Manage by outcomes

Old school management equated presence in an office with people’s commitment to work. Even the existence of the remote trailblazers - GitLab, Automattic, Basecamp - didn’t change this perspective. It took a global pandemic to prove that work can happen even when you don’t see your people in front of you. What can you take away from this experience? I recommend you shift your perspective to an outcome focus from a focus on hours and presence. 

Don’t judge your people by how many meetings they’re part of or how often they pop up on chat. If people are attending loads of meetings and are always visible on chat, they can’t possibly do deep work. You need to ignore presence and focus on what people are actually achieving. Pay attention to tangible outcomes - code, design, writing, clear ideas. When you change your perspective, the team will follow.

“You evaluate people’s work on what they produce, not how or when they produce it. Trust emerges as the glue that holds the entire operation together.” - Matt Mullenweg, Automattic