Conversation 1: Managing Resistance to Hybrid Work Requirements

Your organisation wants to introduce a hybrid work requirement that includes one or more days in the office. A member of your team is resistant to the change. Your objective is to listen to their concerns and persuade them of the advantages of being in the office on a regular basis.   Meet the Characters:

• Prisha balances the pressure of her job with being solely responsible for her family during the week. She is prone to absenteeism and lateness and can at times struggle to stay focused on her tasks but she always makes up for missed time. She lacks confidence and finds change overwhelming but is generally friendly and reliable.
• Evan is hardworking, reliable and valued by the company but has difficulty accepting change and is weary of performance monitoring and micromanagement in an office setting. He has a history of being argumentative and can be recalcitrant and defensive.
• Nick is 20 years old and as he joined the organisation during the Covid pandemic he has never worked in an office previously. He is hard working and keen to do well in his role but lacks confidence especially in social situations.

• Setting a welcoming tone, demonstrating good listening skills
• Teasing out and identifying the real issues why the team member is resistant to moving to hybrid working
• Selling benefits to the organization and to the team member of the move to hybrid working decision, namely better collaboration, higher morale, higher productivity, and wellbeing benefits of working closer with team members
• Establishing the value of successfully collaborating to develop solutions as a key purpose for introducing hybrid working
• Remaining clear and firm on the core request to move to hybrid working