September 29, 2025 • 17 mins
This deep-dive follow-up delivers exactly what you asked for: three specific, actionable systems that successful hybrid leaders use to build trust, measure performance, and manage remote teams without losing their minds.
Host Colby Morris shares a real transformation story about Lisa, a marketing director whose team was crushing goals but sending deliverables at 2:00 AM - creating massive anxiety about "when" her people were working. Discover how implementing SMART goal-aligned KPIs eliminated her monitoring stress and improved team performance.
Featured Systems:
- The Trust Scorecard: Five indicators to measure and build trust with remote team members, with specific examples of how different trust profiles require different leadership approaches
- SMART KPIs for Hybrid Teams: Move from activity-based to outcome-based metrics that actually matter (Quality Score, Deadline Performance, Team Collaboration)
- Performance Management Without Proximity: Create predictable rhythms for one-on-ones, goal reviews, and development conversations that spot patterns before they become problems
Real transformation results: Marketing director eliminated "when are they working" anxiety, team productivity increased, retention hit 100% - all by measuring what actually matters instead of monitoring activities.
Key insight: Stop controlling HOW work gets done. Start focusing on WHAT gets accomplished. Your people will do their best work when they know how they're measured, feel trusted, and get regular feedback and support.
Perfect for: Managers, directors, and executives leading distributed teams, remote workers, or hybrid workforces who want practical systems for building trust, measuring performance, and developing people without micromanaging.
This Episode Answers These Critical Questions:
- How do I measure trust with remote team members I rarely see?
- What KPIs actually matter for hybrid teams versus meaningless activity metrics?
- How can I know if remote employees are performing well without monitoring them?
- What's the difference between accountability and micromanaging in virtual teams?
- How do I set SMART goals for distributed workforces?
- What performance management rhythm works for hybrid leadership?
- How do I spot performance issues early with remote workers?
- What should I focus on in one-on-ones with hybrid team members?
- How can I build individual trust profiles for different team members?
- What systems eliminate the anxiety of managing people I can't see?
Related Episodes
Must-listen first: Episode 103 - "The Hybrid Leadership Dilemma: Why Your Old Management Style Isn't Working"
Deep dive: "The One-on-One Series" - Complete framework for effective weekly check-ins
Subscribe to Things Leaders Do wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a 5-star review to help other leaders discover systems that eliminate micromanaging while improving team performance.
Connect with Colby Morris
Book keynote speaking, executive coaching, or team training: nxtstepadvisors.com
Join the conversation on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris - where we have great discussions about leadership challenges like this
Email: Colby@nxtstepadvisors.com
About the Show
Things Leaders Do delivers practical, people-first leadership strategies for managers who want real results w
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
People first leadership.
Actionable strategies, realresults.
This is Things Leaders Do withColby Morris.
SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
Well, last week's episode on hybrid leadership
kind of hit a nerve, I guess.
I got more messages, comments,and DMs about that episode and
than I have in a long time.
Really, the most common responsewas, okay, Colby, I get it.
I need to stop managing byproximity and start focusing on
outcomes.
But how?
(00:32):
What does that actually looklike day to day?
You know what?
That's a fair question.
Because knowing you need tochange and actually knowing how
to change, yeah, those are twocompletely different things.
Hey leaders, this is ColbyMorris, and this is Things
Leaders Do.
Today, I'm going to dive deepinto the practical stuff.
(00:56):
Three specific systems thatsuccessful hybrid leaders use to
build trust, to measureperformance, to manage their
teams, all without losing theirminds.
And listen, if you haven't heardlast week's episode, hey, just
pause this one, go listen tothat one first.
This one builds directly onthose concepts, and you'll
(01:18):
probably get more value if youunderstand the foundation.
All right.
Let's start with trust.
Because here's what I know youcan't measure what you can't
measure.
No?
That's not right.
Try that again.
You can't manage what you can'tmeasure.
And most leaders, well, theyhave no clue how to actually
(01:40):
measure trust with their remoteteam members.
So let me give you a simpleframework I call the trust
scorecard.
It has five indicators, and youcan assess each team member on a
scale of one to five for eachone.
Okay, the first indicator isresponse reliability.
When you need something fromthem, do they respond when they
(02:02):
say they will?
Look, not immediately.
That's not what we're measuringhere.
But if they say, I'll get backto you by Thursday, do they
actually get back to you byThursday?
