Hybrid teams

The traditional workplace of the past, where the majority of workers are together on-site, has changed for many. More employees are able to work remotely some or all of the time. Employers and leaders need to adjust their managing and communication styles to optimize the energy and focus of employees. This is especially critical when you have a hybrid team where some are on-site and some are working remotely.

Managing concerns

Since hybrid teams are new to many leaders, authors Dr. Heidy Grant and Tal Goldhamer recommend we separate fact from fiction about what works. In all cases, it’s important for the leader to collaborate with employees and experiment to find out what works best for their unique team. 

• Concern: Remote workers won’t be as productive as when they’re at work in person 
  • Consider: Some employees can work effectively anywhere. This is only true if their work does not require face-to-face interaction with clients or if there is only one location their work can be accomplished like an assembly line or restaurant. Wherever employees work it’s important they’re set up in a way that is both physically and psychologically safe, including having the right tools, connectivity, equipment, training, flexibility and autonomy to manage their tasks. They need to be able to manage distractions and complete their work effectively.  A recent study¹ showed that on average, Canadians who worked from home in 2021 and 2022 saved 65 minutes per week on commute time. On average, 41 minutes of that time was spent working on their primary or secondary job in addition to their regular hours, 37 minutes on leisure and 7 minutes on caregiving. Spending more time on leisure and caregiving can also have a positive effect on performance and energy.
• Concern: Employee training will be more effective in person 
  • Consider: Any employee training needs to be optimized for learning. Training developed for in-person doesn’t always translate effectively to a virtual platform. And those who spend all day online may find intense online training difficult to focus on for any length of time. Different methods can be more or less engaging and effective, depending on the topic and the participants. Some employees prefer the flexibility of on-demand training over the need to give up time to travel and attend in-person training. Training that involves hands-on learning may not be best suited for a virtual platform.
• Concern: Culture can only be built, and networking can only happen in person 
  • Consider: Culture isn’t built by one event or by being in person. It’s slowly developed every day through interactions with leaders and co-workers, regardless of where someone is working. It’s influenced by the extent to which leaders recognize and address stressors and successes. Interactions can also happen online through scheduled or impromptu meetings or events.
• Concern: Those working remotely may experience more screen fatigue
  • Consider: Screen fatigue can happen in person or remotely. All staff should be encouraged to incorporate regular breaks away from the screen and from sitting. Review best practices in terms of ergonomics. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety offers tips for Eye discomfort in the office. 
• Concern: Leaders may promote or give better opportunities to their in-person employees
  • Consider: Strong leaders treat all employees fairly, regardless of where they work. For example, the structure and frequency of check-ins, team meetings, collaboration opportunities and team-building events are considerate of all employee work styles. To help avoid bias, review some of the tips and strategies below.

Remote versus on-site 

Different work situations create different challenges and needs. Part of helping your employees is doing your best to understand their individual work situations. Let’s look at what some of the challenges around working remotely versus working on-site might look like. 

Employees working remotely may: 

• Work more hours when they can’t leave work behind
• Have children or other family competing for their attention 
• Feel isolated or miss interacting with co-workers 
• Experience screen fatigue if their work is primarily online
• Experience more issues with technology, which can impact productivity
• Miss opportunities and collaborations that come from casual conversations with colleagues and those from other departments or teams

Employees working on-site may: 

• Believe they have less freedom than those who work remotely
• Feel judged if they leave right at the end of the workday while their virtual colleagues continue working
• Experience screen fatigue too, if their job requires lots of time spent at a computer 
• Have a stressful morning routine and/or commute 
• Struggle to balance personal and work life

One concern about hybrid teams is that employees will feel disconnected, isolated and even lonely. If employees focus exclusively on their tasks at hand and only interact to pass them forward, these risks become even greater. But you can reduce these risks by setting up processes to encourage and support engagement and meaningful conversations. 

Tips and strategies

These ideas will work in some situations but not in others. Review them to see what might work for you.

Create opportunities for remote workers and on-site workers to interact 

• Virtual coffee breaks – set online video chats once or twice a month with 3 or 4 different team members, and have one person host. The only rule: discuss anything but work
• Monthly staff activities during work hours – help employees connect by setting up virtual escape rooms, scavenger hunts or trivia games 
• Open online connections without cameras – employees work independently while staying on mute with each other until they have something to ask or share 

Create buddy or mentor systems 

• Pair remote employees with a willing on-site employee to build camaraderie 
• Set monthly challenges to encourage collaboration – partner on a trivia or steps contest, solve a problem or brainstorm an innovation
• Encourage regular check-ins and provide a template of questions about workload, well-being and challenges such as the One-on-one discussion points 
• Budget for packages of supplies, tools or branded items to be sent by on-site employees to remote employees to help strengthen the connection
• Review the tips, strategies and tool kit available in Mentoring

Consider how you lead 

• Trust: An important part of any relationship, but as a leader this is a very critical piece to managing employees who work remotely. See Building trust for leaders for tips and strategies.
• Mentoring opportunities: Look for opportunities to mentor your employees and to share experiences or build their skills. This can be a formal mentoring process (see Mentoring for more details), or casual occasions to share your knowledge that can help your employees’ career growth. 
• Meetings and events: Employees who feel supported, connected and heard will generally be more engaged and productive. Set-up regular touch bases to talk about stressors, barriers and questions as well as to collaborate with members of the team. Take time to get to know your employees and what makes them feel safe and supported.

