Karin M. Reed - Suddenly Hybrid: Managing the Modern Meeting

1. Chapter 4
2. Chapter 12

The old way of leading teams is now a thing of the past. The future of work is hybrid. Suddenly Hybrid is an excellent factbased playbook with best practices that will inspire more engaged and satisfied employees.

Sarah Johnston, awardwinning career branding expert and founder of Briefcase Coach

How can managers balance employee demands for flexibility with organization objectives? Reed and Allen answer that question in spades. Suddenly Hybrid is a critical, evidencebased book that has arrived at the perfect time.

Phil Simon, author of Reimagining Collaboration: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and the PostCOVID World of Work

Who knew a meeting scientist and an oncamera coach would become so essential for leaders and employees in just about every officebased industry? Evidently, Karin and Joe did. This book is chock full of great guidance and actionable tips for both leaders and employees who want to perform at their best as individuals and teams!

Hoby Darling, human performance expert and executive at Logitech, Liminal Collective, Skullcandy, and Nike

KARIN M. REED

JOSEPH A. ALLEN

Copyright 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Reed, Karin M., author. | Allen, Joseph A., 1981 author.
Title: Suddenly hybrid : managing the modern meeting / Karin M. Reed, Joseph A. Allen.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2022] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021045693 (print) | LCCN 2021045694 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119831082 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119831105 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119831099 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Meetings. | Flexible work arrangements.
Classification: LCC HF5549.5.C6 R45 2022 (print) | LCC HF5549.5.C6 (ebook) | DDC 658.3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021045693
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021045694

COVER DESIGN: PAUL McCARTHY
COVER ART: GETTY IMAGES | DIGITALVISION VECTORS / PAUL McCARTHY
AUTHOR PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE AUTHORS

Writing a book in a year is no small feat. Writing two books in a year borders on insanity. This book is dedicated to our families, who made it possible and kept us grounded throughout the process.

Karin: For Shawn, Hayden, Jackson, and Mom

Joe: For Joy and Melva

Are your muscles still sore?

You know the ones we're talking about the metaphorical muscles that we've been stretching more than ever before, the ones that allowed us to creatively and cautiously test out new ways of living, new ways of working necessitated by a global pandemic. The ones that allowed us to quickly go suddenly virtual with almost all of our meetings in front of a webcam.

In many ways, COVID19 was like a car accident. Most of us saw it coming too late to do little more than brace for impact. Some of the damage was revealed immediately as offices shut down and the world turned inward. Much of it was revealed over time with the heartbreaking loss of lives and livelihoods. Today, even with the initial crash in the rearview mirror, you may still be feeling the aches and pains from the whiplash we collectively suffered while constantly adjusting to the new normal, a clich that needs to be retired but perhaps not yet, because we are entering a new phase of adaptation. In the midst of recovering from the whiplash of going fully virtual, those muscles will need to be stretched once again as companies respond to the workforce of today, which has totally different expectations than it did prepandemic.

The pandemic altered the paradigm for the world of work, forcing a grand experiment for knowledge workers across the globe: Can work from home actually well work? By certain measures, the answer was a resounding yes, with nary a blip in productivity. Sure, there are exceptions to this glowing review, but by and large, it worked, at least at the enterprise level, with businesses maintaining or growing their bottom line. How well it worked for individual employees, though, depended on each person's circumstances, including personal and familial obligations as well as how easily one's home could accommodate it. (Is a closet really adequate space in which to get work done? At least it has a door .)

For the midcareer executive with children old enough to look after themselves, work from home may have meant more time to exercise, get outside, and perhaps do some nagging projects around the house. Sounds pretty nice, right? But for employees trying to juggle their jobs with virtual school for their young children, the needs of their quarantine puppy and myriad other chores, work from home was an exercise in exhaustion. And we haven't even mentioned those who were just entering the workforce who hated the fact that their career path was paved with backtoback virtual meetings, not inperson opportunities to start creating a network and building a professional identity. The stories of both the opportunities and challenges experienced by the suddenly remote workforce could fill volumes.