151. Creating Accountability with Fluid and Structured Workers

Earlier this week I talked about Structured and Fluid workers. If you missed it, click this.

In a nutshell, Structured workers are most comfortable and productive when they have clear separation between work and personal time.

Fluid workers, on the other hand, are more productive by blending their time. They’ll usually work later in the evening or on weekends. The transitions between work and personal are more fluid for them.

The challenge becomes how to manage the two types of workers.

Office, Remote and Hybrid

Structured workers are the ones most likely to thrive in an office environment. An office provides the clear separation between work and home that they desire.

Fluid workers, on the other hand, will be more comfortable in either remote or hybrid environments.

All of this is good, because structured workers do best when they aren’t interrupted by the fluid ones.

As a leader, the first step for you is to determine which of your employees are fluid vs structured workers. Do you know?

Make sure you are providing your fluid workers with the freedom they need, and the structured workers with the focused environment they desire

Which leads us to management and accountability.

Accountability

It goes without saying that every leader should hold their employees accountable. Actually, I take that back - it definitely requires saying.

Accountability is more important than ever in this new remotely hybrid work structure.

It is critical - especially with fluid workers - to have very clear definitions of what needs to be accomplished to be successful. Without that, you risk a disjointed, unhappy and unproductive team.

Are you setting goals for your employees and holding them accountable?

It may seem easier for the structured ones who show up at the office during regular hours and can be more easily monitored but what if the fluids?

I used to have a tough time figuring out how to set my employee’s goals and hold them accountable. Then one day I learned an enormous secret for how to make it super simple.

Here’s the big secret for how to define your employee’s goals: ask for their opinion

“What are your primary objectives right now?”

“When do you think you can accomplish them?

If the answers feel good to you, boom! you just created objectives and deadlines. If their responses don’t feel quite right, work together to adjust them until they seem better.

Mark the due dates in your calendar and check in with the employee a couple of days before to make sure they are on track.

With clear goals and accountability, your fluid and structured workers will maximize their productivity and you will be on track to achieve the company goals.

Now go for it!