Best in Flex
Helping Employees Succeed in a Remote/Hybrid Work Environment
The following information can serve as a catalyst to start conversations between key members of your team -- including senior leaders, managers, and individual contributors. The goal in implementing these ideas, is to help strengthen the Columbia culture, while building infrastructure to support all levels of employees, as we continue to move into a more flexible/hybrid future of work.
These best practice ideas are particularly useful to support new hires and early career employees.
Common Issues Employees Encounter
- ISSUE
Fewer opportunities to get to know colleagues personally
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Managers should try to start team meetings with a short icebreaker when possible.
- NOTES
- Icebreaker ideas:
- Name a hobby/talent
- Last thing you cooked
- Last book/article read for pleasure
- Highlight from the weekend
- Music you are currently enjoying
- Origin of your name
- ISSUE
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Organize voluntary social activities (not just cocktails) outside of work
- NOTES
- This could be done by a voluntary Social Committee and could include things like:
- Pottery
- Yoga
- Hiking
- Picnic
- Volunteering
- Museum trip
- ISSUE
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Have a “Spotlight on…” rotation where team members share a brief, personal intro to themselves (if comfortable).
- NOTES
- Create a schedule: weekly, monthly, etc.
- Should be a set of predetermined questions
- Individuals can respond in whatever way feels most comfortable: written, video or audio recording, etc.
- ISSUE
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Identify and create welcoming, open spaces for individuals to eat lunch together.
- NOTES
- ISSUE
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Use digital tools such as Slack, Teams, or Zoom to facilitate informal interactions.
- NOTES
- EX: Employ Slack’s Donut feature which randomly pairs members of the organization for 30 min coffee chats, an avenue for informal get-to know-you conversations.
- ISSUE
Difficult to get quick feedback from “safe colleagues” (not manager)
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Establish and e-mail group, Slack, or Teams channel for target “peer” groups to ask questions, compare notes, share challenges.
- NOTES
- Ideas for configuration:
- Cohort of new employees (perhaps every 12 months)
- Cohort early career employees (first 1-3 years)
- Cohort of middle career employees or ones who have been in their job for 3-7 years)
- ISSUE
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Encourage voluntary monthly “new employee/early career” coffee chats for optional discussion/ periodic group reflection.
- NOTES
- ISSUE
Difficult to get mentorship from more experienced staff
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Leadership should set an expectation that senior staff will make themselves available to junior staff for set mentoring opportunities.
- NOTES
- A way to execute:
- Ask all staff to block a set one-hour slot each month to be used for mentoring
- Anyone can book 20 minutes on anyone else’s calendar for general career chat, mentoring, “get-to-know you” conversation, etc.
- ISSUE
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Explicitly pair new hires with two types
of person for their first 6 months:
- Vertical Mentor: senior leadership in dept
- Horizontal Mentor: someone
- who is more established in the dept, with similar job functions, but not on the new hire’s direct team
- NOTES
- Require that they meet with each “mentor” at least 3 times over the course of 6 months.
- ISSUE
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Create a voluntary mentor/mentee match list and allow people to sign up. Rotate every 3-6 months.
- NOTES
- This could be interdepartmental or could be launched between several departments, schools, or administrative units.
- ISSUE
Need for feedback and “on-the-job” learning
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Formalize the expectation that managers
should meet with direct reports for regular
1:1 meetings (minimum once per month,
weekly is recommended for new hires). - NOTES
- ISSUE
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- New hires should get 30 minute 1:1 meetings with all members of their immediate team and all dept managers to learn more about the functions of the office.
- NOTES
- Hiring manager should set this up for the new hire within their first 1-3 months on the job.
- ISSUE
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Slack/Team channels or e-mail lists for individual teams to facilitate communication.
- NOTES
- Not everyone will adopt an unfamiliar communication method, but it is helpful for those who do adopt to have an informal channel for quick questions in virtual work that feel too small for an email. To avoid “ghost channels” that end up unused/underused, start within a team or across an affinity group and expand out if useful.
- ISSUE
- POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
- Form intradepartmental groups made up of individuals from different teams. The goal of this group is to allow all employees, and especially new hires, to have a safe space to ask questions and get feedback.
- NOTES
- These groups can be helpful if they include mixed levels of experience and diverse job functions to allow for broader information sharing.
BACKGROUND
This information is adapted from the work of employees in Columbia Technology Ventures (CTV), in December 2021, which was inspired by the NY Times article, Remote Work is Failing Young Employees.
Orin Herskowitz asked his team in CTV to discuss the challenges they faced in onboarding, connecting to Columbia culture, and accessing mentorship opportunities in the context of their hybrid/remote work environment. The team articulated the set of issues listed in the chart, and proposed ways to address these challenges.
Key to this approach was getting employee feedback and employee generated solutions. Another primary element of success is investment from leadership and top-level modeling in order to make these practices a part of school/unit/departmental culture.
Adapted from work by:
- Orin Herskowitz
- Amelia Pacht
- Carter Schmitt
- Majd Shammout
- Alexander Turo