Working in a hybrid workplace comes with its fair share of challenges. Preferential treatment to the office employees, decisions on the projects being made without the involvement of remote employees, employers thinking remote employees might be goofing off, and remote workers feeling office workers are getting more perks are some of the common concerns you hear from in a hybrid workplace.

All of these concerns boil down to the lack of effective team collaboration and engagement.

Experts say that whether your employees work remotely, in a hybrid environment, or choose to go to the office every day, the work culture should be the same for all.  

In this post, we will look at some of the best practices that help you establish a strong foundation for team collaboration in a hybrid workplace and address these concerns.

Five practices for team collaboration in a hybrid workplace

Here are the five practices that you establish strong team collaboration in a hybrid workplace:

1. Choose a centralized collaboration system

The first step to establishing a strong team collaboration in a hybrid workplace is to choose a centralized collaboration system that brings all the team collaboration to one place. More than 70% of companies use some kind of digital collaboration tool.

A digital collaboration tool is a usually cloud-based platform that provides you with multiple channels of communication to bring team collaboration to one place. The most popular channels of communication include chat, discussion board, task comments, whiteboarding, and video conferencing.        

Collaboration channels vary from one platform to another. For example, an instant messaging app like Slack provides you with chat, audio calling, and video conferencing and allows you to record and share audio and video messages and share files. Whereas, project management software like ProofHub provides you with task comments, project discussion boards, and collaborative notes that allow you to converse with a team and share files alongside the projects.  

You need to choose the collaboration platform as per your needs. To create a well-rounded centralized collaboration system, you can use multiple collaboration tools or a collaboration system that integrates with other collaboration tools.

For example, CultureBot is an employee experience platform that integrates with Slack to create a complete team collaboration and engagement platform.

Learn more about how to take team engagement one step ahead with CultureBot. Get a demo!

2. Define and document a set of communication guidelines

Once you have set up the digital collaboration system for your hybrid workplace, the next step is to define the communication guidelines and norms for the team. It includes defining how and what to use each communication channel, ideal response time, communication etiquette, and norms for time zones and privacy.

This will help you bring clarity to the team members on when to communicate, how to communicate, and what to use communication channels for communication. Having a standard set of guidelines results in fewer conflicts and the participation of all employees.

3. Create policies to ensure effective collaboration and engagement

Establishing communication in the hybrid workplace is not just about purchasing tools and writing communication guidelines. You need to actively make efforts to build a culture of collaboration and engagement. Otherwise, tools and norms will be dormant and employees will not engage.

The best way to do so is to create policies for team collaboration and engagement.

These policies can include initiatives like:

• Project decisions must be made in the presence of all the team members
• Schedule a daily sync meeting where all the team members must be present for updates. Even 15 minutes can be enough to get everyone on the same page
• HR should conduct engagement activity once in week where all the team members must present
• There should be water cooler discussions or informal activities   where team members can participate asynchronously
• All the team members should meet for monthly company-level meetings or quarterly physical meetups  

This will encourage everyone to participate and help bridge the gaps in team collaboration and engagement.

4. Adopt newer ways of working  

To create an effective hybrid team, the leadership must trust employees. But at the same time, you need to make sure there is some sort of mechanism to oversee so that you can assist employees. Thus, you need to adopt newer ways of working and develop mechanisms that support hybrid work.

Some of these measures include:

• Setting KPIs and clear goals for all employees’ performance management rather than micromanaging
• Creating strong HR policies so that hybrid employees are treated fairly
• Using advanced work management platforms to create a transparent system of working, monitoring, and tracking
• Use virtual employee onboarding and training platforms for employee development
• Training managers and employees on ensuring virtual collaboration and engagement

5. Regular check-ins and follow-ups

The biggest challenge with dispersed teams is the isolation and lack of belonging. To counter this, it is very important that there is a system of regular check-ins and follow-ups. HRs and managers should connect with remote employees one-to-one regularly to check they are doing fine. It is best to address the concerns before they become an issue. Establishing an environment of open communication and regular feedback helps your employees feel less isolated and belong to the company.

Benefits of effective team collaboration in a hybrid workplace      

Effective team collaboration in a hybrid workplace reaps many benefits. Have a look at some of them.

• Improved productivity: The better the communication, the better the teamwork. Effective team collaboration ensures effective sharing of information, team members know who is working on what, and clearer communication. This makes it easy to work together and reduce misunderstandings, resulting in improved team operations and productivity
• Less rework: Effective team collaboration brings clarity to the roles, expectations, and impact of one’s tasks on the rest of the project. This enhanced clarity leads to streamlined operations, better quality of work, and less rework
• Reduce turnover: Effective team engagement leads to a better employee experience as they feel less isolated. This leads to reduced turnover, reengage quite quitting employees, and increased job satisfaction  

Build effective team collaboration and engagement for success  

Establishing effective team collaboration and engagement in a hybrid workplace is mandatory for success. It is because if the team is not communicating well, sharing information freely, and participating in team efforts, it becomes difficult to work together effectively. Using the practices mentioned in this article, leadership and management can build effective team collaboration and engagement in a hybrid workplace.