Hybrid Work Context and Leadership Communication

The first studies on the evolution of the concept and practices of leadership according to the emergence of virtual work settings date back to the beginning of the millennium. Drawn by the new economy revolution scholars and practitioners began to reflect about different managerial models under the label of e‑leadership. Then, the impact of COVID‑19 has brought an extraordinary acceleration with remote working becoming the everyday experience of most employees. For managers being able to do their job of “leading other people” became a huge challenge to ingrained habits, behaviors, and beliefs. With the continuous spread of hybrid work contexts, where presence and distance, as well as the real and virtual, are more and more intertwined, there is a need to relaunch the debate about the concept and function of leadership. The objective of this chapter is to explore how the concept of leadership is changing in the hybrid working environments, with a focus on the communication behaviors of leaders in their action of people management. Moreover, it proposes practical implications to inspire effective behaviors by managers operating in hybrid settings. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, this chapter is based on the analysis of four interrelated areas of managerial studies: e‑leadership, virtual team management, communication in virtual settings, and the emerging field of hybrid workplace characteristics and dynamics.