Reflecting Back on 2022: What We Saw This Year at Work
Looking Back on 2022
‘Tis the Season when we’re all making our way to the end of another year, and with it a time for a little reflection before we usher in 2023. What have we learned about leadership, culture, and work this year? Come January, we’ll be back to discuss what we are expecting to see as we go into the next year ahead. For now though, here are some reflections on 2022 based on our work with leaders and teams this year.
What we saw this year
Hybrid is a work in progress
We’re making hybrid work, but it’s not perfect. A lot of folks are still working on getting the right technology in place and using it well. Others are struggling with keeping hybrid teams connected, and others are struggling with keeping hybrid teams engaged and making sure work gets done. Remote onboarding is still a hot mess for a lot of organizations.
The good news is progress is happening. The most effective strategies we’ve seen have simple principles:
Make work as visible as possible with tech tools like Planner, Monday, or Trello (insert your preferred project management system here). This means you can see what work is happening, how it’s going, and what people need.
Get disciplined with huddles A quick 10-minute huddle every morning whether it’s completely virtual or by phone via Slack or Teams, a quick zoom, or a Slack or Teams call, it doesn’t matter. Getting aligned, connected, and organized for the day makes a massive difference in how people feel and boosts performance.
Social rituals matter Hybrid doesn’t give us the ability to have spontaneous social connections and those are a big deal in the morale and engagement department. So we have to structure them. Little moments of connection during a huddle, meeting, or by chat or text go a long way in helping people feel a sense of belonging and “team”. Rotate who leads them, but don’t forgo them.
In-person is important Having a regular cadence for in-person time together makes a difference. Even if it’s 2-4 times a year, getting the whole team together to interact, plan, reflect, and get creative is a really good idea. We’ve had more in-person retreats this Fall than we can count, but every single one of them was a welcome and wonderful boost to the teams we worked with. They left ready and re-energized to take on what’s next, together.
Burnout is real
Holy cow, leaders have been through a lot. We sit with leaders like you every day and listen to your challenges, helping you find strategies, tools, and paths forward. It is not easy to lead right now. Managers especially are facing extraordinary demands both from their leaders and those they lead. They’re navigating talent shortages, new technology, new expectations, and constraints. What we feel very clear on is that managers need support, both in terms of learning the skills and strategies to lead effectively and also, being cared for by their leaders. Look for new coaching and teaching offerings from our team specifically for managers in the new year.
Change management is dead
No one has time for large roll-out style change efforts. Work is happening too fast, people need solutions now, and predictability is not a thing. What is very much alive? Design thinking and teams experimenting their way forward. We’ve been doing a whole lot of work helping teams put experiments together, learn from them and pivot their way into solutions that work. Once it works for one team, another team can pick it up and test it out. We believe the most valuable skill for leaders right now is designing (and facilitating) experiments.
Meaning matters
Quiet quitting is trending. One of the top reasons people are leaving their jobs? They’re not finding meaning or significance in their work. People are all done spending 8, 10, or 12 hours a day and not seeing the impact of their time on someone or something that matters. One of the most important things leaders can do is to help people see how what they do every day is making something better, easier, or faster for someone else. Sharing stories of impact is key as is getting clear on organization and team purpose.
Culture is complex, but also simple
We go down all the rabbit holes of culture research. We could nerd out with you on everything from the best strategies for recognition and engagement to the science and art of community building at work. We can talk to you all day about psychological safety and the power of empathetic conversations. Culture is nuanced, and it is complex because it’s all about how people feel based on how people show up together. And people are complicated.
Culture can also be really simple. You are winning at culture when people feel like they are doing good work together with good people. Every organization and team has to figure out what that means for them. There is no perfect blueprint for culture, we just need to define what “good work together” is for us, and then figure out what people we need to do that good work with.
Happy Holidays
However you’re making your way to the end of this year, may you have moments of slowing down to savor what you’ve made happen, to take stock of what you’ve learned and how far you’ve come. May you find moments of joy and ease with the people you care about. May you find moments of hope in this season of light. Happy Holidays from our work family to yours, and may you have a happy, healthy, prosperous new year. We’ll see you back here in January where we’ll share what we expect to see when it comes to leadership, culture, and work in the new year.
Looking to Connect?
If you’re looking for more help in any of these areas, send us an email or book a time to chat further. We love problem-solving with you!