Leading Hybrid Teams: How Organisational Culture Serves as an Intermediary between Transformational Leadership and Change Management

What the paper says

Work environment and organisational culture have recently experienced major shifts towards virtual and hybrid settings. The underlying transformational changes pose new challenges to the leadership and business management which need to adapt to the changing environment. Especially the insights on how to successfully lead hybrid teams and manage related organisational changes in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still lacking and require a different approach to leadership than in traditional teams. This paper employs a quantitative approach with mediation analysis to better understand the underlying adaptation and transformation processes. Specifically, it deals with the organisational culture in the context of hybrid teams and explores empirically its mediating role in the relationship between transformational leadership and change management in the context of German SMEs. Our results suggest that organisational culture partially mediates this relationship between transformational leadership and change management in hybrid teams. The effect is slightly stronger than for virtual teams. Accordingly, managers should actively shape and reinforce a strong, adaptable culture to facilitate smoother change initiatives. Moreover, since transformational leadership is crucial for effective change management, especially in hybrid teams, managers should focus on inspiring a shared vision, fostering innovation, and providing individual support to drive change. Finally, managers should take advantage of in-person interactions in hybrid settings to reinforce cultural values and leadership presence.