Or do you find yourself onFriday morning thinking, where
the heck is that response?
The second one is proactivecommunication.
Are they telling you aboutpotential problems before they
(02:26):
become actual problems?
Are they giving you a heads upwhen deadlines might be tight?
Or do you only hear from themwhen something's already gone
wrong?
And the third is qualityconsistency.
Is their work quality?
You know, the same whetheryou're watching or whether
you're not.
(02:46):
Because some people, their workquality totally drops when they
know the boss isn't looking overtheir shoulder.
Others maintain the samestandard no matter what.
The fourth one is initiativetaking.
Do they solve problems on theirown?
Or do they wait for you to tellthem what to do about
everything?
And if you've listened to any ofmy previous podcasts, you know
(03:08):
this is a big one for me.
This one's huge for remote workbecause you can't be there to
give constant direction.
And then the fifth istransparency.
When they hit roadblocks or theymake mistakes, do they tell you
about it or do they do you justfind out through other channels?
Here's how this works inpractice.
(03:29):
Let's say you've got Sharon onyour team.
You rate her a five on responsereliability.
She always does exactly what shesays she'll do, but she's a two
on proactive communication.
You only hear from her when youreach out first.
Now you know exactly where tofocus your trust building
(03:50):
efforts with Sharon.
So what do you actually do withthat information?
Well, with Sharon, you'd startby having a conversation about
communication preferences.
You'd say something like, HeySharon, I've noticed I usually
reach out to you first when weneed to connect.
Help me understand, do you doyou prefer that I check in with
(04:10):
you regularly?
Or would you rather have thefreedom to reach out when you
need something?
You might discover she's anintrovert who doesn't want to
bother you unless it's reallyimportant.
I mean, really important.
Or maybe she's unsure about whenit's appropriate to communicate
proactively.
Either way, now you can worktogether to create a
(04:32):
communication rhythm that worksfor both of you.
Now, compare that to Mike onyour team.
Yeah, I know I use the name Mikea lot, but go with me.
Everybody knows of Mike.
Mike scores a five on proactivecommunication.
He's always giving you a handsup about the potential issues,
right?
But he's a three on qualityconsistency.
(04:53):
Sometimes his work is fantastic.
Sometimes it needs significantrevision.
With Mike, you're not worriedabout communication.
You're focused on understandingwhat conditions help him produce
his best work consistently.
Maybe you discover that Mikedoes his best work when he has
clear examples to reference.
(05:13):
So you start providing moredetailed briefs and examples up
front.
Or maybe you find out that herushes when he feels time
pressure, so you build in buffertime for his deliverables.
The key is you're not trying toget everyone to a perfect five
on everything.
You're not going to get there.
You're trying to understand eachperson's trust profile so you
(05:36):
can lead them accordingly.
Sharon needs communicationstructure.
Mike needs quality support.
Different people, differentleadership approaches, but both
based on actual data instead ofguesswork.
Now, let's talk about the bigone.
KPIs, key performanceindicators.
(05:58):
And this is where most leadersare really struggling.
Let me tell you about a directorof marketing I worked with a
couple years ago.
Let's call her Lisa.
Lisa had a hybrid marketingteam, and they were they were
crushing it.
I mean, absolutely crushing it.
They were hitting all theirgoals, work quality was
(06:19):
excellent, clients were happy,deadlines were being met.
But Lisa was losing her mind.
Why?
Because her team kept sendingher final deliverables at like 2
a.m.
or 11 30 p.m.
or 6 a.m.
She came to me and said, Colby,I don't think my team is really
(06:41):
working.
I I think they're justprocrastinating all day and then
scrambling at the last minute toget stuff done.
So I asked her.
Lisa, are you are you happy withthe work they're producing?
Well, yeah, it's great work.
Are they meeting deadlines?
Well yeah, always.
Okay.
So are the clients satisfied?
(07:04):
Absolutely.
So what's the actual problem?
She paused and she said, Well, Ijust don't know when they're
working.
Ah.
There it is.
Classic case of managing byproximity.
Even when proximity doesn'texist, right?
(07:26):
Here's what we did.
We threw out all her oldmetrics.
I mean all of them.
Things like logged in hours andresponse time to emails.
And we replaced them with threeKPIs that actually mattered.
And these weren't just likerandom metrics.
