originally appeared on: https://medium.com/@musayyib/5-ways-to-make-your-hybrid-team-more-productive-40cacf295688

Powerful strategies guaranteed to help you reach your desired results!

Remote work has become more commonplace in recent years as businesses and professionals looking to increase productivity and success. Hybrid teams — a combination of remote and onsite
personnel — can be even more productive when the right strategies are employed.

But unfortunately, hybrid teams sometimes don’t run quite as smoothly as managers want them to since it becomes difficult to track performances, keep tabs on work, or simply communicate with other team members.

Going through a similar ordeal? Trust us you’re not alone.

Your remote, in-office, and hybrid teams need to collaborate properly to be productive. But without the right direction, they start to blend together in all the wrong ways.

Let’s start from the beginning before we get into our 5 great strategies for your hybrid team’s productivity.

What is a hybrid team?

A hybrid team is a type of organization that combines remote and onsite workers. It allows flexibility in remote work but requires employees to visit the office premises at least once a week. This type of team structure can be beneficial for businesses looking to reduce costs, maintain continuity, and increase flexibility for their workforce.

Benefits of a hybrid team

A hybrid team offers several advantages over traditional teams, such as:

• Increased collaboration between remote and onsite employees
• Improved communication with clients
• More flexibility and greater scalability as your business grows

Additionally, having a hybrid team can provide cost savings to your business due to reduced overhead expenses associated with onsite working arrangements.

Our 5 Great Strategies for Productive Hybrid Teams

Follow these 5 ways to build a productive and scalable hybrid workforce.

#1: Set clear objectives

Establish clear objectives for each individual and team as a whole. Both you and your employees should agree on what needs to be accomplished to keep productivity from suffering. You can do that by setting expectations around the tasks to be completed along with deadlines for each of those tasks.

#2: Utilize communication tools

The key to successful hybrid teams is effective communication among all involved parties. Leverage video calling, instant messaging, collaboration tools such as Google Drive or Dropbox, and other technologies to keep everyone informed about project updates and deadlines.

#3: Foster trust

It’s important that remote employees don’t feel like they’re missing out on important communication or decisions just because they aren’t present in the office every day.

To make sure everyone is included in the decision-making process, ensure that all communication pertaining to a project is held on a common digital platform like Skype or Slack. This will enable you to update all employees on a combined project simultaneously, so there is no sense of being left out or slighted due to the remote status.

Additionally, opt for virtual meetings with both remote and local employees so your entire team is included in discussions and decisions being made about projects or initiatives.

#4: Have regular check-ins

Scheduling regular check-ins with your team will ensure that everyone is on track with work, meetings, goals, or targets. You can also use this opportunity to address any challenges employees may be facing in a project.

These check-ins don’t have to be lengthy; a simple 15-minute call once a week should suffice depending on the team size.

#5: Promote team collaboration

Working together towards common goals can help to build trust among colleagues while fostering innovation within a team environment. It also helps your hybrid employees grow, especially those who may need more access to resources due to their location constraints.

You can encourage collaborative work by creating online forums to freely share ideas while creating mentorship opportunities for employees with different experience levels.

Bonus Tips to Make Your Hybrid Team More Productive

Want productivity levels to take off right away? Add these productivity hacks to your plan:

• Leverage technology such as video conferencing, time tracking, and collaboration tools
• Provide regular feedback to all members of your team
• Promote accountability within your team
• Reward high performance or participation

In a Nutshell

Although it can be difficult to manage a team operating from different geographical locations, there are ways to make it work. By being clear about your expectations, staying organized, and maintaining open communication, you can set your team up for success.

Simply begin by utilizing our 5 strategies to set the ground for enhancing your hybrid team’s productivity while increasing coordination between remote, hybrid, and in-office individuals.