The great pandemic that shall not be named – of 2019 – came with its fair share of craziness and disruption; however, it also gave rise to quite a new and cool way of working, aka hybrid work!
Now, while it seemed like an absolutely insane concept at first, it turns out people were actually pretty productive and companies could save up on workspaces! But here is the thing: because people are – God knows where – it can be hard to get people to – well – collaborate. But it is not impossible. Let’s talk about collaboration and hybrid work!
The Rise of Hybrid Work Environments
We’ve all read about it (or are currently living it!) hybrid work. A state of work where the workforce is given the freedom to come into the office or work from home. The pluses are all there – great work-life balance, no more lost time in travel, they make a team member happy and a situation happy.
Challenges of Collaboration in a Hybrid Setting
In a hybrid work setup, teams often face several common challenges:
- Time zone differences work: It is hard to get everybody in the same “room” when your virtual team is all around the world.
- Information silos: This is another common one in remote work and also one of the most annoying. The wrong person finds out what’s going on, a deliverable was “missed,” or information isn’t shared.
- Loneliness: If you’re a remote worker already, it’s really easy to get burnt out and lose motivation. You start to feel like you are no longer a part of “the team.”
Yes, technology has made global skill sets an increasingly important asset. The workplace is rapidly evolving.
Essential Tools for Hybrid Team Collaboration
When it comes to the hybrid work game, it’s all about the tools of the trade and there are quite a few nifty team collaboration software tools that can get a team to get together and work like never before! We are talking:
- Zoom for face-to-face video meetings and to ensure your in-person and remote teams are aligned.
- Asana will manage your team’s work and tasks and set realistic timelines and priorities to make sure they all can communicate effectively, in person or remotely.
- Miro is a web-based whiteboarding app that simulates the in-person collaboration experience. With it, teams can work/brainstorm/ideate and share in real-time, even if they are not physically together.
Building a Culture of Inclusion and Communication
What’s important to remember is to treat off-site employees no differently from on-site employees. Ask off-site employees for input and ensure their voice really matters to the team. To create a cohesive work environment, the team should be able to participate at the same level in virtual meetings, using Zoom or other meet platforms, with good facilitation techniques.
Maximising Productivity in Hybrid Work with Smart Strategies
Here are examples of how you can make the most out of your team and set up your organisation to allow maximum productivity in a hybrid setting. In general, lay out the support and dependencies unambiguously so your team knows the definition of success. Support synced collaboration and create the means enabling them to do their work at somewhat different times. Help them to connect with the information they need to accomplish their work.
The Future of Collaboration in Hybrid Workplaces
There is reason to be optimistic about the state of collaborating with hybrid working environments. There will only be more and better technology to help both the people remote and in the office.
