The hope in hybrid habits Busines

The economy has opened. Foot traffic in malls has increased. People are shopping and dining. Resorts, hotels, and travel destinations are full of life, and the best indication for normal is traffic once more is terrible and unbearable. But not everything is bright and rosy. The world still struggles as it is adapting to a post-pandemic environment. The world continues to adjust to a post-pandemic reality debilitated by high gas prices, inflation, and geopolitical tensions. Not many business organizations are obsessed with growth strategy as much as making resilience a strategic priority to weather and withstand the influx of external shocks while preparing for recovery and growth.

Making resilience a strategic priority could enable leaders to weather the influx of external shocks while preparing and shaping for a new world of business that was highly unrecognizable before the pandemic outbreak.

Zoom meetings have become mainstream. Doing webinars is now part of my regular work routine, although I currently do more face-to-face engagements across the country. And what about the heated debate between return-to-work versus remote work or work from home setup that many companies today are still tweaking, adjusting, and casting a heavy burden upon HR practitioners on the challenge of work productivity and employee motivation? We are still in a state of flux. And as I cautioned my HR friends, everything is still changing, so do not make a permanent policy for a temporary situation.

The world-renowned speaker and author Krish Dhanam has something to say about motivation and the hybrid worker. These are his words:

How do we motivate people in a hybrid setup?

We have heard over the years that motivation is a motive for action. The explanation behind that statement is the query of the reason behind the behavior.

If the reason was to praise another so their productivity would be your gain, then that is manipulation. The desire to motivate requires critical components for effectiveness to reign. Thus, the demand for motivation is not for selfish reasons but for selfless results.

The question behind the reason is what raises skepticism about the intent of the motives. In addition to intent, motivation requires frequency so that the habits that challenge the underlying behavior are checked and rechecked for consistency.

Unfortunately, many conferences and meetings come up short when the hype is just short-term applause and meaningless theatrics. Creating visuals and demanding reverberating choruses of cliches gets old and stale simultaneously. The solution is even more challenging when habits are now hybrid and commutes undertaken with convenience.

The solution lay in a mix-and-match approach directed individually and demanded institutionally.

1. Encourage consistency in communication both electronically and physically.

2. Inspect what you expect and measure what you treasure. This effort requires tight feedback loops and visible benchmarks of effectiveness.

3. The quality of work is always more important than the quantity of time expected for the job. But accountability avoids speculation regarding work ethic.

4. Criticize the performance if it demands criticism but praise the performer so they can fight another day.

Krish then offers what he calls: a “Transformative Tip” section and some action plans: “Plan with attitude, prepare with aptitude, participate with servitude, receive with gratitude, and that should separate you from the multitudes.” And his action challenges are:

1. What benchmarks will you set this week to evaluate hybrid work habits?

2. How will you practice criticizing performance and praising the performer?

Krish Dhanam is a speaker, an author, and a trainer as the legendary Zig Ziglar has personally mentored him. Krish is more than just a “motivational speaker.” He is a master craftsman in a work that is not just “motivating” people but educating and transforming them. He will be back in February of next year as a lineup of speaking engagements await him, and I will have the privilege to share the speaker’s platform with him at some events.

Krish’s philosophy for doing what he is doing has been an anchor for me. He repeatedly says: “If our goal is to motivate people, so we look better, that’s manipulation. If we motivate them, so they do better, that’s motivation.” This is a fitting reminder for the many trainers and speakers who want to find real meaning and success in their chosen careers.