They followed SMART goalframework, which again, if
(07:47):
you've listened to any of mypodcasts, you know I'm huge on
SMART goals.
If you're unfamiliar with SMARTgoals, SMART is an abbreviation
for specific, measurable,achievable, relevant, and time
bound.
KPI number one was a qualityscore.
Client feedback ratings andrevision rounds.
Measurable.
(08:14):
And no more than one revisionper round per project.
Achievable?
Well, based on historicalperformance.
Was it relevant?
Quality directly impacts clientretention.
And then time bound.
We measured monthly.
If the work consistently hitsthese quality standards, it
doesn't matter if it was createdat 2 p.m.
(08:36):
or 2 AM.
KPI number two, deadlineperformance.
The specific, again the Spercentage of projects delivered
on or before the agreeddeadline.
The measurable, 95% on timedelivery rate.
Is that achievable?
They were already hitting 90%.
(08:59):
Was it relevant?
Well, client satisfactiondepends on reliability.
And time bound.
We tracked weekly, reportedmonthly.
This removes all the anxietyabout when someone's working and
focuses on whether they'redependable.
And then KPI number three wasteam collaboration.
(09:20):
The specific responsivenessduring core collaboration hours
and project communication.
Okay, the measurable respond toteam requests within four hours
during core hours.
And in this instance, we definethose core hours as 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m.
Okay.
And then provide weekly projectstatus updates.
(09:44):
The achievable, it was based oncurrent team capacity.
Was it relevant?
Well, team projects requirecoordination.
And then the time bound.
It's measured weekly becauseyes, you need to be available
for your team, but no, you don'tneed to be glued to your desk
for eight straight hours.
Six months later, I feel like Ishould do that weird Spongebob
(10:07):
thing there.
Six months later, Lisa told meit was the best thing she'd ever
done as a leader.
Her anxiety about when peoplewere working, that was
completely gone.
Her team's productivity actuallywent up because they could work
during their most productivehours.
And her retention skyrocketedbecause people felt trusted
(10:29):
instead of monitored.
So what's the lesson?
Stop measuring activities.
Start measuring accomplishments.
Did you hear that?
Stop measuring activity andstart measuring accomplishments.
All right.
Let's talk a little bit aboutperformance management, because
this is where a lot of hybridleaders just freeze up.
(10:52):
I mean, how do you manageperformance when you can't see
the day-to-day work?
The answer is that you create arhythm, a predictable,
consistent rhythm that takesaway all the guesswork.
Here's how the system works.
First, your weekly one-on-ones.
Look, this is a non-negotiable,same time every week.
(11:15):
Now, I do have an entire serieson one-on-ones, okay?
Those episodes that dive deepinto the structure, the
questions, the common mistakesleaders make.
If you haven't listened to thoseyet, make sure you go back and
do that.
Check out the series, theone-on-one series.
I have spent years developingthat framework, and it is
absolutely critical to get thispart right.
(11:36):
But for our purposes today,here's the key.
Your one-on-ones become yourprimary performance management
tool for hybrid teams.
Okay.
They're where you spot patterns.
It's where you, as the leader,remove the obstacles.
You ensure alignment.
Okay.
Don't try to wing these things.
(11:57):
They are too important.
And then monthly goal reviews.
This is where you look at thebigger picture.
Okay.
Are we on track for quarterlygoals?
Do we need to adjust anything?
What support do you need to besuccessful?
And then third, quarterlydevelopment conversations.
This is not about performanceproblems.
(12:18):
This is about growth.
It's about career development,skill building.
Okay.
How can I help you get better atwhat you do?
Now, here's the key.
In each of these conversations,you're looking for patterns, not
just individual incidents.
If someone misses one deadline,that's an incident.
(12:39):
If they miss three deadlines ina month, that's a pattern, and
that needs to be addressed.
If someone seems stressed in oneweekly check-in, that's an
incident.
If they seem overwhelmed forthree weeks in a row, that's a
pattern.
Let me give you an example.
Let's say you have Tom on yourteam.
In your weekly 101s, you startnoticing a pattern.
(13:02):
He's always behind on hisdeliverables, and he keeps
mentioning feeling overwhelmed.
The old management approachwould go something like this.
Tom needs to manage his timebetter.
Maybe he's not working hardenough.
But the new approach is talkingto Tom.
