, Spain +34 865 616 094

Sophie Douglas – Sales Manager [email protected]

Ana Fawdry – Account Manager [email protected]

Elaine Williams – Account Manager [email protected]

Rose McGowan – Marketing & Ecommerce Manager [email protected]

Wayne Tomlinson – Web Developer [email protected]

Design MAP Systems [email protected]

For all subscription enquiries please email [email protected] Executive Support Magazine is also available as a corporate subscription in print or online.

Executive Support Magazine is published bi-monthly by Marcham Publishing

Marcham Publishing Parkshot House, 5 Kew Road Richmond, Surrey TW9 2PR United Kingdon +44 (0)203 973 7752

www.executivesupportmedia.com also available at:

Articles published in Executive Support Magazine are the opinion of the authors. The views reflected do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publishers.

© Marcham Publishing 2022 (except where otherwise stated). All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Marcham Publishing.

ISSN 2046-3855.

4. 6. 7.

9.

Managing Hybrid Teams: Enabling Effective Virtual and Hybrid Work Peter Ivanov details 12 tips to communicate, collaborate and co-create in hybrid teams

Newsletter Tools for Internal Communication Michelle Bowditch’s top tools to easily create engaging internal newsletters

Fran Lielje Fran Lielje is the Executive Assistant to Lucy Brazier, OBE and the Office Manager at Executive Support Media

What’s the Word on WordPress? Step outside your comfort zone and step into the world of web content by experimenting with WordPress, says Marie Herman

COVER STORY PROFILETECHNOLOGY

Interviewing Your Interviewer: Why I Talked a CEO out of Hiring Me Before you sell yourself for the role, let your interviewer sell you on the role, explains Megan Bishop

A Practical Guide to Choosing and Booking Professional Speakers Choosing a professional guest speaker can be a pleasure rather than a problem, explains Diana Boulter

What is Keeping the C-Suite Awake at Night? The C-Suite has had to be agile and continues to make difficult decisions, explains Thom Dennis

The Mystery of EBIT and EBITDA Do EBIT and EBITDA give a better indication of the true operational performance of the business? asks Richard Arnott

12. 13.

15. 17.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

EVENTS EXCELLENCE

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND ACUMENLEADERSHIP

TECHNOLOGY

TWO

Everything You Need To Know About Achieving Career Success Create your own success and build a robust and sustainable career says Julia Schmidt

Active Awareness: The Essence of Resilience Active awareness implies we are the author of our experiences, explains Jason Liem

19.

22. 23. 25.CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPINION

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

The 12th World Administrators Summit The World Administrators Summit is a working meeting that discusses the issues challenging our profession across the globe, explains Helen Monument

My Journey to TEDx Bonnie Low-Kramen gives us a behind-the-scenes look at taking part in a virtual TEDx

TABLE OF CONTENTS

29. Advice for When You Hate Your Job Rhonda Scharf shares tips to help you create a better situation for yourself

Eliminating Networking Anxiety Chi Chi Okezie advises applying simple techniques and creating a plan to overcome networking anxiety

28. CAREER DEVELOPMENT

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

THREE

TECHNOLOGYOPINION 37.36.

31. The Coding Evolution: The Bigger Picture Is coding truly the next skill and technology to learn as an administrative professional? asks Vonetta Watson

Track Your Time Traci Williams explains how to set up a spreadsheet so that you can track your time

Levelling Up in the 2022 Workplace How can virtual new starters feel more connected to their company? asks Tray Durrant

TECHNOLOGY 33. Going Green: The EA’s Role in Sustainability Pat Woods details eight best practices you can employ to move your organization to a more sustainable future

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

LEADERSHIP45.41.

40.

