In a world deeply changed by hybrid and remote work, managers and team leaders in HR must adapt. We have to begin by embracing our work as supervisors. This work is less about enforcing productivity and more about enabling performance. Instead of asking whether our teams punched the clock, we need to ask whether our people are paying attention to what matters.

As the world of work becomes more—or even fully—digital, the way we communicate as managers must undergo a similar shift. We have to reimagine the way we communicate with our people. We need to be less formal and more frequent. Give fewer presentations and have more conversations. Talk less and listen more. To do this, we need to make a habit out of practicing and adapting the way we deliver our messages.

Good managers are like coaches––they enable the people around them to do their best work. In HR, we know this intimately; we often find ourselves coaching people throughout our organizations. The shifting nature of the way we work requires a communication style that flows in both directions, and our coaching style needs to reflect this, too. Coaching isn’t just about the individual; working today is a team sport.

HR managers make important decisions every day. However, that doesn’t mean we’re automatically good at it. How should we navigate decision making amid uncertainty? How should we weigh risks and rewards for particular decisions? Sometimes the best way to make decisions is by freeing ourselves of the pressure to make them at all.

We know the absolute necessity of continuous learning: we enable our people to do it every day. But what about on our own teams? Are we as committed to their learning as we are to the broad idea of learning across the organization? A true commitment to learning means embracing transparency and humility, inviting questions and feedback, and celebrating honest mistakes.