Hey Tom, I've noticed you'vebeen feeling overwhelmed for the
past few weeks.
(13:22):
You want to help me understandwhat's driving that?
I mean, is it is it yourworkload?
Are there skills gaps?
Are there any obstacles that canhelp remove?
You see the difference?
You're you're actuallydiagnosing the root cause
instead of assuming the problem.
And here's the accountabilitypiece.
(13:43):
When you set clear expectationsthat have regular check-ins,
there are no surprises.
Okay, if someone's not meetingexpectations, they know it long
before any kind of formalperformance conversation
happens.
The difference betweenaccountability and
micromanaging, accountability isabout outcomes and support.
(14:05):
Micromanaging is just aboutcontrol and monitoring, really.
Now, here's the beautiful thingabout these three systems.
They work together.
Your trust scorecard tells youhow to tailor your leadership
approach for each personindividually.
Okay.
Your KPIs tell you whether yourteam is actually performing
(14:26):
well.
And your performance managementrhythm ensures that everyone
knows where they stand and howto improve.
When you combine all three, youcan lead a hybrid team with
complete confidence.
You know who you can trust withwhat level autonomy.
You know whether your team ishitting the metrics that
(14:46):
actually matter.
And you have a system fordeveloping people and addressing
issues before they becomeproblems.
All right.
Here's your assignment for thisweek.
And I want you to pick just oneof these, okay, one system to
start with.
Don't try to do all three atonce.
You'll just overwhelm yourselfand probably not do any of them
(15:07):
at all.
At least not well.
If trust is your biggest issue,start with the trust scorecard.
Rate each of your team memberson those five indicators and
identify where you need to focusyour trust building efforts.
If you're anxious aboutperformance and productivity,
well, start with the KPIs.
Identify three metrics thatactually measure what matters
(15:30):
for your team success and stoptracking everything else.
If you feel like you're flyingblind on performance management,
start with the rhythm.
Schedule weekly one-on-ones witheveryone on your team and stick
to that question format.
But pick one.
Implement it this week.
(15:52):
Master it before you move on tothe next one.
Look, hybrid leadership isn'tabout having perfect systems.
It's about having clear systems,systems that take away the
guesswork for both you and yourteam.
When your people know howthey're being measured, when
they know they're trusted, andwhen they know they'll get
regular feedback and support,they do their best work.
(16:15):
And when they do their bestwork, guess what?
You sleep better at night.
The old way of managing,constantly checking in,
monitoring activities, measuringhours, that's exhausting for
everyone involved.
But these systems, they actuallymake leadership easier because
they're built on clarity insteadof control.
(16:37):
Leaders, if your organization isstruggling with hybrid
leadership, I'd love to help.
I work with leaders and teamsthrough keynote speaking,
executive coaching, leadershiptraining, and build systems that
actually work.
You can reach me at nextstepadvisors.com.
There's no E in next, just NXTnext steppadvisors.com or
(16:58):
connect with me on LinkedIn,like many of you do did last
week.
That's where we tend to havesome really great conversations
about leadership, you know, anddifferent challenges like this.
Remember, leading individuals.
We don't lead activities, welead people.
Okay, focusing on outcomesinstead of oversight and
building systems that createclarity for everyone.
(17:21):
And you know why?
Because those are the thingsthat leaders do.
SPEAKER_00 (17:30):
Thank you for listening to Things Leaders Do.
If you're looking for more tipson how to be a better leader, be
sure to subscribe to the podcastand listen to next week's
episode.
Until next time, keep working onbeing a better leader by doing
the things that leaders do.
People first leadership.
Actionable strategies, realresults.
This is Things Leaders Do withColby Morris.
SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
Well, last week's episode on hybrid leadership
kind of hit a nerve, I guess.
I got more messages, comments,and DMs about that episode and
than I have in a long time.
Really, the most common responsewas, okay, Colby, I get it.
I need to stop managing byproximity and start focusing on
outcomes.
But how?
(00:32):
What does that actually looklike day to day?
You know what?
That's a fair question.
Because knowing you need tochange and actually knowing how
to change, yeah, those are twocompletely different things.
Hey leaders, this is ColbyMorris, and this is Things
Leaders Do.
Today, I'm going to dive deepinto the practical stuff.
(00:56):
Three specific systems thatsuccessful hybrid leaders use to
build trust, to measureperformance, to manage their
teams, all without losing theirminds.
