How do we build human connection in hybrid work cultures?

One of the main reasons leaders share for encouraging people back into offices is to improve connection.

Rhetoric or not, what do we mean by connection? And do we have to be in person to feel this?

Research from Leesman found there's only a 1% difference in the number of employees who say they feel connected to their organisation working four or five days a week as compared to those working two or three days on site. It’s the quality, not the quantity that counts when it comes to feeling connection.

Connection does come through spending time with people in person. But, it’s also built through meaningful work, trusting relationships & feeling able to contribute. And these elements can be built in different ways across multiple settings.

This is where I think we’re going wrong. We associate connection solely with being together, all in one physical space. And because we can only do this some of the time, we fail to develop all the strands that are important.

Today, across workforces, whether in-person, remote or hybrid, we’re experiencing a rise in loneliness, anxiety and burnout.

As Gallup’s research shows, hybrid workforces can make this harder to experience, especially when we rely on old methods:

Time for new habits

We’ve all experienced moments when those joining a meeting virtually get forgotten, the technology doesn’t work, or frankly, they switch off because there is little attempt to engage them.

The mantra ‘zoom or in the room’, became the plea from many – suggesting the best way is either all in person or all virtual.

But this is a bit of a cop-out, and it certainly doesn’t reflect the reality of our lives and misses the broader benefits for those who can have the ability to work in a hybrid way.

There’s also the key question of engaging and building connection with employees when some can work in a hybrid way and others have to work on-site – manufacturing and production roles, healthcare providers, and organisations with large volumes of customer-facing staff on the frontline, as examples. Unaddressed and unmanaged, these differences can lead to friction and even resentment between groups.

We will fail to build connection if we rely on old approaches, tools and methods.

The difficulties we face in making hybrid work push us back to how things used to be. The seemingly easier, glory days.

With one foot firmly in the past, we face a widening skills gap, and without action, it will damage our whole lives.

Ghosts of the past

As well as organisations struggling with building connection across dispersed and varied work environments, it’s a growing problem across many aspects of our lives.

Technology enables instant access to information, services and products. Even building connections and meeting new people, albeit in digital settings. However, when it comes to developing in-depth, real, relationships, this frequently stays surface-level.

The concept of ghosting – simply disappearing from communications, leaving the other party hanging – first emerged in online dating. People opting to quietly distance themselves, vanishing into the internet ether, never to be seen again. This behaviour has started to expand into other areas of our hybrid lives – being ghosted by recruiters when you’ve invested time applying for a job, even clients engaging in services and then failing to follow-up to complete the project.

In our lives today there are often many loose ends. People we meet digitally playing an important role for a brief period and then disappearing – no explanation or excuse shared.

Of course, in person this happens too, but it’s harder to just slip away. Further meetings are likely and the need for explanation, rationale or even simply more considerate behaviour, is harder to avoid.

This tendency is reflecting in our skills and impact, as humans. It has been well-reported that those joining the workforce have struggled to know how relate to their colleagues, even how to make small talk. And in organisations, few people say they have a best friend at work, and yet this is one of the biggest predictors of engagement and retention.

Purposefully shape human connection

We can easily slip further into a digital, ghostly world where the focus is on responses, fulfilling our own needs and anxiously achieving self-validation (growing followers, appearing popular and socially secure).

But this STILL leaves us feeling isolated, lonely, burning out…

?

3 Steps to build human connection in a hybrid world

To truly build connection in a hybrid world, we need to choose to do things differently:

1.??????? Re-frame our mindsets

?

2.???????Value relationship building and purposefully develop our skills

3.???????Stop waiting and start purposefully creating connection

For our own work, with our teams and in our own lives.

At work, focus on 3 strands of connection: Meaningful work; building a trust-based relationship with your manager; and building connection with colleagues.

?

Having a plan for hybrid collaboration results in a 66% uplift on engagement and 29% reduction in burnout rates .

Being intentional with connection makes a big and lasting difference.

Want to access more practical advice and insights on building connection across hybrid teams?

Join our webinar: Creating connection in hybrid teams

On Tuesday 17th September at 11am (UK time) we go deeper into the current state of hybrid work, explore what's working and what's holding us back and address the critical question - how can we create connection in hybrid teams?

Register to save your place below ??

Register for our FREE Webinar: Creating connection in hybrid teams