Just because you’re not in the office all the time doesn’t mean your organization can’t increase employee engagement and build culture in a hybrid work environment.
In recent years, many employees have increasingly returned to the office, working different days and times during the week depending on their boss, their personal lives, and even their commute times.
But only 35% of U.S. companies have brought employees back to the office full-time, and most employers rarely have everyone in the office at the same time.
Experts say this hybrid work environment poses challenges to people’s strategies and business success. The CEOs of Apple and Boeing, for example, are concerned that remote employees will miss out on serendipitous encounters with colleagues and have spoken out about the loss of an innovative edge and healthy company culture.
HR leaders are tasked with creating so-called “water cooler moments” wherever they work to foster employee connection, foster innovation, and create the culture executives desire.
Experts say it’s difficult to plan encounters that feel natural. He is a consultant specializing in virtual communication. Moderate post “How to have water cooler moments when your team is remote”
“These are natural places for people to bump into each other and spark social interaction,” he points out. “You have to replace that environment with a virtual environment, but you have to be intentional about how you build it. You’re replacing a lot of the infrastructure that we all take for granted. I am.”
5 tips for driving culture in a hybrid work environment
Done right, virtual “water cooler” meet-and-greets can increase employee engagement and build company culture. But done incorrectly, it can waste time and demotivate workers. Experts suggest arranging meaningful ways for employees to connect in an inclusive way that can build trust.
foster common connections
Find ways to bring together employees who share interests or face similar challenges at work, suggests Katherine Brecken, senior research analyst at i4cp. Brecken, who is also the author of the i4cp report, believes that Slack, Teams, or other collaboration tools bring people together for a variety of causes, ultimately creating relationships that can help solve business problems. states that it is possible.Reinventing the watercooler effect: How virtual business encounters can foster innovation in a hybrid world”
For example, she says, one organization created a Slack channel for employees to discuss, learn, and share knowledge about generative AI.
“People will meet in their lifetime, and they will become acquainted,” Brecken says. “If you want to transform someone from an acquaintance to a friend, you have to do something together or have a common purpose.” The same is true when building a working relationship, she points out. To do.
Break down silos with transparency
Brecken says it’s easy for teams to become siloed when working in a hybrid or fully remote environment, which can stifle innovation. One of his ways to break down silos is to have teams post their organizational goals and their leaders on the company portal or intranet. Brecken points out that these goals foster discussion and collaboration and have the potential to foster innovation.
“Having a transparent view of who is working on what across the organization and encouraging leaders to engage other teams for the benefit of the entire organization fosters innovation and motivates people. “It increases,” she says.
Don’t leave chance encounters to chance
Before the pandemic, unexpected bumps at the proverbial water cooler were common. But now, only half an organization’s employees are in the office at any given time, according to Kastle Systems, which monitors employee badge swipes.—Brecken says such encounters need to be intentional.
“Can you believe how laissez-faire we were about innovation before the pandemic? We’re going to leave innovation to chance,” she says.
Employers are increasingly tasking entire teams, not just team leaders, with building networks of internal and external stakeholders. This helps build strong relationships, build resilience, and establish a network of resources for all team members, Brecken says.
HR leaders must ensure that the infrastructure to create such networks is available to employees, such as virtual meeting rooms and coffee break apps. Hickle said employees can use such tools to coordinate his regular one-on-one video chats and calls with cross-functional colleagues, where they can discuss issues, projects, and even You can discuss common interests that are not work-related.
Build trust virtually
Hickle said video calls can help employees connect, but building deep trust through virtual channels like Slack and email can be difficult.
In a physical environment, trust naturally develops, he says. Consider the time his co-workers were late turning in their work but saw new projects piling up on their desks. If you meet in person, there’s a good chance you’ll understand the delay, but if you get a verbal or email explanation that they’re simply busy, you can’t be sure.
To co-workers, remote workers may appear like anonymous avatars on a computer screen. So refusing to help a co-worker because of a busy schedule can elicit anger rather than sympathy, Hickle says.
Teams need to create structures that facilitate a level of trust when colleagues are working remotely, he says. According to one report, his three pillars for team members to model to build trust structures in a remote environment are competence, benevolence, and integrity. harvard business review report.
One way to show compassion during a virtual meeting is to send a high-five, applause, or congratulatory emoji to your colleagues to boost morale when a job goes well, Hickle advises. To do.
Leveling the playing field for hybrid work meetings
If your hybrid workforce is hosting a meeting and one or more attendees log in remotely, consider having all attendees use their laptops to join the meeting, Hickle says. Masu.
“This puts everyone on an equal footing,” Hickle explains. “Otherwise, something like ‘The Wizard of Oz’ will happen.”
Read more: Forget fixed hours and embrace flexibility
Much like a character in a famous movie, Hickle says remote workers can hear voices coming through the screen, but they may have difficulty hearing the entire discussion or hearing themselves when they’re speaking. points out. This can make it difficult to achieve inclusivity during meetings.
“If you want to make sure your remote workers can participate in meetings, you need to make sure everyone has access to their own computer,” says Hickle. “Especially if it’s a very important meeting where everyone’s voice needs to be heard.”
About the author: Dawn Kawamoto is the HR editor at Human Resource Executive, where this article was originally published.