How to manage hybrid teams?
The rapid changes in living and working conditions brought about by the pandemic have turned out to be somewhat more permanent than we all expected. Even the gradual improvement of the epidemiological situation, supported by the hope for the effect of mass vaccination, leaves a lot of questions about the organization of effective remote teamwork. These issues are especially acute for large companies. And the realities of hybrid management and remote teamwork come to the fore - a new management practice that allows you to combine online and offline teamwork formats.
What is a hybrid team?
Over the past two years, many companies have switched to a busy mode that combines work in the office and remotely with a virtual meeting format. If everything is organized correctly, when switching to a mixed model, the company's efficiency will not suffer.
The mode of work of employees depends on the functionality provided by various positions. The hybrid work model provides for the following possible work formats:
- Work in an office or at sites around the country (eg, administrative team, office work, technical engineers, etc.) - their work schedule has not changed.
- Partially remote work (for example, three days - two days). The duties of these employees allow them to choose where it is more convenient for them to work.
- Remote work is suitable for employees who can remotely organize all processes without loss of efficiency (for example, recruiters, digital and marketers, etc.).
Hybrid Work Management Best Practices
However, office work is still required. It is better for teams to work together and develop a culture and sense of belonging (which increases motivation); for people to be more productive with a work environment, easy accessibility of colleagues, and no domestic distractions.
Probably, the world of "office plankton" is balanced by 2-3 days a week of work in the office and the rest of the time at home. Let's look at the best practices for effective hybrid collaboration.
Give employees a say in hybrid work
The well-being and mental health of the team is relevant to the direction of HR in the new conditions of life and work. After all, if employees feel comfortable, confident in the future and feel good, they will be motivated and productive. That's why you should give your employees a chance to speak.
Create a team culture
At the same time, it is important for everyone to develop empathy, emotional level and corporate culture. New employees need to be introduced offline, regardless of the format of their work in the future. We meet at the office once or twice a week. The office should become a meeting place and offline negotiations with clients and contractors.
Approval schedules
Cloud platforms provide a single environment for teams to collaborate, share information, and collaborate from anywhere. By moving workloads, platforms, and infrastructure to the cloud, you start separating employees from specific jobs—and if you don't have an on-premise infrastructure to service and support, your business could theoretically run entirely virtual.
As a result of the adoption of cloud platforms, you will be able to share schedules as a team and work productively together.
Set the rules
Knowing what you need from potential employees and a clear understanding of what to expect from current employees will help you get an idea of what each person should bring to the table. By laying out the requirements for the job, having a deep understanding of the specifics of the project, coordinating proper communication, and working closely with employees, they all work together to create energy within the team.
Be strategic in communication
Internal communications in a hybrid format of work have a smaller set of tools than offline. Meetings should be held at the same site, because someone works from the office, someone from home - and access to information should be equal for both categories of employees. Therefore, online remains the preferred format for large-scale "meetings" with the participation of the entire team.
How can asynchronous communication improve the performance of a hybrid team?
In the arsenal of internal communications, online video chats or recorded video messages should be “fixed”. Asynchronous communication through the free iMind communication app is a big advantage during virtual meetings, as the hybrid team may not be permanently on the laptop.
However, these are resource formats that require not only high-quality technical implementation, but also the ability to work with the camera and the time spent by the head of the organization. And if earlier such tools were more likely to be pleasant, then in a hybrid format they have become the new norm.
Hybrid work also requires a rethinking of all business processes and changes in organizational culture. Switching to a remote mode is clearly associated with additional costs of time and money. But in the end, this format of work can give the company many economic advantages.