And listen, if you haven't heardlast week's episode, hey, just
pause this one, go listen tothat one first.
This one builds directly onthose concepts, and you'll
(01:18):
probably get more value if youunderstand the foundation.
All right.
Let's start with trust.
Because here's what I know youcan't measure what you can't
measure.
No?
That's not right.
Try that again.
You can't manage what you can'tmeasure.
And most leaders, well, theyhave no clue how to actually
(01:40):
measure trust with their remoteteam members.
So let me give you a simpleframework I call the trust
scorecard.
It has five indicators, and youcan assess each team member on a
scale of one to five for eachone.
Okay, the first indicator isresponse reliability.
When you need something fromthem, do they respond when they
(02:02):
say they will?
Look, not immediately.
That's not what we're measuringhere.
But if they say, I'll get backto you by Thursday, do they
actually get back to you byThursday?
Or do you find yourself onFriday morning thinking, where
the heck is that response?
The second one is proactivecommunication.
Are they telling you aboutpotential problems before they
(02:26):
become actual problems?
Are they giving you a heads upwhen deadlines might be tight?
Or do you only hear from themwhen something's already gone
wrong?
And the third is qualityconsistency.
Is their work quality?
You know, the same whetheryou're watching or whether
you're not.
(02:46):
Because some people, their workquality totally drops when they
know the boss isn't looking overtheir shoulder.
Others maintain the samestandard no matter what.
The fourth one is initiativetaking.
Do they solve problems on theirown?
Or do they wait for you to tellthem what to do about
everything?
And if you've listened to any ofmy previous podcasts, you know
(03:08):
this is a big one for me.
This one's huge for remote workbecause you can't be there to
give constant direction.
And then the fifth istransparency.
When they hit roadblocks or theymake mistakes, do they tell you
about it or do they do you justfind out through other channels?
Here's how this works inpractice.
(03:29):
Let's say you've got Sharon onyour team.
You rate her a five on responsereliability.
She always does exactly what shesays she'll do, but she's a two
on proactive communication.
You only hear from her when youreach out first.
Now you know exactly where tofocus your trust building
(03:50):
efforts with Sharon.
So what do you actually do withthat information?
Well, with Sharon, you'd startby having a conversation about
communication preferences.
You'd say something like, HeySharon, I've noticed I usually
reach out to you first when weneed to connect.
Help me understand, do you doyou prefer that I check in with
(04:10):
you regularly?
Or would you rather have thefreedom to reach out when you
need something?
You might discover she's anintrovert who doesn't want to
bother you unless it's reallyimportant.
I mean, really important.
Or maybe she's unsure about whenit's appropriate to communicate
proactively.
Either way, now you can worktogether to create a
(04:32):
communication rhythm that worksfor both of you.
Now, compare that to Mike onyour team.
Yeah, I know I use the name Mikea lot, but go with me.
Everybody knows of Mike.
Mike scores a five on proactivecommunication.
He's always giving you a handsup about the potential issues,
right?
But he's a three on qualityconsistency.
(04:53):
Sometimes his work is fantastic.
Sometimes it needs significantrevision.
With Mike, you're not worriedabout communication.
You're focused on understandingwhat conditions help him produce
his best work consistently.
Maybe you discover that Mikedoes his best work when he has
clear examples to reference.
(05:13):
So you start providing moredetailed briefs and examples up
front.
Or maybe you find out that herushes when he feels time
pressure, so you build in buffertime for his deliverables.
The key is you're not trying toget everyone to a perfect five
on everything.
You're not going to get there.
You're trying to understand eachperson's trust profile so you
(05:36):
can lead them accordingly.
Sharon needs communicationstructure.
Mike needs quality support.
Different people, differentleadership approaches, but both
based on actual data instead ofguesswork.
Now, let's talk about the bigone.
KPIs, key performanceindicators.
(05:58):
And this is where most leadersare really struggling.
Let me tell you about a directorof marketing I worked with a
couple years ago.
Let's call her Lisa.
Lisa had a hybrid marketingteam, and they were they were
crushing it.
I mean, absolutely crushing it.
They were hitting all theirgoals, work quality was
(06:19):
excellent, clients were happy,deadlines were being met.
But Lisa was losing her mind.
Why?
Because her team kept sendingher final deliverables at like 2
a.m.
or 11 30 p.m.
or 6 a.m.