43. Organizational Change: Start SMALL for a Big Impact The Global Skills Matrix places Assistants firmly in the role of catalysts for successful organizational change, explains Aliina Rowe

How to Respond to Trolls How can you protect your career if someone is trolling you or your business? asks Amanda Hamilton

Holding on to Gratitude Your life script may not be within your own control, but the attitude you exhibit is, says Carole Spiers

The Benefits of Speaking More than One Language Knowing a foreign language can help with communication and building relationships, explains Carla Stefanut

CAREER DEVELOPMENTCOMMUNICATION

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

COVER STORY

W R

IT ER

PE TE

R IV

A N

O V

FOUR

Managing Hybrid Teams: Enabling Effective Virtual and Hybrid Work Peter Ivanov details 12 tips to communicate, collaborate and co-create in hybrid teams

We’ve been working remotely for nearly two years, and with COVID-19 many companies have now introduced policies for hybrid working. In hybrid teams, some people are in the office and the rest are working from home or from other remote locations.

A client of mine has decided that their business will be working from home or remotely for 60% of the week, and the other 40% (two days a week) people will have to work in the office. The challenge here is to foster home-office productivity but also to enable this mix of people to communicate, collaborate and co-create in the best possible way.

During the pandemic and the challenge of remote work, people broadly responded in one of two ways. Introverted-thinking people thrived; they are mostly keen to continue to work from home. Extroverted- feeling people struggled with the extended amount of time at home; they can’t wait to get back to the office.

In a hybrid workspace, we need to take care of the needs of both types of people.

Psychological Safety

Google ran a project called “Google Aristotle” which researched the common characteristics of the best performing teams. During the data-heavy research, Google discovered that in their best performing teams, there was an equal share of talking during meetings: extroverts were quiet for some of the time and the introverts dared to speak up, so in the end they all had an equal share of talking and nearly equal contribution from every team member.

That was quite a discovery, but there were some exceptions. Google continued their research and discovered the one characteristic that, without exception, all the best performing teams had in common. They called it psychological safety and defined it as people feeling safe (and

brave) enough to take risks without being afraid that they will be laughed at, or if they fail it will have negative consequences for their career. The second aspect of psychological safety is that people show their vulnerabilities in front of the other team members. They show not just their perfect, shiny side, as we sometimes do on social media, but also their vulnerable side.

In hybrid teams, people are sometimes forced to work in the office for several days a week, whatever the policy of the company might be. There is also pressure on people who do not come into the office. Comments such as “We miss having you here in the office” or “We’re seeing more people in the office these days; it would be nice if you were around” are not helpful. We therefore need to ensure that people can share their concerns about being in the office or not. These aspects need to be openly discussed and addressed by the team in order to reach high performance.

The first five tips are about enabling psychological safety in hybrid teams.

1. Set the Scene as a Leader

Have an open conversation with all team members and consider individual needs. Let people speak up and express their needs, but also consider the need to work together and to be successful as a team.

2. Lead the Way

Kick off this discussion by sharing your individual needs and constraints. Lead the way by example. Some managers expect their people to behave in a way that creates psychological safety, to share their mistakes and concerns, but they as leaders do not do it themselves. So, share your challenges, your home situation, your considerations about when to come or not come to the office. If you open up and share your concerns and challenges, other team members will follow.

3. Take Baby Steps

You will not fix this in one meeting. Acknowledge and praise people who share and ensure that sharing is not penalized. Take small steps and reward behaviors showing psychological safety.

4. Share Positive Examples

Explain how the concerns and needs raised have been addressed successfully, and how transparency allowed the team to make the right decisions and enabled it to cater to the needs of the individual as well as the needs of the team.

5. Be a Watchdog

It is very important to watch comments and vocabulary. Comments such as “We want to see you more; we could really use you if you’re around” aren’t helpful. They put more pressure on team members, so try to reframe them in a positive way. It is your role as a leader to enable psychological safety. For example, you could say: “We miss your ideas and insights, your thoughtful perspective. We would also like to understand your constraints, so let us know how we can help.”

6. Visualize and Communicate in a Structured Way

The higher up the ladder you go, the more people you have to update. There are great tools that can help to update the whole team or department about current projects and priorities. Visualize the content of the meeting using smart tech tools. Make sure everyone contributes often, and in parallel. This is the key discovery of the Google project – if everyone feels safe to contribute their ideas, innovation emerges, and solutions start to take shape.

