What are hybrid teams?

We hear these words often: remote, flexible, and hybrid work. But what exactly do they mean, and is there a difference? Here's an overview of all you need to know about hybrid workplaces and teams.

What is a hybrid workplace?

Hybrid companies are businesses that adopt a flexible, hybrid work model for their employees. Basically, this means their employees can choose whether they will work from home, an office, or a third space - and how often they will do it. The hybrid work model has proven to be the key for companies that want to provide flexibility to their employees and not enforce a strict model of mandatory office days.

Hybrid work seems to be the preferred option for companies with distributed workforces, whether they are located in the US or across the globe. Hybrid and remote work are often used interchangeably, although when a company is fully remote, it means they don’t have office spaces, and all or most of their employees choose to work remotely full time.

What is a hybrid team?

A hybrid team is a workforce that works partially or mostly remotely with flexible team members. This flexibility means the employees can choose whether they work remotely, in-office, or both, switching between distributed work and physical workspaces. When a company lets employees work from home or remotely at least a few days a week, they have a hybrid workforce.

The main drivers of this work model are tech companies, who've been struggling for years to provide the best benefits and perks to their very competitive talent search. Employees increasingly value flexibility, reduced commute times, better work-life balance, and general wellbeing.

The Covid-19 pandemic opened the doors of flexible working to employees outside of the tech circle. Now, companies in other industries also have remote workers and flexible team members. Flexible and remote work enables companies to hire global talent, increase employee retention, and embrace the future of work.

Benefits of hybrid teams

The benefits of remote and hybrid work are numerous, from better work-life balance to higher productivity and increased talent pools. Here’s a breakdown of the most essential benefits for both companies and employees:

Keeping the best of both worlds

Hybrid workers get to experience the best of both ways of working: location independence and the flexibility to organize their own days, but also the magic of face-to-face encounters, a collaborative work environment, and connection to their peers.

Hybrid teams choose and organize their workflows depending on whether they need to brainstorm and connect in person or focus on deep work, which they mostly do at home. This means they can tap into the onsite experience and have those water cooler chats when needed, but also

Productivity and flexibility

Companies with hybrid teams experience a higher productivity rate of their employees. When people can organize their work around their life and not the other way around, they tend to be happier and less likely to switch jobs. Companies can reduce their expensive HQ and office locations and save money on real estate - a win for everybody.

Expanded access to talent

Whether you decide to hire talent globally or just across your country, you will still benefit from not having to focus on a 30-mile radius from the office. It will be easier to fill specific roles, hire skilled candidates, and increase your team's diversity.

Challenges in managing hybrid teams

Hybrid work isn’t all rosy — like other work models, it has its challenges too. For employees, they boil down to setting boundaries between work and personal life, and for leaders and companies, it’s more about successful team management.

Communication and clear expectations

With flexible teams, as with remote employees, you need to be intentional about communication. There's no over-communicating in virtual and flexible work environments, and it can help to focus on asynchronous work. Async communication means that information is shared in writing, and people don't need to respond to messages and prompts in real time. In the most successful hybrid teams, tasks and deadlines are communicated clearly, and managers set expectations transparently.

Company culture and employee engagement

For many managers and business leaders, it can seem that it's hard to keep good company culture in hybrid work environments. That, of course, is not true, but team culture needs to be deliberate in flexible teams. Organizing company offsites, team retreats, and team building exercises helps distributed teams with building trust, bonding, and achieving a better team dynamic.

On a day-to-day basis, virtual happy hour sessions can be a good idea, as well as team meetings dedicated to off-work topics, such as books and shows your team enjoyed, quality time with family, etc. Virtual meetings can sometimes take a toll on workers, so managers should be mindful of how often these check-ins are organized.

Leveling out the playing field

In hybrid teams, there is a danger of creating multiple "classes" of employees. Those who come to the office may get an unfair advantage when it comes to promotions because they can bond 1-on-1 with managers. Their remote colleagues may get left out, while hybrid employees get reduced chances for career development.

To prevent this from happening, implement mechanisms and protocols to ensure your entire team has the same access to information and communication. Create remote-first communication flows that make everyone feel part of the team. Include remote team members in all events, company decisions, and feedback loops. If Slack and video conferencing make your workers feel excluded, rethink your communication structure.

Tips for leading hybrid teams

Hybrid and remote work can be implemented successfully, but they do require an intentional focus on teamwork, communication, and reinventing the employee experience for a new workplace.

1. Offer support

If your employees are new to hybrid work, make sure to lend a helping hand and support them in adapting to this new work model. Make sure all your team members know which workspace options are available to them and what is the preferred way to communicate their work schedule.

2. Set clear expectations

Flexible and hybrid work is all about trust and freedom for the employee to decide when and where they are most productive. To make this arrangement successful, managers need to communicate expectations clearly to employees.

If there are certain work hours when a team member needs to be available, it has to be clear and communicated in writing. Workloads, tasks, KPIs, PTO protocols, and all other processes should also be laid out clearly to avoid misunderstandings and work delays.

3. Make sure everyone has equal access

In hybrid teams, face time with managers can quickly become an unfair advantage for employees working from the office. Pay special attention to ensure everyone has the same access to information, career growth opportunities, and communication - regardless of where they work from.

One way to bridge the connection gap in flexible teams is to organize hybrid meetings. In these meetings, people who are together in a physical space and those joining through Zoom or another video conference tool all use their own laptops and join individually, which helps remote workers feel more included and gives a better atmosphere to the call

4. Communicate proactively

Remote workers are exposed to isolation and burnout more often than their office-based colleagues. Make sure to check in with all employees regularly and aim to establish a proactive, open line of communication — even if it happens through a video call.

5. Support employee wellbeing

One of the most critical factors in talent attraction and employee retention efforts today is the well-being of employees. Establish a wellbeing program for all employees, especially hybrid teams, and track the ROI. Employee wellbeing brings better productivity, employee loyalty, higher engagement rates, and better overall business performance.

Flexible workspaces for hybrid work

​With all the benefits of offsite working, people still need the office environment for some aspects of their work. Employees need to collaborate on creative projects together, and whiteboarding in the same room always sparks tons of ideas.

If you don't want to shift to full remote working, consider providing flexible workspaces for your hybrid teams. Flexible workspaces provide your virtual team with a place to meet when they need to and work together. Flex offices have varieties of different work areas, all the office amenities, and are usually well designed.

Companies benefit from flexible workspaces by saving money on long-term real estate leases. With flex spaces, you can provide your team with a great work experience without commitment or high costs.

Why you should embrace hybrid work

Knowledge workers in any industry have learned that they are valuable assets to companies everywhere competing to retain them. The newfound option of flexibility is among the most requested benefits of workers everywhere, and companies are starting to grant those wishes.

Younger generations of workers, like Millennials and Gen-Z, are ramping up to be the majority of the workforce. These generations value flexibility, a feeling of belonging and purpose in their work, and having time to spend doing what they love off work.

Finally, companies get to experience massive savings on real estate, a happier, more loyal, and more productive workforce, and in the end, a better bottom line. All these factors make hybrid teams a desirable addition to any company that is serious about the future of work.