As workplaces change, leaders have to decide how people will communicate, make decisions and take responsibility. New software and different working arrangements make those choices more visible.
Digital tools, team structure and flexible work each affect how a team delivers. Learning and interpersonal skills help the people involved make those changes deliberately.
Choose a team structure for the work
A reporting line should help people get a decision and understand their responsibilities. Review where approvals take too long, where managers repeat one another’s work and where someone is left without support.
Company announcements can show how other organisations think about the problem. In September 2024, Amazon described plans to change its manager-to-individual-contributor ratio and return to office arrangements. That was a decision for its organisation, not a universal model for every business. Read Amazon’s original update.
Make digital tools support a clear process
A shared workspace can help a team see decisions, files and deadlines. It needs agreement about what belongs there and who keeps it current. Otherwise, people have another place to search.
For remote or hybrid work, document how urgent issues are raised, when people need to be available together and which decisions can happen asynchronously. Review those arrangements with the people using them.
Use data with an understanding of its limits
Analytics and AI tools can help prepare information for a decision. Leaders should understand where the information came from, what it leaves out and what still needs someone’s judgement.
Give staff a way to challenge a report that does not match what they are seeing. That conversation can reveal a problem in the data, a change in the business or a measure that needs revising.
Build learning into the role
A workshop introduces an idea; applying it develops the skill. Give people a chance to lead a defined piece of work, receive feedback and review the outcome with someone experienced.
Training should cover the practical responsibilities of the role. That may include using a new system, explaining a decision, managing a disagreement or recognising when a project needs a different approach.
Keep the human conversations clear
Empathy, communication and conflict resolution remain part of leading any team. Ask how a change affects the people doing the work. Explain what can be adjusted and what constraints the business needs to meet.
Flexible arrangements work best when expectations are explicit. The same applies to office-based teams: shared location does not automatically create shared understanding.
Review a change before extending it
Try a new practice on a defined part of the business. Agree what you expect to improve and when you will review it. Consider delivery quality, workload and the team’s experience alongside speed.
At BMI, we bring strategy, systems and the people doing the work into the same conversation. Tell us about the change you are planning.
References and further reading
Research, commentary and industry examples for further reading. Read findings in the context of their dates, methods and settings.
