3 Ways to Stay Connected with Your Hybrid Team
Photo by Alina Grubnyak on Unsplash
Recently, businesses have been put in a difficult position. With the Delta variant looming over us, most offices won’t be able to return to full capacity quite yet. Hybrid schedules, Zoom meetings, and Slack are going to continue playing a major part in our work lives as we navigate this pandemic.
Going forward, you and your team need to put in the extra effort to coordinate with one another and make yourselves available to collaborate when needed. With some of you in the office, while others are tuning in virtually, it can be tough to figure out how to effectively work together.
Here are three tips on how to stay connected with your hybrid team:
Use a shared calendar - Some of your team will be in the office on set days, while others are working from home permanently. It’s important to note everyone’s schedules to make it easier when coordinating meetings, presentations, and team-building exercises. Using a shared calendar will allow everyone to make adjustments to the calendar when necessary.
Establish Open Office Hours - When you’re managing a team and trying to stay on top of all that’s on your plate, it’s easy to bury yourself in back-to-back meetings and limit your availability. Set up a few weekly recurring 30 minute slots of open office hours on your calendar and let your team know they can book time with you during those hours if needed.
Weekly check-ins - You should have a set day and time every week to meet with your team and also go over any questions or concerns, encouraging everyone to be on camera. If there’s a day everyone is in the office at the same time, it’s a perfect opportunity to hold a meeting. If not, then some of you can meet in person while the rest log in remotely. Having a meeting near the start, or end of, the week can help keep everyone on the same page.
Attempting to coordinate with your team when you can’t physically be with all of them at the same time can make communication and collaboration a challenge. If you want to talk about how to bring your best communication skills to your team, book an appointment with me here!