Hybrid work is productive, but collaboration suffers. Companies should organize in-person team days and facilitate ...
Originally, companies mostly feared lost productivity due hybrid work. This didn’t seem to materialize, and in fact, 94% of employers said productivity stayed the same or improved in the months following the lockdowns.
What does (understandably) seem to suffer however is collaboration: over 70% of HR professionals said they were more concerned about employee collaboration this year than they were before the pandemic began. When people no longer are sitting side by side, collaboration stops happening automatically and companies need to find ways to still drive successful collaboration.
Create weekly days for teams and working groups where you combine status meetings, ‘coworking sessions’, and other key meetings to ensure those who should collaborate, have the platform to do so. Bringing team members together at least once a week also fosters culture and community. Tools like FlexOS can help align team members’ schedules and communicate the expectation.
For the times when the team can’t or doesn’t want to be together, hybrid work sessions can provide an alternative. This requires both the right technology and platforms (Microsoft, Google, and others are making great progress to do this seamlessly) as well as great hybrid facilitation.
Include items like response times and turnaround times in the hybrid guidelines (see page 5.) Make sure everyone has access to, and utilizes, endpoint devices, internet connectivity, and adequate sound, lighting and video capabilities to participate productively in virtual collaboration. Agree on the use of common features such as hashtags and @mentions. See also our tips on creating equity in the hybrid and remote workplace, which technology can greatly increase.
Do you want to learn how some of the best companies in the world launch and manage hybrid workplaces?
Download our whitepaper Hybrid Excellence in 2023 to learn more about the hybrid work strategies adopted by top companies in the APAC region.
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