Virtual team meetings 

• Schedule regular team meetings in which both remote and on-site employees can participate
• Manage the meeting so that only one person at a time speaks and no side conversations take place so all participants can hear
• Check out Team building activities for activities you can host virtually and in-person at the same time
• When spontaneous team meetings happen to address a need, send out a quick invite so remote employees can join if possible

Communicate the value and contribution of each team member

• Use team meetings to communicate what each member contributes when you address them. For example, “Jose has been working on securing the resources for our upcoming project. Jose, were you able to get a date for delivery of the lumber?” Make sure you cover every member over 2 – 3 meetings and then start again. This helps clarify and reinforce the value each member brings to the table – whether virtually or in person. 
• Ensure a sense of belonging for every team member by making efforts to support inclusion. The Psychologically safe team assessment can help you understand where you are now, and Inclusion strategies for leaders can help you take action for improvement. 

Encourage balance for all

• Be the example for others by ensuring you take care of your own work-life balance and well-being.
• Share the Work-life balance tips with all employees and host a conversation about what works for your team members.
• Share the Working parents tips with those taking care of children. Consider setting up a meeting for working parents who want to share tips and strategies.
• Share the Caregiver resources for those taking care of others. Consider setting up a meeting for caregivers who want to share tips and strategies.
• Host this workshop on Balance. It can be hosted virtually and in person. When hosting a hybrid team, you could have remote workers form their own group online for small group discussion while the on-site workers form theirs.
• Encourage folks to stand, walk or move while on teleconference calls where possible.
• Express that you expect employees to let you know when they need to work beyond regular work hours. This will help you prevent burnout by knowing when work is becoming overwhelming, or when someone’s boundaries are being blurred.

Talk about preventing burnout

• Learn strategies to Prevent burnout and ask what employees will do for themselves
• Review Burnout response for leaders prior to the discussion to increase your own knowledge and comfort level

Set expectations

• To help prevent burnout, clarify your expectations for both virtual and on-site employees. You can help improve this in various ways, including:
  
  • Host a Clear leadership and expectations workshop to help understand what works best with your team
  • Have each team member complete a Recognition preferences form | PDF so you’re clear about their expectations as well
  • Help individual employees develop work plans that support success in their unique situations and job demands. Supporting employee success can help you do this. 

Schedule breaks in team/employee calendars 

• Set breaks as protected time on calendars, so employees will feel encouraged and reminded to take them
• Check out the Healthy break activities for ideas to do just before or after their break time
• Manage screen fatigue by allowing employees to turn off their cameras or call into some meetings so they don’t become drained after too much screen time
• End online meetings 10 minutes early to allow people time to stretch before the next meeting, whenever possible

Care packages and check-ins 

• Whether you see them every day or once a week, sending a quick email to check in with your staff and see how they’re doing can make a huge difference:
  
  • Ask each team member about their preferences for receiving feedback. Use the Feedback preferences template | PDF for help.
  • Provide opportunities for others to give feedback. Check out Elicit feedback for ideas.
  • Keep up-to-date on how staff are doing and the overall workplace culture.
• Create care packages for your team, no matter how big or small. It’s true what they say: it’s the thought that counts! 
  
  • Care packages could include items to equip employees with tools to help them at work (either in the office or at home), like blue light glasses, stress balls, pens, notepads, etc. 

Acknowledge their work

• We know work can get busy, but simply taking the time to acknowledge the effort your employees are putting in can positively impact their morale 
  
  • Check out Recognition strategies for leaders for help
• Create a list of your employees and make it a goal to provide positive reinforcement to each person at least once a month
  
  • Use the Recognition preferences template | PDF for ideas

Talk about it! 

• Sometimes we think it’s better to not acknowledge the disparities that can arise in a hybrid workplace, but your employees notice them. Talk to them about it and be open to hearing what they feel is and isn’t working. 
  
  • Use the Creating awareness workshop materials on Psychological competencies and demands, as well as Clear leadership and expectations, to bring your team together for a discussion. 

References

1. Aksoy, C. G., Barrero, J., Bloom, N., Davis, S. J., Dolls, M., & Zarate, P. (2022). Time Savings When Working from Home.
2. Grant, H., & Goldhamer, T. (2022, December 8). 4 myths about in-person work, dispelled. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2022/10/4-myths-about-in-person-work-dispelled