Everyone has an opinion about hybrid teams – and they aren’t all the same. Some people love the approach, some prefer to be in the office every day, others would prefer to only come in for (very) special events. Yet regardless of how we feel – and whether we call hybrid work a compromise or an edict – we need this working arrangement to be successful. In our work with leaders and teams around the world, we have identified the single biggest key to hybrid team success.
The key is simple, and almost obvious, but it is often missed because of the deeply held feeling people have about the arrangement itself.
The key is: different environments require different work.
In other words, the nature and routines of the work for the individual and the group need to be different when we are together versus when we are not.
How to Leverage the Working Environment
One of the complaints I have heard from people is:
At home I put on my headphones and get to work. Why do I need to come to the office to do the same thing?
If people are going to treat each workday exactly the same way, they are right – why would we come together?
But remember what was lost and what people missed when everyone was sent to work from home?
Most people missed:
- In-person gatherings
- Collaborative conversations
- Lunch and coffee time for relationship building
- The ability to ask a question without feeling like you were bothering people
- The ability to get away from a screen for a few minutes
Knowing that, make sure you are doing those things now when you are in physical proximity.
Use the in-office days to:
- Have more of your meetings
- Create more informal gatherings
- Focus on relationship building
- Do side-by-side training and mentoring
You get the idea - and you can add to this list for your unique situation. In short, use the in-office, in-person days to your (and everyone’s) benefit.
And the opposite is also true.
When possible, allow people on their work-from-home days to:
- Do more project work
- Do more heads down focus work
- Have fewer meetings
- Rely less on messaging and email if possible
In the best case, when people can work from home with fewer distractions, they can get more done - so help each other minimize those distractions if possible.
Make it Cultural
While individuals can, with this new perspective, make some of these changes individually, the greatest power comes when you implement these ideas across the team or organization. As a leader, share this big key to hybrid team success, and then let the team come up with specific ideas and agreements to make this most effective in your situation.
Once everyone sees the value, and comes to agreement on how to operationalize it, the benefits will grow.
Not only will you get better productivity, but you will start to settle people into the new normal of hybrid work, perhaps even helping those who like it the least, see greater value in this working approach.
Go First
While the big idea here applies to everyone, if we want our teams to maximize productivity and results wherever they are working, we need to go first. Try new routines for yourself. Schedule your 1:1’s in-person whenever possible. Make sure you are spending time on relationship building when you see people in person. It isn’t because these things can’t happen virtually, but because they can happen better in person. These are perfect examples of using the work environment to our advantage.
When you set the example, you will be a better advocate for the suggestions here and will let people see that some changes can give us better results.
And …
I know not all hybrid environments are the same. In some cases, not everyone is ever all together on the same days. In our experience though, the advice shared above still applies for both individuals and the group. Look for ways to leverage the time together and the time apart for maximum productivity and collaboration. As leaders we can lead and facilitate the conversations that will help your team find ways to use each work environment to maximum benefit.
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