FIVE

7. Smart Tools – Mural, Conceptboard, Miro and Zoom Whiteboards

Support participants to interact simultaneously with the virtual board. Visually consume information. Prioritize information separated by departments, each with a different color. Move the most important information towards the middle and the less important to the outside.

Bonus Tip! Everyone Joins From Their Own Device

Ensure everything is accessible to everyone, and that all team members have a device with which they can follow along; otherwise some people will be in the office staring at a big screen, unable to participate online, whilst people working remotely will be communicating differently, sitting in front of their devices. My recommendation is that everyone join the online meeting from their own device: equal for everyone. It is important that everyone can take part in the conversation, and that everything gets shared. If you have co-located people, make sure there are no side conversations in the office room.

Any meetings longer than 15 minutes (the Harvard principle) need group interaction. Include reflective exercises, icebreakers and energizers to establish psychological safety. A good example is “pick your cat.” Show images with different cats in funny positions and ask the participants to select the one they like. Get people to feel. It’s a quick and fun way to start conversations and get everyone on board.

8. Foster a Remote- First Culture

Get your technology right. Use tools that allow you to work from anywhere and from

any device, whether private or an office mobile phone. Centralize communication onto a specific platform so that important messages aren’t missed. Include a video link in all meeting invitations so that people can join if they are remote.

9. Trust Your Employees to Fulfill Expectations

Trust that the work gets done. Many managers were afraid that people would binge-watch Netflix instead of working. As COVID has shown, this wasn’t the case. People worked more – not less. Switch to a results-based culture. Introduce smart goals. Measure the results using KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Measure performance, not effort. If you trusted your team and they didn’t get it done, give them feedback and support. Develop team members to help them attain their goals next time.

10. Regularly Offer and Solicit Feedback

Ask for feedback for yourself. This is so crucial. Schedule a meeting once a month. Give and ask for feedback. “How has it been going? What’s going well? What challenges do you see? How can I (as a leader) better support you?” Listen to them.

11. Provide Opportunities for Social Connection

Use instant message channels for friendly chatter, Netflix recommendations, and pet photos. Reserve time at the start of meetings for personal updates and small talk. Start a bit earlier. Ask for people’s highlights. Just a few minutes can be enough. Schedule remote-friendly team gatherings and activities such as virtual trivia contests, virtual happy hours and shared productivity playlists. Set up a standing videoconference channel where

people can easily jump in and have lunch or coffee together if they want. Simulate the “water cooler” experience. Give team members space and encourage them to share and connect with each other, and praise them when they do so! You’ll be amazed by what happens.

12. Infrastructure and Office Location

Many companies have big spaces that do not get used completely. Google invested in futuristic offices and named them team pods, where they can wheel in the walls, chairs and whiteboards and create a space to work together. They also used an outdoor workspace – you, too, can go outdoors and have a conversation or just sit in a chair and think. Look out for innovations in that field; Google uses balloon walls to get some privacy.

Dos and Don’ts

Do

• Set clear priorities and objectives for everyone.

• Be inclusive; everyone must be on board. • Provide a space where people can share

their thoughts and their work. • Reflect on your biases and

predispositions. • Ask for feedback and provide feedback.

Don’t

• Don’t be rigid; be flexible. • Don’t ignore signs of stress from your

team – be empathetic. • Don’t forget about fun. Look for ways to

bring joy to work. • I wish you success in leading your own

hybrid teams in organizations!

If you wish to learn and practice more, join Peter’s self-paced online masterclass, “Leading Virtual and Hybrid Teams.”

the gravity of their team despite the geographical distance, age and cultural differences, whilst also delivering top business performance.

Peter is also part of our Speaker Bureau. If you are interested in Peter training your Assistants or speaking at your event, either virtually or in person, please visit executivesupportmagazine.com/speaker-bureau.

