It is nearly a year on after the pandemic started, and I would like to share my views on how leadership has changed, the impact of managing and leading teams remotely and, equally important, if this situation is going to remain and how the hospitality industry should respond to it.
Let’s get some facts first: Zoom has increased its daily users from 10 million in 2019 to 300 million in 2020. In a September 2020 poll I made on Linkedin seeking opinions among my over 50,000 followers. I received the following results on the question asked: What are your current challenges managing a team virtually (via Zoom calls, WhatsApp, email, etc.)?
- Lack of effective communication: 46%
- Lack of trust: 10%
- Lower productivity: 19%
- Lack of teamwork: 25%
Another survey, done in October by the U.K.-based PSD Group, gave the following results:
- 33% of respondents felt that homeworking will continue indefinitely
- 71% felt that productivity has been the same or increased while working from home
- Nearly 80% of communication has been done using virtual media (Zoom, WhatsApp, MS Teams, etc.)
Rocco Bova is managing director at Project 4C in Mexico.
Looking at these numbers, it becomes clear that the way we communicate has definitely changed. Of course we already saw this coming with the use of some platforms like WhatsApp or hospitality applications like Alice, which ensure the flow of communication among teams and, I am sure, one-to-one communication, too, to send and receive messages and updates faster.
I believe you will agree with me that, often, we have used this means to communicate more “important” issues, such as giving feedback, reprimanding or communicating urgent messages, thinking that it was OK to do so.
While I understand and embrace technology as well as this new style of “remote leadership,” I am not in favor of this type of virtual communication. We all know how much the power of a look, the touch of a hand or shoulder and actual human contact play in real communication.
What about relationship building? Have we all noticed how different is now to chat with colleagues without being able to have a coffee or meet face to face?
I have thousands of travel agents and hoteliers within my network, and not a single one told me that they love this new reality.
Looking back at the many travel shows like ILTM, Virtuoso, PURE and LE Miami, to name a few, each and every travel professional is only talking about the good old times of in-person meetings and how much they miss hugging each other.
Same for HR people. Now most, if not all, of the recruitment process has to be done remotely, and none of us knows for sure if a candidate is wearing shorts or pajamas during a video interview while his upper body looks perfectly groomed. I’m not even talking about body language, which is so difficult to read if you can’t see it in full.
Summarizing a study by executive recruiter Page Executive, I found the following as most relevant:
- Working remotely makes communication difficult due to time differences
- Video fatigue is often chronic as we spend more hours in front of a screen
- Human relationships, and therefore teamwork, are best nurtured when physically present in the workplace
Of course we have also enjoyed the benefits of working and leading remotely. For example, shorter meetings now kept to one hour maximum, or perhaps the possibility to manage one’s time and work or have a break without having to ask anyone, or the actual costs applied to work from home and lots of money saved from travel, food, laundry and other services.
On the other hand I, as a leader, felt that there has been even more time invested in working and building relationships or influencing remotely. My already high level of resilience had to be recalibrated to ensure a consistent approach to leadership. Video or audio exaustion caused by back-to-back calls and virtual meetings has obliged me to lower the time invested in other activities that were relevant to me like watching a movie, going to the gym or just relaxing on the sofa.
What it is clear is that the way we manage people will be affected by this change, and with that we have to adapt to a new way of communication without losing the essence and importance of it.
Harvard University agrees on the fact that leading teams virtually is more challenging when communicating and influencing, providing a sense of belonging and trust.
I have personally applied some of the following tools, having learned from the best and managed to get some great results, for example:
- Listen more than you talk
- (Over) communicate relevant information and share knowledge
- Make people responsible for their actions
- Keep your team busy and check on progress
I have been speaking to many friends and colleagues of the industry including Chris Mumford, and it is clear that now is the time to show what real leadership is all about. Walk the talk!