6 Tools to Improve a Hybrid Work Environment

The last few years led to rapid transformation in the way people work. Companies are now resorting to a hybrid working model because it is flexible. The hybrid work model empowers employees to work to their strengths. It also allows teams to find a good balance between creativity and collaboration.

If your business was interfered with during the global pandemic, a hybrid work model can help you regain control of your business yet again. Opportunities abound and with the use of proper tools you can improve your business productivity and efficiency.

1. Project Management Platforms

A project management tool can help you monitor all aspects of a project. The platform is cloud-based making it effective for teams across multiple locations. You can use the platform for agile projects and connect your team with the most up-to-date data required to enable them to work collaboratively.

You can use project management tools to assign tasks, set deadlines, track the progress of a project, and provide data and insights. It also gives you better insights for making decisions and connects hybrid teams to facilitate better productivity.

Hybrid working cannot be successful if your team does not have the correct files and documents. Make sure that the process of sharing files is simple and easy for your hybrid team, and put in place a protocol for how your team should share files.

There are cloud-based file-sharing tools that will meet your specific file-sharing needs. The tools allow you and your team to access files, edit them, copy or print. You can control how your team shares files through various levels of security. This means you can dictate who can share and who cannot.

3. Strong Strategy

For your hybrid team to stay motivated, you need to have a strategy to guide your team on how to execute work. Despite the challenges that come with managing hybrid teams, the business world is getting more intense and the demand for projects to be completed quickly is on the rise.

Implementing an agile management strategy can help you meet the new business demands. Combining agile management strategy and traditional project management can further increase transparency and help you stay competitive.

Agile management focuses first on the value of your business, followed by communicating in real-time to enable you to manage costs, time, and the scope of the project. When you implement the system, you’ll experience the rapid deployment of solutions, faster project turnaround, and improvement in collaboration and feedback.

4. Video Conferencing

In-person communication allows for a better exchange of information since you can see the person you’re talking to. It creates a personal connection and allows you to know your team even better. However, since you cannot achieve it with hybrid teams, video conferencing is a better option.

While the main focus is on projects, not having a regular conversation with your team can lower morale and ultimately affect productivity. Video conferencing can give you a face-to-face interaction with your team and offer better collaboration. You can use video conferencing to train your new team or conduct reviews.

5. Communication Tools

Strong internal communication is essential for leading an effective hybrid team. Without it, your team may not find it necessary to share innovative ideas with you, ask for support, or be open on what could be hindering them from delivering better results.

It is impossible to schedule an in-person meeting in a hybrid environment. Therefore, it is a good idea to adopt alternative ways of communicating with your team such as video conferencing or using messaging apps.

If your team is operating within different time zones, schedule regular email updates or record and send updates to be reviewed during working hours. Ask your team which mode of communication they prefer and be available when needed.

6. Shared Calendars

Shared calendars can help you balance workload and better communication about schedules. Shared calendars will help your team see timelines, upcoming due dates, or when team members are available. Since you will be working with hybrid schedules, you can modify your calendars to indicate where your team will be working from.

To foster efficiency and productivity, make sure that your team has access to the calendar. Take a chance to build trust with your team, have general and specific shared calendars, and keep the calendar updated.

Flexible working is here to stay. Employee expectations are changing while productivity is slowly becoming broad. Businesses will have to include collaboration, well-being, and learning to drive productivity. Employees want to have a feel of both office and remote work environments. Therefore, it’s equally important for leaders to strike a balance between in-person office interactions and remote working.