6 Ways to Manage Hybrid Employees Successfully

The disruption of traditional work culture followed by the implementation of work-from-home strategies has offered a unique opportunity to the companies. The companies can combine the best of both worlds and create improved work systems. 

Also, the top management across industries is aware of the emerging threat of different covid mutations and other viruses that can spread in an immediate physical environment. Here long-term strategies are being devised to avoid any future chaos like the one which ensued after the coronavirus breakout in 2020. 

In such changing scenarios, ‘Hybrid’ has emerged as a unique work model to accommodate the best in-office and remote working strategies. While the nature of the hybrid model is unique to each company, with some giving preference to remote-first and others focusing on occasional office approaches, what remains constant is the wide adoption of the model. An Accenture report shows that nearly 63% of high revenue growth companies have embraced a hybrid work model.

Since hybrid models constitute many remote and in-office employees, their management requires a re-defined approach. Leaders in charge of hybrid teams need to align their management style with this new way of working. So here are six ways that the leaders can implement to manage hybrid employees successfully. 

#1  Strategise and Define the Job Responsibilities

Successfully implementing a hybrid model requires leaders to thoroughly reflect and decide on what they expect from each employee. These include creating a detailed plan for the employee’s work nature, the flexibility in work from home hours, and the schedule and mode of meetings. Leaders must also decide on the customer communication channels to ensure better team collaboration between on-premise and remote members.

Again it is equally important to communicate each of these work facets thoroughly to the employees. The employees’ expectations should also be considered to strike a perfect balance. Some employees might want to come to the office when their coworker friends are scheduled to work from the office premises. Or, based on the hybrid model, employees might wish to work from a local branch than visit the headquarters each time the in-office period approaches. A PwC report reflected that 55% of employees would like to remotely work at least three days a week. So draft a schedule and see how you can accommodate such requirements to manage hybrid employees. 

While ‘pre-covid work culture’ and post-2020‘ work from home work culture’ has clearly defined work norms and systems, hybrid models come with ambiguity on how these two will merge. Leaders can actively initiate discussion and schedule one-on-one meetings with members to answer their questions and discuss the nature of work. 

#2  Optimize Communication and Work Practices

The new hybrid model requires leaders to reinvent their communication style. Managers from varying companies are finding an asynchronous communication style as a helpful way to manage a hybrid work team. 

The asynchronous communication allows teams scattered in different time zones to connect without actively aligning their schedules. The style enables team members to function independently and work without distractions. However, leaders can invest in advanced communication mediums to better manage hybrid employees if the work demands synchronicity amongst the team members.

It is equally important to emphasize the need to keep the team energized and involved. Whether on-site or remote, the workers need to feel that what they are doing is crucial, and their choice of the workplace does not influence their importance in the team. The leaders can enforce these values in a group by intentional words of encouragement each day. 

The hybrid approach also requires leaders to promote and appreciate strong work practices. Remote employees are not 24-hour workers; clear boundaries should be drawn and acknowledged on work timings. Likewise, a workforce remains focused if schedules are consistently followed. Here, leaders should actively strive for feedback and reviews on the hybrid work practices and their impact on the team.

#3 Maintain Balance Between In-Office and Remote Teams

In-office and remote teams come with their unique set of challenges. Hybrid leaders thus need to devise specialized methods to manage hybrid employees collaboratively.

If the managers are in-office, remote employees might feel disadvantaged in getting their work recognized and appreciated compared to in-office employees. Similarly, on-premise employees can feel left out if the managers are overly concerned about the remote team members. Managers should thus aim for a balanced management approach to equally distribute time between employees.

Leaders can periodically reach out to the team members to discuss their compatibility with the hybrid work models. The once enthusiastic remote employee might want to move back into the office. Or an in-office member might want to shift to a work-from-home routine. Address employee issues proactively to maintain productivity levels in a team.

Likewise, if on-premise employees go for a celebratory outing, include remote employees in this celebration by sending a goodies hamper. Such small yet meaningful steps can reduce the apprehensions of remote employees and strengthen their commitment and loyalty to the company.

