Hybrid teams have become the new norm, but almost two in five employees say they’d quit a role if they had to work on site once a week.
Despite this, working in-person improves collaboration by 23%.
So how do you find the balance between people not wanting to work from the office and boosting collaboration?
You need to create an office environment that works for everyone. It’s not easy, but it’s doable. Especially if building thriving hybrid teams is your goal.
Have set days when everyone is in the office
Having set days when everyone is in the office gets them mentally ready for collaboration. It enables people to organize meetings knowing everyone they need to speak to will be around. Plus, it helps them plan for upcoming meetings or office days beforehand so that they can get the most from them.
Your hybrid teams can then use their remote work days for focused work and planning for the next in-office day.
Use the right tools
41% of remote employees find it hard to integrate into their company’s culture. It’s definitely harder when someone works remotely, but it isn’t impossible.
The right tools can make or break your hybrid teams. They should suit how your business works, how your employees work, and be able to scale as your business grows.
Otherwise, as your business grows, you’ll have to disrupt your teams by switching to new tools, slowing everything down because what you originally chose couldn’t scale with you.
On top of that, you want to ensure that you have training available that employees can watch or read wherever they are. This ensures they know how to use the tools and can get the most from them, rather than wasting time trying to (re)learn or remember processes.
Upgrade your employee groups
When it comes to running your employee groups, using a tool that keeps everything organized and running seamlessly could be the difference between your ERGs increasing company profits or fading away like one-hit wonders.
Workrowd turns your groups into effective business levers that support your employees and your bottom line. They encourage networking, collaboration, and showcase your employee initiatives in an easy-to-find location. Get in touch today to book your free demo.
Work asynchronously
Despite what many businesses still think, not everything needs to be a meeting. Sometimes it’s faster to solve problems in written form as it keeps conversations succinct.
This is clearly a problem, too, with 64% of employees losing at least three hours per week due to collaboration issues. Furthermore, 41% of US employees have quit, or considered quitting, because of collaboration issues at work.
Asynchronous communication may be the solution you need to keep your hybrid teams humming along. No one has to wait around for anyone—they can get on with other tasks while they wait.
There are far fewer meetings required, too, which saves everyone time.
Embrace flexibility
One of the benefits of running hybrid teams is the flexibility that comes from working away from an office.
Encourage your employees to take time away from nonstop meetings and have focus time. Or even go out for a walk in the middle of the day if they’re feeling stressed or need a screen break.
Time away from their desk can be great for problem solving. It can help them to come away with a fresh set of eyes ready to tackle a project, rather than feeling forced to sit at a desk all day because their manager is concerned they’re not working hard enough.
The best managers trust their hybrid teams to do the work at a time that works for them. So long as the work gets done to a high standard, that’s all they care about.
Micromanagers create an unwelcoming environment that isolates employees, causes them to quiet quit, and increases churn rates.
Make the office appealing
If you want your hybrid teams to want to work from your office, you need to make doing so appealing.
This isn’t just about a quality coffee maker or free fruit. It’s also about things like:
- Location
- Acoustics (i.e. if it gets noisy)
- Meeting room availability
- Enough desks for everyone
- Lighting
- Kitchen facilities
- Bathroom facilities
All these things add up to alter your employee experience for better or worse.
For example, if your business is in an area where there are no food outlets but you also don’t have anywhere for employees to heat or eat their lunch, what are they supposed to do at lunchtime?
They may not have time to travel somewhere to get anything to eat, meaning their energy levels will lag during the afternoon and you won’t get as much productivity out of them. Not to mention they might have to drive home tired and/or hungry, which is dangerous.
Set up employee groups
Over half of employees feel working from home negatively impacts their ability to connect with coworkers. Yet almost three-fourths want to engage in group activities.
Employee groups help your hybrid teams get to know each other beyond their work interactions. They can talk to people outside of their immediate team who share their common interests or experiences.
Groups are a way to make employees feel more like a part of the organization—particularly if they’re newer to it—and integrate your employees into your culture whether they work remote, in-office, or as part of hybrid teams.
Embrace watercooler chat
Whether it’s discussing the latest episode of a show over chat, sharing cute pet videos, or exchanging tasty recipes, water cooler chat is an important part of company culture.
It allows employees to see people from other teams as equals, not someone who’s working against them.
A quiet watercooler chat is often a sign of upheaval and unhappy employees within an organization, especially when you have hybrid teams.
Conclusion
Hybrid teams help businesses balance the effectiveness of face-to-face collaboration with the productivity of remote work. To make them a success, you need the right tools and company culture.
One of the tools that could help your organization is Workrowd. Using Workrowd, you can better organize your employee initiatives so that everyone on your hybrid teams can access and get the most from them.
Plus, with real-time analytics, you never have to wonder whether your programs, groups, and events are delivering results for your organization. Get in touch to book your free demo and find out more today.
