How Do You Empower Employees in a Hybrid World?

As the pandemic continues to ebb and flow, hybrid work seems to be here to stay. Fueled by technology, hybrid work isn’t new at this point, and neither is asynchronous collaboration. But in a world that’s constantly changing, the way we work together is constantly changing, too. So how do we remain agile and stay competitive? The answer is simple but not easy – empower employees to lead their own experience.

Asynchronous collaboration plays a significant role in today’s employee experience. It allows teams to reap all the creative benefits of collaboration without depending on coordinating a meeting to get things done. Asynchronous collaboration is becoming increasingly important for eliminating bottlenecks, helping us break free of endless meetings and email requests without context, and empowering people to do their best work more autonomously – while remaining coordinated and keeping projects moving forward. Asynchronous collaboration puts people back in charge, allowing them to have more control over when to engage with others and when to carve out protected time for deep work. When organizations foster a flexible culture, employees feel free to schedule periods for deep work and colleagues know not to interrupt them during that time. In an age of never-ending distractions and the constant pull to multitask, protecting time for deep work is essential for making progress on priority projects. Flexible cultures also create the space for real-time collaboration with colleagues, which is not only effective for productivity but also encourages team camaraderie. Technology makes it possible for employees to work anywhere at any time, which, on a positive note, can allow for more flexibility when it comes to time and work management. On the flip side, being “always on” can come at a cost to work-life balance, productivity and morale .?

The most effective asynchronous collaboration cultures reward quality work over availability, and encourage employees to manage their own time and take the downtime they need in order to avoid burnout. This type of balance facilitates thoughtful responses and is key for productivity. Empowering employees to lead their own experience means putting people first, before technology and before process. This cannot be done without trust. Trust and accountability build as employees create visibility on execution and decision-making. When organizations trust employees to manage their time and engagement, they are enabling a more seamless employee experience regardless of location and time zone, and therefore create the space for increased productivity. This approach helps mitigate challenges that not only occur with varying locations and time zones, but also creates a more inclusive and supportive environment for different personality types and workstyles to contribute equally. Individuals can then optimize their workdays in a way that feels most natural to them. Structuring simple work intake, execution and reporting also helps individuals optimize their workdays. For example, to prepare for a collaborative real time staff meeting, invite asynchronous agenda topic submissions, declare owners, and drive calendaring all asynchronously by leveraging CWM tools and workflows. If you’re looking for more leadership feedback on work execution, ensure the dashboards that are presented to senior leaders allow for drill down all the way to the work execution level, and that the tasks and workflow allows for Commenting and @ Mention conversations in context so that leadership and team members can share insights and have productive dialogue, flattening the organization and accelerating outcomes. Going back to varying location and time zones, if you have a globally distributed team and “all team” meetings can’t support every timezone, coordinate “viewing parties” to accommodate and survey feedback that drives asynchronous style Q&A with leadership – even for those who did not attend the live event.

The optimization of work relies on a unified, consistent digital experience, but the integration required to deliver it is a big challenge at most companies. It’s not just a question of integrating tech but also transforming the organization. Growing tech stacks can add complexity instead of making things easier, which doesn’t do any favors for employee engagement. To avoid this, it’s important to look at tools and technology as an essential part of an integrated employee experience. According to Gallup , the employee experience constitutes the entire journey an employee takes with your organization. This includes everything from pre-hire to post-exit interactions, and everything in between. The digital employee experience is part of the overall employee experience – it’s the way an organization’s technology infrastructure impacts its workforce, and it significantly impacts employee engagement and productivity. Without taking the digital employee experience into account, all of the different communication tools, apps, and software can add up to more confusion instead of equaling increased efficiency, ultimately leading to a subpar experience. People simply want to get their work done as seamlessly as possible, without complex workarounds. Generally speaking, asynchronous collaboration allows employees to work more effectively and efficiently, however without the right tech stack in place, precious time can be lost trying to locate necessary information or gain access to it. For example, if someone needs access granted to a document that they can’t get until the following day, there is room for improvement within your asynchronous collaboration culture.