#4 Arm Your Team with The Best Technology

The increasing functionality of communication and management technologies has helped sustain the ‘work from home’ environment since the pandemic’s start. Successful implementation of the hybrid model requires a company to invest in technology and software to enhance the team’s productivity. 

Leaders should keep an eye out for the following best team collaboration tools. Invest in new robust and functional software or platforms for processes like document synchronization, quick messaging, cloud storage services, and video conferencing. Also, hire professionals to efficiently onboard the team on how to use these tools.

Likewise, a worthwhile investment would be investing in a knowledge management platform. Knowledge management platforms streamline existing knowledge within a company and create actionable and informative modules for the employees to learn. A good knowledge management platform would also offer integrations with other popular software such as CRM software like Salesforce and Freshdesk. Integrations increase the productivity of both the in-office and remote workforce as they have all the necessary information compiled in one place.

#5 Keep the Team Connected

Remote working deprives a team of building emotional connectivity. This connection is necessary for a team to flourish, hold together and achieve common goals. The fun-filled banter or the spontaneous gossip session keeps the air calm and joyous and promotes a sense of togetherness within the team. As per a PwC report, 87% of the employees recognized the office as a crucial place to collaborate and build relationships. For employees working from home, this lack of emotional connection can negatively impact their productivity and will to work. That’s why it’s important to organize virtual retreats for people who are working from home. Connecting your employees and building relationships between them will lead to better team work and more productivity.

Also, the lack of emotional connection goes beyond the connectivity of a team. It can lead to the employees feeling alienated from the company and its vision. This feeling of alienation further heightens frustration and can ultimately lead to the employees leaving a company. 

Leaders can take multiple steps to keep the team members emotionally together and bolster a sense of togetherness. Schedule dedicated video calls to joke and discuss all things that are not related to work. Virtual team-building activities are a great way to keep the employees engaged and connected. Leaders can manage hybrid employees by experimenting with such activities and observing which ones can fit in as a routine, fun hybrid ritual.

Managers should also encourage the team to bond with each other outside of work. Sharing and discussing personal life moments helps build the necessary trust and rapport amongst the group. Strong connections within the team also help in better collaboration to overcome challenges at the work front.

#6 Stay Open to Mistakes

It has been two years since work from home became an active part of the work culture. But companies worldwide are still making mistakes and discovering innovative methods to resolve them. This demonstrates that though work culture is changing, nothing is mistake-proof. And rightfully so. 

Hybrid is new, so mistakes are bound to happen. The managers are expected to ensure a seamless working environment and make the hybrid model successful. While this is not an unfair expectation, this does not mean that managers must constantly feel overwhelmed.  Work culture as we know it is evolving, and everyone is clueless. Mistakes will creep in. Learn from the errors and update your working models.

Since everyone is learning, the managers and team leaders must discuss their concerns with the upper management. Routine check-ins with higher-ups will help them understand the issues at ground zero and your subsequent actions to mitigate them. These discussions and feedback will help them update and deploy new pan-company strategies to manage hybrid employees.

Likewise, periodic documentation is now more necessary than ever before. Leaders can document every challenge they face, their approach to solving it, and its outcome. The documents will help in the periods of reflection and aid in modifying the current working models.

Learn From Others

The hybrid work model is getting enthusiastically adopted in legacy and new companies. Microsoft, 3M, Vista, Lyft, Coinbase- this never-ending list includes companies from diverse industries. The hybrid models they set in place thus offer other companies a chance to learn and build. 

Observing how different companies tackle challenges can help managers better manage hybrid employees. Look at Lyft, for example. The company’s hybrid work venture strongly emphasizes in-person gatherings and meet-ups to ensure healthy team bonding and emotional wellness. Likewise, details on hybrid models of legacy technology companies like Microsoft and Amazon are available in the public domain. Leaders can thus study models like these and adapt based on their own work culture and part of the authority. 

As the famous Marine motto goes- ‘Improvise, Adapt & Overcome.