High-Performing Hybrid & Remote Teams
Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting an engaging event for a group of our clients, alongside colleagues from the Interchange Bench and Synchro Partners. The session was led by Renata Bernarde, a seasoned career coach and organisational consultant who specialises in executive coaching and helping leaders develop their teams’ capabilities.
Renata shared her insights on hybrid work environments, discussing the unique challenges and opportunities they present for team performance management. Her talk centered around two foundational theories—Socio-technical Systems Theory and Substitutes for Leadership Theory—exploring how they can be applied to enhance team performance.
Naturally, the session sparked lively discussions as attendees reflected on what works best for their own teams and organisations. Below are some key takeaways from the session:
Leveraging the Interplay Between Technology and Human Factors
Renata emphasised that success in hybrid work environments hinges on understanding the interdependence of social and technical elements. In practice, this means recognising that technology’s effectiveness depends on how well it integrates with team dynamics, work processes, and cultural norms.
While Socio-technical Systems Theory is valuable, it does have its challenges. The complexity of balancing these systems can make it difficult to implement, especially in fast-changing environments.
Substitutes for Leadership
This theory suggests that certain organisational, task, and individual characteristics can reduce the need for direct leadership. For example, high levels of staff experience and motivation, along with clearly defined tasks, can foster greater autonomy and reduce reliance on constant managerial oversight.
This approach can enhance a team’s self-sufficiency and streamline decision-making, especially in remote settings where traditional supervision may be less practical.
The Role of Strength Assessments
A final point that resonated with many attendees was the importance of strength assessments in building cohesive, high-performing teams. These tools help foster self-awareness and boost engagement, allowing individuals to better understand their own capabilities and how they contribute to the team’s success.
If you’d like to explore these ideas further or discuss how strength assessments could benefit your team, feel free to reach out to us. We’d love to continue the conversation!
With recruitment experience spanning in excess of two decades, Barry has extensive and deep expertise in Accounting search and selection, particularly in the specialist areas of performance analytics, finance business partnering, commercial finance and financial control. Commencing his career in South Africa where he worked for one of the country’s preeminent listed recruitment firms, Barry relocated to Melbourne with his family in 2008. Since immigrating, he has furthered his career with both large global, and privately held boutique search and selection firms where he has developed strong working relationships and networks. Read more…
Barry Hodson
Practice Lead
Level 10, 333 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: +61 3 9235 5138
Mob: +61 466 881 552
bhodson@sladegroup.com.au
