Are some of your employees returning to the office? Do you have a limited capacity in your office due to the pandemic’s social distancing restrictions? This may lead to you having a hybrid team. A hybrid team is a team made up of remote workers and in-office workers. When this happens management needs to reassess their management strategies and ensure everyone knows how the business will work going forward. Here are six strategies on how to manage a hybrid team.
1. Don’t create a “they” vs “us” environment
One pillar of teamwork is for everyone to be unified for the common goal. When people work from different venues, whether it be a branch office, home office or head office, they can start to think that it is “them” against the rest. You must ensure that no-one feels isolated from the team no matter where they work. You can do this by hosting regular meetings and by having social gatherings with the whole team once a quarter.
2. Use technology
Remote working has been around for a couple of years and there are a variety of platforms you can use to help keep your team unified. These platforms help to keep people connected through chats and file sharing all in one program. You could also create a water cooler channel where staff can go to have casual chats with one another.
3. Define clear working hours
It is important to set clear work hours. These are hours you expect everyone to be available to answer work-related queries. It may also be beneficial to share your work calendar with your team so they know what each other are up to especially if they are not sitting next to their colleague.
4. Be fair
Working remotely and working at the office has different benefits for each set of employees. It is therefore important to treat each fairly. If office workers would like to have more flexible hours allow them. If you offer free coffee to office workers, then you could courier some coffee or tea to your remote workers. By treating each person fairly, they will be able to bond better as a team.
5. Set clear expectations and accountability
It is important to set key performance indexes (KPIs) that can be measured wherever the employee works from. You need to make these KPIs measurable by the work that an individual produces rather than the amount of time they spend behind their desk. Another aspect is to make people accountable for their actions. You should clearly define the responsibilities of each employee and what will happen if they fail to complete the obligations that they have.
6. Know who you hire
When hiring new team members for your company, it would be good for your business to ensure that they are capable of working on their own. Future employees should be adaptable, responsive and punctual.
By following these six strategies to manage your hybrid team, you will be on your way to conquering the world with your hybrid team.
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