Why your hybrid strategy isn’t working...

It’s harder to make sure everyone’s engaged and performing well - rather than doodling and watching Netflix - when your team is spread miles apart.

Then when rifts emerge, small talk becomes sterile, and every Zoom meeting leaves you more confused than the last - the role of leading a hybrid working team descends into a nightmare.

Before the fears become reality, check out the signs that your hybrid workplace is becoming toxic (and how to fix it).

A sharp fall in team productivity

If it’s suddenly taking your team forever to finish projects, then it’s time to rethink your hybrid strategy before it spirals into significant financial losses.

It’s not all bad news...In June 2020, 28% of UK employers told the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development that remote working had improved their productivity. By January 2021, this had increased to 33%.^[1] This feeling was also shared by many American employees^[2], with greater control over their work.^[3]

But more studies show that working-from-home isn’t necessarily a win-win for employers and staff, without the right measures in place.

A study of over 10,000 skilled professionals at a large Asian IT services company found productivity sunk by between 8-19% from working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic.^[4]

Output dropped as employees wasted time trying to coordinate activities, were constantly interrupted, and collaborated with fewer people, both inside and outside the firm. Anecdotally, a lot of employees say the same.

There is an obvious rift in your team

Keeping your hybrid team organised and focused can be daunting.

When studying 21 remote and 22 office-based teams at a multinational company, researchers found both groups performed similarly.

But the human cost of remote teams was much higher.^[5] Remote teams were more likely to experience task conflict – disputes about the work they do – and interpersonal conflict - disagreements about the way they work together.

More meetings were scheduled to resolve issues with the length of the employee workday increasing by 8.2% on average.^[6]

Disagreement occurs at every workplace, but leaders should be sensitive to divisive conflicts that are disrupting the team’s progress and creating a toxic working environment.

Some employees are not contributing

Important sessions are dominated by one or two people, while others blend into the background, barely uttering a word. Does this describe your team?

This is a prime example of social loafing. People exert less effort while working in a group compared to working alone.^[7]

Social loafing can happen in any working environment, but it is easier to daydream or play a game on your phone when you are on a Zoom call with 75 people than when you are physically sitting together around a desk in the office. Eventually, your top performers will get fed up, reduce their workload, and leave your company.^[8]

Therefore, high levels of trust and accountability should be at the core of your hybrid working strategy. Because without high accountability, such as regular one-to-one check-ins, employees can lose their sharpness and productivity.

How to fix hybrid working problems

After recognising those signs in your team, you may be ready to abort hybrid working completely. Not so fast. Hybrid working can still be successful for your team and organisation but leaders must create a shared reality that fosters togetherness within their team:

Set clear rules and policies: It doesn’t matter if the rules are strict or free flowing, but they must be clear and obvious to every person that they apply to.

This could include what days and how often employees must be in the office.

The penalties for failing to follow the terms should be transparent and are important for keeping individuals accountable.

Set psychological contracts: Leaders should agree with employees on what responsibilities, expectations, and quality of work are required from them.

For example, one person may agree to send daily progress reports because they are unable to attend the office more than one day a week.

Leave enough room for ‘re-contracting’ later, though. This allows both parties to review and change their agreements, if necessary.

If you would like more science-backed advice on how to make your hybrid teams flourish, contact one of our experts.