Embracing Hybrid Work: Best Team Practices & TimeTrack

Approximately 63 percent of high-growth companies currently embrace hybrid working, which combines both in-office and remote work for team members and their leaders. Employees say they prefer this approach 83 percent of the time. 

There’s a lot of interest in hybrid work right now. However, companies utilizing this model (or thinking about doing so) are also grappling with some drawbacks, including difficulty juggling multiple workspaces, a lack of access to proper tools, and workers who spend more time at home feeling undervalued compared to their colleagues who work in the office.

Outlined below are some best practices that can help team leaders overcome these obstacles and offer equal support to all employees.

Hybrid Work Best Practices

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With the right technology and approach to team collaboration, team managers can ensure everyone feels included and is as productive as possible. In order to provide a more positive team experience – consider implementing the following ideas: 

Use the Right Tools

First, make sure you’re using tools that are accessible and beneficial to everyone on your team, whether they’re working in the office, from home, from a coffee shop, or anywhere in between. 

The best tools will be usable on a variety of devices (mobile and desktop) making it easy for team members to share documents and files. Not only that, but it’s also important to stay in sync by sharing status updates, time projections, schedule changes, and more. The following software options will help keep your team connected, wherever they are. 

TimeTrack

Time Track is not your average tracking app with a built in Pomodoro technique scheme. It not only increases employee focus, but it helps teams manage time, plan projects and tasks more effectively. Time Track provides leaders and managers with valuable time reports with insights into: tracking, controlling, evaluating and invoicing. In addition, it also allows for a better overview of expenses, costs, and budgets Furthermore, it also serves for a better overview of expenses and costs, and budgets. Not only can you track whether your employees are scheduled to meet deadlines, but you’ll be given attendance tracking as well as a better overview of employee absenteeism; for instance: timesheets and leave reports.

TimeTrack – Project Reports Overview

 

 

Weekdone Team Compass

Weekdone Team Compass  is a team management software created by Weekdone. With a focus on status reporting, weekly planning, employee engagement, and goal-setting within teams. The software makes the hybrid workspace more manageable and interesting for leaders and employees by keeping everything in one place. Bring employees together and maximize productivity! Bonus: companies with multiple teams can try a 2-week free trial. Otherwise Weekdone Team Compass is free for 4 users or less. 

Asana

Asana is a task management software that is useful for team organization. With an overview of deadlines, progress, and other team’s process on projects – leaders get a bird’s eye view of the inner workings of the office. Everyone in the team can choose their working dashboard, with custom templates and many different views – it appeals to the masses.

Trello

Trello is similar to Asana, but better suited for smaller teams, or freelancers who need to keep clients in the loop on project status. Trello is a web-based list-making application. It uses a quality management method, Kanban, for monitoring progress and helping everyone stay organized. Like other tools of its kind, you can comment, mention, and share files directly on the boards! We like Trello for the simple structure, clean interface, and ease of use. The free version is pretty great too!

Google Docs

This one is a no-brainer! Google Docs allows for simple and secure document sharing across a variety of devices. Anyone with the custom, private link can share or edit documents, and users get real-time updates through email or by viewing the document at the same time. These details make Google Docs a great option for hybrid teams who work asynchronously.

Connect Schedules

Connecting everyone’s schedules prevents people from feeling left out from team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and even water cooler chats.

The first step is to find a way to keep everyone informed about calendar changes and updates. The second is to schedule regular meetings and make sure that these meetings are easily accessible for everyone, whether they are in or out of the office.

Talk to your team members to find out which times work best for them to have meetings. Then, take everyone’s feedback into account and do your best to accommodate them.

Remember, if your remote workers feel left out because you’re not including them in team meetings, their engagement, efficiency, and overall performance may start to slip. This can create division among team members, too, which isn’t good for morale or productivity.    

Provide Proper Onboarding and Instructions

It’s great if you have access to tools that allow for better scheduling, organization, and collaboration. It’s even better if all of your team members are using those tools consistently.

Do your best to keep everyone on the same page when it comes to understanding the importance of using the same tools and using them regularly. One way to do this is to offer proper and thorough onboarding as soon as new team members are hired.

Give each new hire a detailed overview of each tool and explain how and why it’s used. Touch base with them regularly, too, to see if they have questions or are confused about how to include a particular element into their workflow management practices.

Prioritize Virtual Team-Building

Make it a priority to dedicate one day per month to virtual team-building activities. Keep this date marked in your shared company calendar so everyone can block out the time when possible. Try more active events like virtual escape rooms, or simply make it a 30 minute time to chat about anything other than work!

When you make an effort to create a space outside of the “office”, you’ll gain respect and trust from employees. Team building creates stronger bonds between everyone involved, and by opening up the space online, you increase the opportunities for remote workers to get involved. 

Create Opportunities for In-Person Connection

When possible, try to offer in-person events for everyone to come together. This could be a team dinner, an outing on a local hiking trail, or an informal gathering at the office.

Depending on how far spread out your team is, it might not always be possible for everyone to attend these events. However, consistently creating the opportunity shows that you care and want to give your team members a chance to get together and build relationships in person. 

Implement Peer-to-Peer Learning

As the name suggests, peer-to-peer learning allows co-workers to learn from one another. Creating a peer-to-peer learning program between remote and in-office workers gives team members a chance to build stronger bonds and stay in the loop.

Peer-to-peer learning also helps individuals develop their skills and gain a deeper appreciation for their colleagues’ experiences. In-office workers may have misconceptions about remote workers and vice versa. However – this interactive, peer-to-peer learning allows everyone to be more empathetic and understanding. It also encourages introverts to engage in a way that they normally would not consider themselves!

Final Thoughts on Hybrid Work Model

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There are plenty of advantages to the hybrid work model, but there are also some obstacles that team leaders and team members need to work together to overcome now and in the future.

With the right tools and a commitment to collaboration, connection, and consistency, the hybrid model can be highly effective and allow everyone to work in an environment in which they can thrive.

Guest Post by Author: Erica @ Team Compass

erica@weekdone.com

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