The Future of Work: How to Collaborate in a Hybrid Environment

Reposted from Reworked. Authored by Mike Prokopeak | Editor in Chief 

Effective collaboration across dispersed teams is one of the most challenging problems facing organizations today. This is particularly true of hybrid work models, where many companies have yet to precisely define how, where and when work will take place.

The problem, according to a paper by McKinsey, is that many organizations have yet to think through what hybrid means. According to the paper, while many companies have a theoretical notion of the work model, they still have not worked out specifics. As a result, employees are feeling anxious about what comes next and what that will mean for their day to day at the company.

Without clear guidelines on how teams on- and off-premises are expected to operate, the question is whether workers in these two models can really collaborate or if they will, in reality, operate like two separate organizations. Leaders hoping to adopt a hybrid model long term stand to gain from carefully mapping out what that means — and communicating it clearly to employees.

Invest in Collaboration Technology

For true collaboration to occur, senior executives have to put the resources in place to encourage individuals and teams to work effectively with one another. When working remotely, those resources include communications and other cloud-based applications that enable disparate employees and teams to collaborate across different channels, such as chat, video/VOIP calls, document archives and other technologies.

When employees are in the office, this means having equipped spaces such as conference rooms outfitted with traditional or electronic whiteboards where teams can meet, discuss projects and conduct brainstorming sessions. In a hybrid world, however, leaders must also ensure that these two environments don't operate in a silo and the tools used remotely and in-office work together.

“Although there are many considerations to make, it all starts at the top of each company and each firm's management team sets the tone with how much they value (or don't value) collaboration and their investment to make it happen every day of the week ... regardless of where employees are working,” said Mike Clifton, chief information and digital officer at Irvine, Calif.-based Alorica.

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