Editorial
Leading a high-performing hybrid workplace isn’t easy. In fact, it can be one of the hardest tasks for a leader at least at first. Some organizations that initially announced a move to a hybrid model are now recanting despite the possible loss of employees and a longer, more costly search for top talent.
One of the toughest issues hybrid leaders need to grapple with is how best to enable and encourage effective collaboration and responsive communication across a hybrid team, especially when members work from different locations, during different hours, on different days and often in different time zones.
The “Remote-First” Principle
Adopting the “remote-first” can be a good place for leaders to start; instead of designing a workplace that revolves around onsite employees as the default, you can create a work environment centered around the needs of remote employees first.
This way, your organization can foster a more equitable workplace, and as the future of work continues to evolve, you’ll have the structures and processes in place to reconfigure your workplace more quickly, easily, and with fewer disruptions.
Here are some tips for leaders of today’s hybrid teams to consider for successful collaboration and easier, faster and more satisfying communication:
Utilize Communication Channels Intentionally
Establish team agreements about the use of multiple communication channels and level of responsiveness needed. For example, team members should agree on the best uses of text, IM, their team portal, email, phone or video meetings as a rule. They can also share their individual preferences, especially when it comes to communicating during high-pressure situations. Jumping back and forth between digital platforms, email, and texts can be both inefficient and frustrating to all parties.
Ensure all team members have easy access by sharing important information, ideas, and questions through channels like Teams or Slack through more restrictive distribution methods like emails or water cooler chats.Teams can agree on protocols about tagging, threading, meeting notifications, editing rights and other important conventions.
It’s also important to determine the purpose and use of different channels. For example, some teams like to create separate Slack channels for social conversations while others like to make online conversations more “organic,” with social and project-related conversations melding together.
Properly Manage Time
Decide what can be done at any time and what must be done in real time. Variables include time zone differences, number of team members, nature of the shared work, response time needed and level of interaction or interdependence among team members. Async communications can include email, posting in team portals or “public” channels (e.g., Slack) or sharing a Google document for editing or feedback. Examples of synch communications include in-person or virtual team meetings, instant messaging or texting. The greater the time zone differences, the more you’ll need to rely on async communications.
Related Article: How to Design and Support Teams for Success in the Digital Workplace
Agree on a window of time when everyone on the team will be accessible at the same time, time zone differences permitting. One of my clients refers to this as the “golden hours.” For example, it might be that everyone must be available for a certain four-hour window for team meetings, customer calls, rapidly responding to emails or chats, or whenever real-time collaboration is essential — either every work day or just a few days during the week.
Agree on relative speed of response times. Is getting an immediate response important, or can it wait a few hours, or even a day? Ask people what method of communication commands the highest priority from their perspective. Some people may assign the lowest priority to requests made via email and respond to Slack requests immediately. Others may ignore IMs indefinitely, and some drop everything to instantly reply to a colleague’s message. Decide as a team what channels should be used for the most urgent requests. Tagging particular people can help encourage a faster response.
Establish team rituals that work in any location. When your team spans multiple time zones, prioritize activities that are accessible at any time, from anywhere. Simple examples include: A “good day” group chat where people share their beverage of choice in the moment, or a “TGIF” chat where people talk about their weekend plans. Team members might post brief videos of their favorite local holiday traditions, milestone events or a recent vacation.
Unity Is Key
Create the same meeting experience for everyone. Choose a digital platform that enables all voices to be heard and all faces to be seen. Appoint someone in the meeting room to act as an advocate for remote team members, ensuring that they can see and hear everyone in the room, and vice-versa. If the nature of the meeting requires that everyone gather in the same room, make every effort to have people attend in person.
Agree on a consistent set of apps, tools and processes to create, access and share digital assets easily and quickly across the organization. This way, no one will have to delay their work as they scramble for a needed document or try to verify it’s the latest version, which is something that can be a special burden for remote workers. Ensure all employees have easy, ongoing access to technology hardware and expertise, as well as thorough asynchronous training in new software applications. As hybrid-remote teams get settled, it’s a good idea to establish agreed-upon norms that govern the creation, access, ownership and flow of shared information.
Have everyone attend team meetings the same way. When some people are together in one place and others are remote, it’s almost impossible to create a truly level playing field. To solve this, have everyone participate virtually from their own workspace, even if they’re in the same building. Every meeting requires a great technology platform, a cultural mandate for inclusiveness of the entire team —regardless of location — and a strong filtering process to question the purpose and value of mandatory in-person meetings.
Related Article: How to Build a Remote Team from the Ground Up
Come Together as a Team
Maintain virtual social gatherings. Just because many people are returning to the office, don’t forsake those casual gatherings where people can drop in from anywhere on a particular day and time for the equivalent of a professor’s “office hours.” Invite those who work onsite to gather in one location or from their own workspace, with those joining remotely using video. Unlike team meetings, these casual conversations can be considered optional, with people joining any way they feel most comfortable.
Reward and celebrate achievements and milestones at a team and individual level. If you’re taking your office folks out for pizza to celebrate a recent success, send your remote team members a coupon or gift card for a meal they can enjoy. You may also wantpeople to take photos or videos to share in your team portal, so everyone can feel like they were part of the same celebration. Nothing acknowledges great performance or gratitude like sending something tangible such as a handwritten card, book, gift card or specially-selected food or beverage. Be specific about what the person or team accomplished, and why you’re so grateful.
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Whether your team thrashes or thrives depends on the leader’s ability to create and reinforce a culture of connection, mutual trust and equality across the whole team regardless of work location or hours worked. Start with one or two steps you believe can help you make the greatest strides toward creating a remote-first workplace and work your way forward from there.
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