Three temptations for leaders of remote and hybrid workers and what to do instead.

It’s hard to escape the debate about work location.

On-site? Remote? Hybrid? Often companies set policies at the top, and leaders must figure out how to lead within those policies. If you lead remote or hybrid workers, you may face temptations to lead in ways that provide a semblance of control, but don’t lead to optimal results. Here’s what to do instead.

Temptation: Set and manage rigid norms around hours worked and schedules.

What to do instead: Define roles, goals, and deliverables clearly.

Many leaders are skeptical employees will put in a consistent effort if they’re not in the office. So, the temptation is to manage expectations about work hours and schedules tightly. Everyone must be online and working during certain times of the day and put in a minimum number of hours. But often this doesn’t translate to results, and it reduces workers’ autonomy and flexibility.

Role clarity is often missing.

When roles aren’t clear, leaders grasp for ways to ensure everyone is pulling their weight. Address role clarity by taking the time to get crystal clear on the duties and responsibilities of each job. Set clear goals that are aligned with strategic objectives. These goals should be measurable and include tangible deliverables.

When employees have clear responsibilities, measurable goals, and tangible deliverables, it’s much easier to evaluate their performance and provide feedback and coaching.

Temptation: Track activity.

What to do instead: Track results.

Current technology can track which applications employees are using and for how long. I’ve talked to leaders who want to use the data to ensure employees spend time on the right work activities. The problem with this is that it rewards the wrong behaviors.

When workers are rewarded for activity, they will be active, but that activity doesn’t always translate into desired results.

Instead, track results. Create scorecards for each role to track performance versus goals and outcomes. Check in consistently, review scorecards, and provide feedback and coaching. It doesn’t matter which applications employees use, as long as they’re getting the job done.

Temptation: Compensate for effort.

What to do instead: Compensate for value-add.

When roles are unclear and results aren’t tracked, incentive decisions are, at best, based on perceived effort and potential. If employees have clear roles and goals and regularly track results on a scorecard, it should be possible to get a sense of the value they’re adding to the company. Why not compensate based on value-add?

When employees are rewarded for value-add, they will add value.

At a minimum, an employee’s value-add should cover the cost of their total compensation. If an employee’s compensation is $100,000, they should add significantly more than $100,000 in value to the company.

What’s the bottom line? While the temptation is to control how remote and hybrid workers spend their time, we can better motivate and engage workers by using good leadership practices we should already use:

• Clearly define roles, goals, and deliverables

• Track results on an ongoing basis

• Compensate based on value