3 takeaways for leaders

In this episode of New Ways of Leading in a Changed World series, Pexip spoke to futurist and author, Gihan Perera. Gihan helps leaders and their teams prepare for the future, helping them to adapt, plan and excel in uncertain times.

Remote working presents a challenge for leaders who have spent their careers managing in face-to-face environments.

Recent studies show that employees want more flexibility around where they work. Even when the pandemic is behind us, organisations that haven’t evolved will have a much harder time attracting and retaining good employees.

Gihan believes that the era of distributed teams — teams that work across different locations, time zones, and cultures — is here to stay. The key to success? 

Trust.

Building trust means rewriting the rules; removing granular policies that cause friction and supporting employees to build their competency and judgement.

 “Nobody starts out saying we’re going to create stupid rules for our organisation but it happens all the time. It happens with the best of intentions.”

At the same time, Gihan cautions against adopting remote ways of keeping an eye on employees.

“The way I think about trust is what happens when somebody is not looking over your shoulder,” he says.

Some companies have installed monitoring software on employee devices to keep tabs on them and others have required all employees to log into a video chat and work with their camera on all day.

“That's not a good solution because it means that you don’t trust your employees,” he adds.

Team members also need to be proactive in building their judgement and gaining the trust of their colleagues and leaders.

To increase the trust your boss has in you, Gihan recommends asking for more responsibility, then to "under-promise and over-deliver.”

This episode was filmed with interviewer Ben Campbell in Adelaide and Gihan Perera in Perth, Australia using Pexip Meetings to bring everyone together.