Challenges like this can be mitigated by building accessible knowledge bases, granting team-wide access to whatever documentation, data, or assets may be needed (when appropriate), and scaling the process for onboarding and trainings. In addition, defining a process for escalations and urgent items helps mitigate any access issues that may arise. Despite our best efforts, emergencies happen, and therefore having a defined process for looping in the right people and putting out fires is essential, especially for cultures where asynchronous collaboration is the norm. These types of processes do not have to be complex, they just need to be in place. For example, you might have a dedicated Slack channel for urgent issues where workers can mute notifications for other channels, helping to decrease the noise and reduce time on “shallow work” without people missing important, time sensitive happenings. Digital Asset Management (DAM) can also help mitigate these types of challenges. DAM is a software system designed to centrally store and manage digital content. With a DAM system, internal and external stakeholders have controlled access to all their digital assets, allowing them to securely collaborate on content from wherever they’re located (ever heard of Brandfolder ?...). There are various features and benefits that make it easier for teams to find and access content, like automated workflows and streamlined communication. The result? Time back in your day for deep work, necessary synchronous collaboration, or maybe a quick walk to reset. In an asynchronous collaboration culture, the choice is yours.

“Employees are being recognized as the core of creating business value and growth. A robust digital infrastructure can enable better ways of working, improving the experience of the employee and unlocking their potential. Organizations that get digital tools right and provide a best-in-class employee experience will be more likely to attract and retain top talent.” - Elizabeth Kiener, VP, Enterprise Transformation, Capgemini

New ways of working require a connected, digital workspace; a way out of functional silos. This is what the Smartsheet platform has always facilitated, and the platform and company keep evolving as the end-user keeps driving greater change and impact. Demand for platforms like Smartsheet – platforms that can span the enterprise and continuously break down silos that reduce efficiencies – continue to rise in the marketplace. With this in mind, it’s up to companies and leadership to equip teams with the tools they need to work seamlessly across departments that can scale with their needs. We must put empowering technology in the hands of all employees; technology that makes things easier instead of more complex. When we put the right tools in the hands of employees, it of course makes them more productive but also makes their experience more rewarding. A rewarding employee experience encourages retention, which is especially critical as the world continues to adapt to a hybrid work reality that isn’t bound to geographical limitations. Reducing reliance on real-time communication opens up the talent pool which can be great because it allows organizations to tap talent from all of the world, but this also, by nature, means increased competition for that talent, making it even more important for organizations to remain competitive in the marketplace. That said, when organizations can create and maintain a positive employee experience, it strengthens their strategic ability to be more competitive in the marketplace, and ultimately improves the bottom line. Flexibility is key here – organizations need to plan to be resilient by design. Companies are beginning to understand that the quality of the employee experience and the success of the organization’s overall digital transformation are highly interdependent. In fact, a recent survey by the International Data Corporation (IDC) found that 85% of respondents said an improved employee experience and higher employee engagement led to better customer experiences, higher customer satisfaction, and increased revenue at their organization.?

With the emphasis on asynchronous collaboration and the right tech stack, we can’t forget to make our synchronous communications count, too. Not every meeting should be an email. Asynchronous collaboration provides a lot of perks, however, like most things, it should be exercised in moderation. If there is too much work being done autonomously, we lose the opportunity to bounce ideas around, foster connections between team members, and acknowledge wins and offer kudos to those going above and beyond. Finding the “hybrid sweet spot” is imperative. It’s an ever-moving target, but leveraging collaboration tools like online whiteboards can facilitate the balance by allowing for work that starts off synchronously (updated in real-time during a meeting) and then expands to asynchronous for meeting attendees and non-attendees alike. As long as meeting notes are shared in a timely manner to provide context for those who weren’t able to attend live, teams can work quickly together and separately without losing coordination. Forbes expands on this idea by breaking down asynchronous work into three separate categories: Synchronous & Collaborative, Asynchronous & Collaborative, and Asynchronous & Independent.

Synchronous & Collaborative: Examples include strategic planning, team decision making, and performance reviews. This is the work that we’ve historically done in an office that remains most valuable when done together, in real time.

Asynchronous & Collaborative: A great example of asynchronous and collaborative work is status meetings. A two-way exchange is expected, but it’s not necessary to do it at the same time. Information can be consumed, questions can be asked, and feedback can be provided in a richer way than in a live meeting with this type of exchange.

Asynchronous & Independent: Examples include routine updates and FYIs. These are messages that don’t call for a response and allow for more self-managed teams.

When it comes down to it, the most successful organizations are able to move between asynchronous and synchronous communication and collaboration. They are adept at optimizing for efficiency, while creating and maintaining a culture of inclusivity and wellbeing. Striking the right balance between work styles can lead to happier, more productive teams, and therefore more successful companies. When the pandemic first hit, companies had to adapt to let people choose where they work. Now, the focus is more on when people work. Employees increasingly want the flexibility to set their own hours, while employers still need to maintain productivity and engagement. With the right balance of technology and culture, both goals are achievable.?