Most project managers, team leaders or executives will tell you that managing communications is an ongoing battle in the best of circumstances, but with the pivot to hybrid teams those traditional challenges may just be the tip of the iceberg. “The hybrid model will bring serious problems, and employers need to get ahead and create solutions,” insists John Goulding, CEO of employee communications platform Workvivo. Indeed, while the hybrid model may offer the flexibility that organizations arguably require in this unique pandemic-induced environment, that flexibility also brings some very real communication speed bumps. Here are four dangerous pitfalls to avoid.
Reducing workdays to transactional communications
“The biggest challenge for organizations moving to a hybrid workplace is fostering the informal communication channels that function as the binder for employee connections,” explains Rebecca Weintraub, PhD, Clinical Professor of Communication for the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. “What we have seen in the Zoom workplace is work gets done, meetings are held, and projects are completed. What has been lost is the communication spontaneity that comes from running into people in the coffee room.” What Weintraub deems “hall talk” is the critical space where new ideas are hatched, relationships are encouraged and back-channel information is exchanged. Reducing our days to a series of project or task specific Zoom calls doesn’t just reduce the overall quality of our communications, but it’s a real team building buzz kill with the potential to wreak havoc on morale. To resist this inertia towards purely transactional communications, it will be important to infuse those elements of levity and relationship building into regular calls. For example, consider instituting habits like “creative introductions (where everyone shares their first paid job or other interesting fact) or “team kudos” where the meeting closes with volunteers sharing the best idea they heard during the meeting or kudos to recognize a peer’s assistance or recent accomplishment.
Creating two classes of team members: information haves and have nots
“In addition to the loss of these spur of the moment conversations, there is the potential pitfall of creating information haves and have nots,” explains Weintraub. “Information is still king, and a lot of it isn’t even seen as being something that needs sharing.” Weintraub insists that this information dissemination is invariably unplanned, uneven and unequal. Even the casual observer clearly understands that those who are physically in the office typically have a huge advantage over those in remote locations, and that earlier access and proximity to information can create an uncomfortable information hierarchy of sorts. To combat this natural phenomenon, teams should proactively discuss this potential challenge and develop specific ground rules to encourage rapid, consistent information sharing. Weintraub suggests, “As hybrid teams become a kind of norm rather than an emergency step, it is time to review lessons learned, identify best practices and determine what will work best for the company and its hybrid teams.”
Uneven influence in decision making
Anyone who understands how the corporate ecosystem works understands that influence is often a function of visibility. What makes team members more visible? Speaking up during meetings, going to lunch with the boss, giving presentations and engaging with executives’ questions—all activities that are easily addressed when you’re physically there, but nearly impossible to accomplish when you’re not. On a granular level even something as simple as being influential during a meeting discussion can prove infinitely harder when most of the team is actively discussing an issue around a whiteboard in a conference room while a few people are stuck on the phone in their spare bedroom. Similarly, physical proximity offers the ability to show someone what you’re talking about real time by bringing up a visual on your computer or making your case on an important issue during an unexpected elevator ride with the VP. The simple fact is that those who are “in the room” often influence the flow of work, decisions and conversations more—they just do. While more face time will likely always mean more influence, teams can adopt practices to even out the impact. Years ago, one of my teams decided to always place a stuffed animal on the conference phone as a visual reminder to always solicit input from those on the phone first—to combat the normal tendency to inadvertently minimize their involvement in group discussions. Leaders or team members should proactively raise this issue as a potential concern and develop strategies for minimizing this disparity.
Inconsistent engagement and understanding of complex information
If a year of remote working has taught us nothing, it’s that while video chatting is a nice plan B, it’s no true substitute for the richness of face-to-face communications, particularly when complex issues are being discussed. “The physical office can no longer be the central hub of the workplace if teams are distributed,” explains Goulding. Without this central hub, it can be difficult to conduct important events that require high levels of engagement or facilitate complex sessions like project kickoff meetings, problem solving sessions or high impact client meetings. This is one key reason why some communication experts suggest establishing some time when everyone is face to face. “This doesn’t mean the entire organization,” explains Weintraub. “It should be done at the work unit level that makes sense (e.g. every Friday, first week of the month, every other Wednesday). The goal is to maintain the ability to support specific events or activities that truly do require a face to face connection.
Does this mean that hybrid teams are a bad idea? Of course not. Arguably, in the short term as public health conditions remain somewhat dynamic, they may be a practical necessity for many organizations if not a long-term fixture in our changing workforce. The obvious draw is that they offer the flexibility that seems to be the compromise enabling a return to the office, but teams who minimize the potential communication challenges arguably do so at their own peril. “Hybrid teams can be the silver lining that emerges from the Covid-19 experience,” insists Weintraub. “Communication is and will be the single most critical piece of this planning.”
Stay tuned for my next article where I’ll explore specific hacks leaders can use to help hybrid teams thrive.
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May 05, 2021 at 05:50PM
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Hybrid Teams Sound Great, But Beware Of These 4 Dangerous Communications Pitfalls - Forbes
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