Peter Ivanov is a manager, entrepreneur and virtual teams expert with over 25 years of international experience. Peter recognized the growing importance of teams formed across multiple locations and has developed an innovative method for leading virtual teams. In 2007, a team led by Peter won the “Best of the Best” award for outstanding project management in establishing global shared services. As an expert in new leadership, Peter supports managers to retain

SIX

TECHNOLOGY

W R

IT ER

M IC

H EL

LE B

O W

D IT

C H

Newsletter Tools for Internal Communication Michelle Bowditch’s top tools to easily create engaging internal newsletters

Businesses understand that audience engagement is key to ensuring their customers and target markets see and hear their brand. Most organisations would say that engaging with their staff is also essential for their business. Newsletters are a great way to boost morale and ensure you have an enthusiastic and motivated team.

Suggested Inclusions

Executive input

A brief note from the CEO or one of the C-Suite executives increases the connection between management and the team.

Celebrations

Employee milestones, business wins or customer feedback.

Professional development

Educational content or links to industry networking events and training.

Calendar

Keep staff abreast of what is coming up in the business and any events that they may be interested in by including links to the company calendar.

Consistency

Keep it simple and easy to read whilst ensuring you’re covering all the relevant

areas. Be consistent: choose a regular date(s) that you will communicate to your team.

Tools for Design

Flodesk

Flodesk is an email marketing provider with powerful automation, beautiful forms, and a simple interface. The design capabilities mean you can efficiently create striking, sleek newsletters or email marketing campaigns. Add your touch to their on- trend templates or build your design from scratch. You can load your logo and brand colours as well as include your images or access content from Unsplash. Their pricing structure is another reason to love them – no increase in pricing the more subscribers you have, and tagging and segmenting is so easy there’s no excuse not to do it!

Canva

Canva provides a user-friendly, creative tool at an affordable price. It is a desktop application and an app for your hand-held device. With both a free and paid version, it caters to all. Canva makes design easy

with its suite of templates for newsletters, brochures, templates infographics, social media graphics and flyers (the list goes on). It has things like fun animation effects to make your designs pop. You can link external sources or documents, integrate your profile with other handy tech such as Typeform or embed your design into your website. This is an app for anyone who loves to create beautiful content for any occasion.

Microsoft Sway

Microsoft Sway is part of Office365 and is a simple tool that is easy to use to create visual content for your newsletter, presentations, or other company communications. Start from scratch or utilise one of their templates to create a design that speaks to your team. You can share your Microsoft Sway project with co- workers, which is handy for collaborating on content for your internal newsletters. You can easily add files from your One Drive account or turn Word/OneNote content into a dynamic presentation in a few simple clicks.

Make communicating with your team a priority, whether at the company level or within your department. With a wealth of simple-to-use tools at your fingertips, creating engaging newsletters that speak to your team is easier than ever!

that it’s not a one size fits all; it’s about having the right mindset and customising solutions, and she equips her clients with both!

Michelle is also part of our Speaker Bureau. If you are interested in Michelle training your Assistants or speaking at your event, either virtually or in person, please visit executivesupportmagazine.com/speaker-bureau.

Michelle Bowditch is the founder of Door20a, a tech consulting agency supporting women in business and EAs to accelerate their careers to the next level. Through strategic coaching, she helps professionals amplify their workplace presence, master influence, and road map their ambitions into existence. Michelle’s “3Cs” (connection, collaboration and community) are the underpinning values that fuel her mission to educate people on the power of tech and explain

PROFILE

SEVEN

FRAN LIELJE Fran Lielje is the Executive Assistant to Lucy Brazier, OBE and the

Office Manager at Executive Support Media

Can we start with a little background information? Where are you from and what do you do? I grew up in a very small town called “Bad Oeynhausen” in West Germany, which most people in Germany only recognize from the constant traffic jams along the motorway! I left my hometown in 2012 at the age of 13 to go to boarding school in the northeast of Germany, where I finished my A-Levels at the age of 17. The decision to go to university had already been made, so I applied at the International School of Management (ISM) in Hamburg to study Tourism and Event Management. During my studies, I had the opportunity to do an internship at the 5-star Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin and eventually ended up signing a contract with the hotel for a 3-year apprenticeship in hotel management, from which I graduated in 2016.

I then moved on to a beautiful German Island called Sylt to get additional, seasonal experience in the hotel business and then decided to support my parents’ business for a year. That is where I had my first experience in a Ma