Building a dream team in a hybrid workplace

While many companies have shown their agility in quickly adjusting to the hybrid workplace setup–consisting of remote workers and on-site employees–there are still a ton of things to learn and unlearn as leaders and managers shape their teams in the best possible way.

Although the government has already urged some private companies to bring their employees back to the office, we cannot ignore the fact that a majority, (91% among 8,184 employees surveyed ) of workers still prefer the hybrid or remote work setup. So yes, expect that this setup is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

But you may ask:?How do I crack the code in building an A-Team????

As HR manager or team lead, we share how you can build your very own dream team amid the challenges that the hybrid workplace setup presents.

1. Build a deeper connection with your people

Traditional face-to-face setting makes it very easy for leaders and team members to get to know each other. Interacting with remote workers and getting a grasp of their personalities is far more difficult when a screen serves as a barricade. Most of the time cameras are turned off, the nuances are not easily seen, and body language is out of the picture.

To combat this, make sure that you allot time for conversations outside of work topics and actually encourage people to share life updates that they’re comfortable to talk about. When a 30-minute meeting ends too early and there’s still a few minutes left, you can?encourage your team members to chitchat? or ask them how their weekends went during the remaining time instead of letting them get back to their work (except during crunch time, maybe!). When employees see that they are treated not just as workers, they feel more motivated to do more and contribute towards the success of the company.

2. Know the strengths of your people and capitalize on them

One of the best ways to bring your team to the top is?identifying each member’s strengths and weaknesses.? This requires lots of communication especially if you’ve just onboarded a new team member. Best possible way to do this is to?

• assign various related tasks to them and observe how they perform,?
• ask them which of their skills they think are at an expert level, and
• review their past experiences and see what they excel at the most.

3. Foster a safe space for all your team members

In a 2019 report conducted by Quantum Workplace, a U.S.-based employee success software provider, it has been discovered that?only 39% of workers feel comfortable being emotionally transparent around senior leadership . To prevent this from happening, make sure that you genuinely support your team members by having their back during difficult times at work, holding yourself accountable when unexpected errors occur, by acknowledging their efforts at work be it minor or major one, and by fully representing them to top management when the need arises

4. Provide multiple and effective communication tools

On the technical side, never be afraid to invest in various communication tools especially when these seamlessly align both your office and remote workers. Having a robust internal communication system among teams helps them to contribute better, easily seek out help from colleagues, and reduces feelings of being isolated (for those working at home).

Building a dream team is no easy feat. It doesn’t happen overnight and will take lots of trial and error especially for a newly-formed team. Never hesitate to reach out to a mentor if you need to as they can add value to you as well.