The Remote Work Paradox Leaders in distributed organizations have begun to notice that when they hold weekly check-ins, team cohesion feels stronger. After using Google Meet for a year, teams working remotely know each other less.
As managers compare notes between remote and hybrid teams, we see the same trend pop up over and over again: Hybrid teams tend to outperform fully distributed teams by a significant margin. Recent data indicates this margin is around 25%.
We believe there are ways for remote teams to achieve a similar level of connection, but that requires effort that many leaders aren’t prepared to make. When that effort is made, however, it drastically improves performance.
Here’s How Hybrid Teams Consistently Achieve Better Results
Hybrid schedules allow for both productive alone time as well as built-in opportunities for collaboration. These office hours create space for employees to bond, build trust faster, and make it easier for groups to stay coordinated as they work.
Remote teams can hit these marks if they’re diligent about maintaining connection across distance. Successful distributed organizations establish tight processes to avoid the confusion that comes from inadequate communication.
But even the best remote companies battle challenges like draining meetings, diluted company culture, and more misunderstandings. A hybrid approach aims to narrow these gaps while still giving employees the flexibility to work remotely.
Remote Work Can Still Be Ideal For…
Remote work offers plenty of benefits. In some cases, remote teams even have the upper hand.
- Fewer distractions and office politics.
- Access to talent not limited by geographic or time zone constraints.
- Worker happiness and autonomy.
- Shorter commutes and less money spent on transportation.
- Clearly defined work with objective metrics for evaluating performance.
When employees are primarily working alone, there’s little ambiguity about who is responsible for what. However, this can come at a cost to team performance. In hybrid or remote teams, work often feels like someone else’s problem, too.
The Problem With Working Apart
Information becomes lost when teams operate remotely without routines that replace water cooler conversations. Casual discussions about projects, while mingling with colleagues physically, foster alignment throughout the organization.
Teams who meet in person regularly tend to work together more effectively for this reason. Context travels well when people have shared experience, like recent discussions or trips to lunch together.
How That Context Fuels Collaboration
If two engineers are working remotely and run into a problem where they need some guidance from a senior colleague, it’s likely they will messages them both. In the office, one may simply run over to their desk or catch them in the kitchen.
When teams meet in person, spontaneous conversations help solve problems quicker. Engineers run into each other and talk out issues without scheduling a meeting. The strongest hybrids recreate these interactions as much as possible.
Why Remote Teams Often Lag Behind
The physical distance between remote employees is less of a challenge than the subtle ways working apart can hinder coordination. Information silos, project delays, and misaligned goals are frequently cited problems in distributed companies.
- Managers have less visibility into what’s happening on their teams.
- Employees are hesitant to ask for help until they know someone well.
- Projects take longer since people aren’t sure who to ask.
- Miscommunication leads to wasted time correcting mistakes.
- New employees have a harder time understanding the companys priorities.
Hybrid teams get the best of both worlds by allowing for alone time while also building in regular intervals of in-person collaboration. This means they get to maintain high levels of coordination without sacrificing autonomy.
How Companies Realize Their Remote Culture Is Lacking
Culture doesn’t erode overnight. Initially it’s small things. Maybe staff meetings are more procedural because everyone’s on Zoom calls all day. Maybe your engineers hesitate to call each other because they don’t see how often.
Before you know it, remote work starts to impact how your company functions, from how long projects take to whether employees feel connected to each other. Cultural degradation is a problem that many distributed companies encounter.
Why Company Culture Matters
Company culture matters. But it’s hard to measure. How do you know if your culture is good or not?
Culture affects things we *can* measure. Things like project timelines, employee turnover rates, and engagement scores. If your culture starts to slip, your outcomes do too.
Proof That Successful Companies Go Hybrid
There are many ways to measure the health of your company. Here are a few that we think can highlight the benefits of a hybrid model:
- Team velocity. How quickly does your team complete work? Is it faster when everyone’s in the office together?
- Employee retention. Do employees tend to stay with your company longer than industry standards?
- Customer satisfaction. How do your customers feel about doing business with you?
- Meeting metrics. How many meetings do your employees have to attend? Are they coming out of those meetings with clear action items?
- Promotion rates. Are people advancing in their careers at your company?
Companies that lean into hybrid give their employees the best of both worlds. They foster connection through in person collaboration without sacrificing the independence that employees have come to enjoy working remotely.
Not All Roles Are the Same Though
If you’ve ever worked in a office, you’ve probably noticed that not everyone spends their day in the same way. Some folks love being around others and thrive in an open environment. Others need large chunks of alone time to truly produce.
Programming is an example of work that’s highly independent. Planning work is more collaborative. By understanding the differences between these types of work, your company can craft a hybrid model that allows employees to do their best work.
How to Design a Hybrid Model That Works for Your Team
Once you understand what work your team does most, you can start to build rules around where and how that work gets done. Of course, you’ll still need employees to collaborate too.
Brainstorming requires collaboration. Executing on a plan can (and probably should) be done in parallel by smaller teams or individuals.
Hybrid doesn’t mean 100% remote some days and 100% in the office other days. Instead, successful hybrid teams define what, office days look like.
Creating defined hybrids will allow your employees to get the benefits of alone time while still being able to collaborate with their teammates regularly.