She came to me and said, Colby,I don't think my team is really
(06:41):
working.
I I think they're justprocrastinating all day and then
scrambling at the last minute toget stuff done.
So I asked her.
Lisa, are you are you happy withthe work they're producing?
Well, yeah, it's great work.
Are they meeting deadlines?
Well yeah, always.
Okay.
So are the clients satisfied?
(07:04):
Absolutely.
So what's the actual problem?
She paused and she said, Well, Ijust don't know when they're
working.
Ah.
There it is.
Classic case of managing byproximity.
Even when proximity doesn'texist, right?
(07:26):
Here's what we did.
We threw out all her oldmetrics.
I mean all of them.
Things like logged in hours andresponse time to emails.
And we replaced them with threeKPIs that actually mattered.
And these weren't just likerandom metrics.
They followed SMART goalframework, which again, if
(07:47):
you've listened to any of mypodcasts, you know I'm huge on
SMART goals.
If you're unfamiliar with SMARTgoals, SMART is an abbreviation
for specific, measurable,achievable, relevant, and time
bound.
KPI number one was a qualityscore.
Client feedback ratings andrevision rounds.
Measurable.
(08:14):
And no more than one revisionper round per project.
Achievable?
Well, based on historicalperformance.
Was it relevant?
Quality directly impacts clientretention.
And then time bound.
We measured monthly.
If the work consistently hitsthese quality standards, it
doesn't matter if it was createdat 2 p.m.
(08:36):
or 2 AM.
KPI number two, deadlineperformance.
The specific, again the Spercentage of projects delivered
on or before the agreeddeadline.
The measurable, 95% on timedelivery rate.
Is that achievable?
They were already hitting 90%.
(08:59):
Was it relevant?
Well, client satisfactiondepends on reliability.
And time bound.
We tracked weekly, reportedmonthly.
This removes all the anxietyabout when someone's working and
focuses on whether they'redependable.
And then KPI number three wasteam collaboration.
(09:20):
The specific responsivenessduring core collaboration hours
and project communication.
Okay, the measurable respond toteam requests within four hours
during core hours.
And in this instance, we definethose core hours as 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m.
Okay.
And then provide weekly projectstatus updates.
(09:44):
The achievable, it was based oncurrent team capacity.
Was it relevant?
Well, team projects requirecoordination.
And then the time bound.
It's measured weekly becauseyes, you need to be available
for your team, but no, you don'tneed to be glued to your desk
for eight straight hours.
Six months later, I feel like Ishould do that weird Spongebob
(10:07):
thing there.
Six months later, Lisa told meit was the best thing she'd ever
done as a leader.
Her anxiety about when peoplewere working, that was
completely gone.
Her team's productivity actuallywent up because they could work
during their most productivehours.
And her retention skyrocketedbecause people felt trusted
(10:29):
instead of monitored.
So what's the lesson?
Stop measuring activities.
Start measuring accomplishments.
Did you hear that?
Stop measuring activity andstart measuring accomplishments.
All right.
Let's talk a little bit aboutperformance management, because
this is where a lot of hybridleaders just freeze up.
(10:52):
I mean, how do you manageperformance when you can't see
the day-to-day work?
The answer is that you create arhythm, a predictable,
consistent rhythm that takesaway all the guesswork.
Here's how the system works.
First, your weekly one-on-ones.
Look, this is a non-negotiable,same time every week.
(11:15):
Now, I do have an entire serieson one-on-ones, okay?
Those episodes that dive deepinto the structure, the
questions, the common mistakesleaders make.
If you haven't listened to thoseyet, make sure you go back and
do that.
Check out the series, theone-on-one series.
I have spent years developingthat framework, and it is
absolutely critical to get thispart right.
(11:36):
But for our purposes today,here's the key.
Your one-on-ones become yourprimary performance management
tool for hybrid teams.
Okay.
They're where you spot patterns.
It's where you, as the leader,remove the obstacles.
You ensure alignment.
Okay.
Don't try to wing these things.
(11:57):
They are too important.
And then monthly goal reviews.
This is where you look at thebigger picture.
Okay.
Are we on track for quarterlygoals?
Do we need to adjust anything?
What support do you need to besuccessful?
And then third, quarterlydevelopment conversations.
This is not about performanceproblems.
(12:18):
This is about growth.
It's about career development,skill building.
