Working from home or off-site is getting to be more and more a reality. For many it has been for many years. For some it has become more real after covid.
Harvard Business Review conducted a survey and 3️0% said they prefer working from home and 55% said they favoured hybridwork.
We see a lot of benefits of it, but for teams it can be a challenge, especially when we are talking about trust and connectedness.
There are ways you can connect and build trust.
Making sure you have a routine can definitely benefit.
For instance, you can have regular follow ups, that can happen maybe once a week.
Their purpose would be to check in on your colleagues that are working off site, so you can answer some questions or doubts they have, or just to make sure they are doing ok and staying connected.
Before you get into the formal stuff it is recommended you have a check in.
You can have an exercise.
Something fun like: everybody has to explain how they are doing by drawing it on a paper and showing it to the camera.
Or maybe have a tour of the apartment or a house. You can do it regularly and every meeting someone gives a tour.
A fun one is to write a haiku or do origami.
Those activities are fun, they spark conversation, connectivity and trust. And give a lot of material and laughter when team members do get together.
Make sure that everybody is on track about current activities and situations. If you have hybrid teams it is more likely you’ll talk to those on site more, just because they are there.
In that case, you have to inform everybody about the decisions you’ve made.
In the case of hybrid teams, it is better to overcommunicate and always give to those, who are off site an advantage and always have them in mind.
There are a lot more things you can do. Planning is one of the important aspects of hybrid work.
Do you have hybrid teams or members that work off site? How do you manage them?