Effective team management in a hybrid work environment demands new mindset and skill sets from managers, such as being willing to break away from conventional notions of leadership and productivity, such as seeing employees at all times.
Remote staff may experience decreased visibility, which poses a threat to teamwork and innovation. To increase this visibility, deliberately include both office-based staff as well as remote employees in meetings, discussions and decisions to prevent unconscious proximity bias from hindering collaboration and creativity.
Setting Clear Goals
Establishing clear objectives that are measurable, communicated and understood by your team in hybrid work environments is vital to eliminating miscommunications that may arise when individuals don’t interact face-to-face with one another regarding daily tasks and goals. This will also prevent missteps that arise from working remotely without in-person discussions about tasks and goals.
Establishing clear roles and responsibilities can also help foster accountability and transparency in teams chats or emails. Establishing expected response times helps establish accountability.
Last but not least, it is crucial that hybrid work environments consciously foster fairness. This includes inviting all staff members to meetings, disseminating company news through digital channels that reach both on-site and remote staff members, and eliminating proximity bias from performance evaluations.
This new way of working provides opportunities for creativity in office space use and budget redistribution to meet changing needs. One such idea could be hosting virtual lunches or other fun activities to foster team collaboration across a distributed workforce and build a sense of community among team members.
Establishing Accountability
One of the greatest challenges associated with leading a hybrid team is making sure all members are equally accountable. To do this effectively, make sure to monitor all work-related activities including how much time each employee spends at work versus at home.
One way to achieve this goal is through regular meetings that offer status updates and progress discussions. Furthermore, remote employees should receive clear guidelines for communicating with teammates via email, instant messages, or video conferences.
An important step toward creating accountability is making sure all teams are included in company news, events, and celebrations. This helps combat unwitting proximity bias – when managers favor employees in close proximity over those working from home – which could result from managers favoring those closer by. Remote workers need similar opportunities for virtual socialization as in-office employees do; birthday celebrations, training courses, Friday mix ‘n mingle sessions and access to top-quality video meeting room hardware are just a few ways remote workers should benefit.
Communicating With Your Team
Communication is of utmost importance in any team’s success; in a hybrid work environment it becomes even more essential. Managers must establish SMART performance goals for employees and regularly check back in with each worker to assess progress – this can be accomplished by hosting weekly video conference meetings as well as one-on-one assessments and quarterly reviews.
Remote workers need to feel part of a team, so it is imperative for managers to promote collaboration regardless of location. This can be accomplished by setting communication norms and encouraging use of collaboration tools like workplace instant messaging, always-on video conference software, file-sharing platforms etc.
One way to maintain open communication with remote employees is through offering support services that make them feel welcome, such as monthly stipends for high-speed internet or equipment such as dual monitors. This will enable them to work efficiently from home while still enjoying quality of life.
Keeping Everyone in the Loop
As employees adjust to working in a hybrid work environment, team leaders need to keep communication open between both locations. When employees come in or work from home, let them know you value their contributions and support a collaborative culture regardless of location.
As the manager of a hybrid team, it can be easy to overlook details such as personal desks, docking stations and large computer screens that could lead to miscommunication and confusion about objectives and responsibilities for everyone on your team.
To avoid this scenario, encourage the use of tools that are easily accessible no matter their physical location. A kanban board can help your hybrid teams manage their projects and track what has been completed, is currently underway or put on hold – this enables everyone involved in your hybrid teams to stay updated on tasks and milestones more easily and will reduce missed deadlines or other project issues.