Okay.
How can I help you get better atwhat you do?
Now, here's the key.
In each of these conversations,you're looking for patterns, not
just individual incidents.
If someone misses one deadline,that's an incident.
(12:39):
If they miss three deadlines ina month, that's a pattern, and
that needs to be addressed.
If someone seems stressed in oneweekly check-in, that's an
incident.
If they seem overwhelmed forthree weeks in a row, that's a
pattern.
Let me give you an example.
Let's say you have Tom on yourteam.
In your weekly 101s, you startnoticing a pattern.
(13:02):
He's always behind on hisdeliverables, and he keeps
mentioning feeling overwhelmed.
The old management approachwould go something like this.
Tom needs to manage his timebetter.
Maybe he's not working hardenough.
But the new approach is talkingto Tom.
Hey Tom, I've noticed you'vebeen feeling overwhelmed for the
past few weeks.
(13:22):
You want to help me understandwhat's driving that?
I mean, is it is it yourworkload?
Are there skills gaps?
Are there any obstacles that canhelp remove?
You see the difference?
You're you're actuallydiagnosing the root cause
instead of assuming the problem.
And here's the accountabilitypiece.
(13:43):
When you set clear expectationsthat have regular check-ins,
there are no surprises.
Okay, if someone's not meetingexpectations, they know it long
before any kind of formalperformance conversation
happens.
The difference betweenaccountability and
micromanaging, accountability isabout outcomes and support.
(14:05):
Micromanaging is just aboutcontrol and monitoring, really.
Now, here's the beautiful thingabout these three systems.
They work together.
Your trust scorecard tells youhow to tailor your leadership
approach for each personindividually.
Okay.
Your KPIs tell you whether yourteam is actually performing
(14:26):
well.
And your performance managementrhythm ensures that everyone
knows where they stand and howto improve.
When you combine all three, youcan lead a hybrid team with
complete confidence.
You know who you can trust withwhat level autonomy.
You know whether your team ishitting the metrics that
(14:46):
actually matter.
And you have a system fordeveloping people and addressing
issues before they becomeproblems.
All right.
Here's your assignment for thisweek.
And I want you to pick just oneof these, okay, one system to
start with.
Don't try to do all three atonce.
You'll just overwhelm yourselfand probably not do any of them
(15:07):
at all.
At least not well.
If trust is your biggest issue,start with the trust scorecard.
Rate each of your team memberson those five indicators and
identify where you need to focusyour trust building efforts.
If you're anxious aboutperformance and productivity,
well, start with the KPIs.
Identify three metrics thatactually measure what matters
(15:30):
for your team success and stoptracking everything else.
If you feel like you're flyingblind on performance management,
start with the rhythm.
Schedule weekly one-on-ones witheveryone on your team and stick
to that question format.
But pick one.
Implement it this week.
(15:52):
Master it before you move on tothe next one.
Look, hybrid leadership isn'tabout having perfect systems.
It's about having clear systems,systems that take away the
guesswork for both you and yourteam.
When your people know howthey're being measured, when
they know they're trusted, andwhen they know they'll get
regular feedback and support,they do their best work.
(16:15):
And when they do their bestwork, guess what?
You sleep better at night.
The old way of managing,constantly checking in,
monitoring activities, measuringhours, that's exhausting for
everyone involved.
But these systems, they actuallymake leadership easier because
they're built on clarity insteadof control.
(16:37):
Leaders, if your organization isstruggling with hybrid
leadership, I'd love to help.
I work with leaders and teamsthrough keynote speaking,
executive coaching, leadershiptraining, and build systems that
actually work.
You can reach me at nextstepadvisors.com.
There's no E in next, just NXTnext steppadvisors.com or
(16:58):
connect with me on LinkedIn,like many of you do did last
week.
That's where we tend to havesome really great conversations
about leadership, you know, anddifferent challenges like this.
Remember, leading individuals.
We don't lead activities, welead people.
Okay, focusing on outcomesinstead of oversight and
building systems that createclarity for everyone.
(17:21):
And you know why?
Because those are the thingsthat leaders do.
SPEAKER_00 (17:30):
Thank you for listening to Things Leaders Do.
If you're looking for more tipson how to be a better leader, be
sure to subscribe to the podcastand listen to next week's
episode.
Until next time, keep working onbeing a better leader by doing
the things that leaders do.
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