Let's face it, hybrid work is here to stay for most organizations. According to a report by Zippia published in 2023, 74% of U.S. companies are using or plan to implement a hybrid work model. So, it makes sense to take a hard look at how hybrid schedules are impacting the workplace experience and to develop strategies that make up for any shortcomings.

Take a second to think back to your first career-oriented job. When you started, you probably didn't have a great feel for what you would be doing on a day-to-day basis. It's likely you didn't know anyone at the company except your hiring manager. And those first few months were anxiety ridden, but exciting at that same time as you learned about the company and built new relationships.

Now imagine going through the same on-boarding process in a hybrid or remote environment. How much harder would it be to build relationships with colleagues? Does it take you longer to learn the day-to-day workflows? How are you measured in those early days when nobody can see what you're doing?

   

Employee onboarding can present unique challenges in hybrid work environments compared to traditional in-person setups. This is particularly true for those who lack previous career experience. All the training and mentorship that might have happened naturally through the flow of the workday now must be planned and scheduled which often leads to a slower progression.

As employees gain more experience in a role and become comfortable with the team’s workflows these issues tend to dissipate. But that doesn't mean experienced employees can work in a complete vacuum. Greenfield projects, workflow changes, and new tools require the team to update their understandings and learn how they fit into the team’s combined effort.

Let’s look at a couple of the most prominent hybrid work challenges and explore some strategies for overcoming them.

 

Communication Challenges

When people aren't physically together in real-time, all sorts of communication issues can come up. We were built to work together. From the early days of mankind we've collaborated together in our teams and tribes to get things done.

“Great communication begins with connection.” Oprah Winfrey

Connection and the visibility that drives it, contribute greatly to our ability to communicate clearly with each other. When you’re in the same room with your team you can see if colleagues are frustrated or happy. And there’s no confusion around how you might communicate because it’s as simple as tapping them on the shoulder.

In a hybrid environment, employees are given various tools such as email, chat apps, video conferencing, or project management software to communicate. Which one of those tools do you use in which situation? Will others see your message if you accidentally use the wrong tool?

All these decisions can cause noise in your team communications if they aren’t handled properly. In the context of communication, “noise” refers to any interference or disruption that can impair the transmission or reception of a message. That impairment slows your team communications down leading to lower overall productivity.

Another issue that often comes up is miscommunication. When we try to use one dimensional communication tools, like an email, remote workers can easily misinterpret messages. Without visual or auditory cues, they may completely miss the point of incoming communications. And let’s not forget, the more intricate an idea is, the more time it takes to properly summarize it in text vs explaining the concept face to face.

   

It’s also a real challenge to get all the relevant people engaged when you need them. Hybrid work schedules have made it possible for organizations to increase the geographic spread of their workforce without needing to invest in commercial real estate. But maintaining connection in a team that’s separated by time zones can be tough.

When teams are separated by multiple time zones they often lean heavily on asynchronous forms of communication. But then it can sometimes take days to get a response. That leaves you waiting, pestering folks who haven’t responded, and wondering if your message even got through. Not only is this super frustrating, but it also slows down momentum on team tasks.

 

Improving Hybrid Communication

The very first step in addressing communication issues is to establish ultra-clear communication guidelines. Define which tools will you be using to communicate around certain topics or projects. Then establish appropriate communication etiquette for your teams to follow and document it in a place everyone can easily reference.

That makes it simple for everyone to know the best forms of communication in every situation.

We recommend documenting the following for each communication channel:

• Purpose & Scope – Explain what forms of communication are appropriate for the given channel.
• Expected Response Time – Detail team expectations around how much time there is to respond.
• Guidelines – Clearly define when each method of communication will be used.

 

Next, process and project documentation become much more important in hybrid environments. Solid documentation allows you to limit repeat queries and conversations. In general, that's a good thing regardless of if you're in-person or remote but this becomes even more important in hybrid environments where a larger proportion of communication occurs in written form.

   

The less time employees waste asking and answering questions in email, the better. So, document everything you can for easy referencing. Here are some great examples to think over:

• Project Plans & Schedules – Reduce confusion and ensure everyone is on track with the roadmap by having an up-to-date and easily referenced project documentation.
• Team Knowledge Base – Wiki and knowledge bases can be a tremendous way to share information between team members without wasting time.
• Meeting Minutes – In hybrid teams where schedules are mis-matched it’s beneficial to document and share notes for both in-person and virtual meetings. Include discussion points, decisions, and action items.
• Onboarding/Training Materials – Build overall onboarding documentation to help new team members become familiar with the teams’ processes and best practices.
• Style Guides – Maintain clear guidelines for consistent branding, communication, and code formatting.

 

Lack of Engagement

Employee engagement has to do with the level of motivation and enthusiasm employees bring to their efforts for the organization. It's an important factor because motivated and committed employees tend to be much more productive and able to come up with innovative solutions. That's why many Workplace Experience teams managing hybrid schedules pay close attention to engagement metrics.

Top approaches to measuring employee engagement:

1. Interviews/Surveys – Ask employees directed questions around engagement and tabulate the results. The more frequently you perform these interviews the faster you’ll be able to adapt to team needs.
2. Attendance/Absenteeism – Track trends in team attendance to identify employees who may be disengaged or facing personal issues.
3. Turnover Rates – High levels of turnover can be a sign of low employee morale and engagement. Analyze these KPI’s to detect ongoing issues.

There are many ways to measure engagement but no matter how you slice it, most would agree that overall employee engagement is down. This is particularly true for Gen Zers and young millennials. According to a 2022 Gallup survey of roughly 67,000 people, a paltry 32% of workers are engaged. Worse, the proportion of "actively disengaged" employees has gone up since 2020.

Houston, we have a problem!!    

Not all that drop in engagement was driven by hybrid/remote work policies. There are many other economic and social factors at play. But poor hybrid planning, and a lack of appropriate tools can certainly makes things worse.

 

Improving Hybrid Engagement

It's key for your people to feel engaged and connected at work regardless of where they're physically located. Without that, it's very difficult to maintain team culture and instill meaning into that work for employees. But the strategies companies have utilized in the past aren't necessarily going to work in a hybrid environment.

To address the issue, some organizations are choosing to take a more holistic view of the employee experience. The idea is to consider all aspects of employee interactions with the company, including physical facilities, culture, technology, and employee well-being. Workplace Experience teams then become responsible for managing and enhancing the overall experience of employees in the workplace.

Having a combined effort to provide better employee services is a great way to drive engagement. But it's also important to bring the right mindset to the table. The idea is for the team to be a service provider for company employees - with more of a hospitality mindset. That highlights to employees that they're valued and a part of something larger than themselves.

 

Wrapping Up

As you've seen, rethinking hybrid workspaces is not just a matter of logistics but a holistic reimagining of our work culture. In this new era of work, the workplace isn't confined to a single location, but rather it encompasses a dynamic blend of physical and digital spaces. It's about fostering flexibility, autonomy, and trust while also promoting engagement.

I invite you to learn more about our virtual collaboration and insights into how to drive collaboration withing hybrid teams. For those interest in discovering how JumpRoom can elevate employee engagement levels, I'm here to chat. Reach out via email or LinkedIn, I'm always eager to talk.