How Managers Can Improve Hybrid Team Communication
Hybrid work can succeed only when employees understand what is expected of them and managers communicate those expectations consistently.
That sounds simple. In practice, hybrid team communication is one of the most difficult responsibilities people leaders face.
Senior leaders may establish an organization-wide workplace policy, but managers are often responsible for turning that policy into a working model for their teams. They must explain when people should work together, which activities benefit from in-person interaction and how employees will remain connected and accountable across locations.
Confusion begins when every manager interprets the policy differently.
One team may follow a predictable office schedule. Another may treat the same policy as optional. Some managers establish clear working agreements, while others leave employees to determine their own approach. The result is an understandable question: Do I have to come in or not?
The answer should not depend on which manager an employee asks.
Effective hybrid team communication and management requires more than enforcing attendance. Managers need to explain the purpose behind workplace expectations, establish communication norms and create meaningful reasons for people to work together. Employees also need clarity about how performance will be evaluated, regardless of where the work occurs.
The goal is not to prove that one location is always better. It is to build a working model that supports individual focus, team collaboration and organizational priorities.
Why Hybrid Team Communication Breaks Down
It was the business dilemma of 2022. Companies spent hours upon hours debating their strategy about hybrid work. Leadership teams went on retreats, read studies and employee surveys. And then they called the shot:
- Some said come in two days and stay home for three…
- Some said come in three days and stay home for two…
- Others said come in all days…
- And a few said remain virtual and remote.
The only thing that seemed consistent in policy setting was that every company set a policy.
But it didn’t bring immediate change.
Because while senior leaders set the policy, they relied on people leaders to enforce it. Teams were given leeway to build their own working model and set their own guidelines. Conceptually, a good idea. But actually, it’s been pretty confusing because nothing seemed consistent from one manager to the next, and it still isn’t consistent today.
In the same companies, some people leaders are following the strategy, and others are saying “we don’t need to come in.” Some are setting a few meetings as guardrails and then allowing employees to interpret the rest for themselves. And unintentionally, we’ve ended up in a tug of war between employees and managers which is why the most common sound bite from employees is: “Do I have to come in or not?”
How to Create Hybrid Team Communication Guidelines
The data shows that most employees need to.
Senior leaders will tell you that initial pandemic insights showed that people were working effectively and efficiently at home. Projects were able to stay on task, and employees actually worked more without distractions and commutes.
But leaders should have also considered that employees didn’t have much else to do. Now that everything is open, distractions are limitless. Those same employees have built new schedules and lifestyles that work best with a lot of flexibility. So, the tug of war continues.
Do people really need to return to offices? Most companies would say yes for reasons that benefit employees more than they’re willing to admit.
Culture, development, connection and trust aren’t happening easily without people being together. If you just cringed, consider this. You may be an outlier. You may be the person who has made all of the team elements work without sitting in a room together. But the data says something different. Overwhelmingly, most companies are seeing that they didn’t deliver on many of the ingredients that sustain a company culture and propel employee growth. And even if you are an exception, companies need to guide a work environment that promotes best practices for all.
Is there a chance that leaders will give in to the employee resistance? Will companies ease off their hybrid strategy and go back to “Just do what works for you.”
No.
Senior leaders can’t let that happen. At this point, it’s not a matter of whether companies are moving forward with a hybrid model. It’s a question of who’s going to buckle down and nudge employees to get there.
Once again, the expectation is on people leaders.
Not the senior leaders. They set the strategy and put the wheels in motion to adjust company norms, company space and everything needed to make a culture conducive to hybrid models. It’s the people leaders who will have to make it work now. We’re back where we were when the pandemic hit, and people leaders were asked to manage so much more than work results. They balanced mental health, personal fears, illness and lack of connection. They spent twice the amount of time on individuals as they had in the past, and they are the key reason we all got through rough waters.
Leadership Skills for Managing Hybrid Teams
And now, every people leader needs to shift from the needs of individuals to the priorities of teams. It’s a 180 from the direction they took before, and some people leaders are avoiding it. Others are struggling with it. It’s the crux of the problem with resetting. Companies won’t have a vibrant, hybrid culture until people leaders lean in and make it happen.
As we’ve coached individuals and small groups of people leaders to do this, we understand the resistance. We also understand that the success of moving ahead is counting on it.
So, whether you’ve already embraced the ideas below or feel your shoulders tense up as you read them, this is what we’ve coached people leaders to do to step up to the task at hand.
People leaders need to:
Know your own blind spot. The hybrid team communication strategy is one company policy where some people leaders are letting their own desires get in the way. It’s OK to admit it. And it’s essential to recognize it. But it can’t be about you right now. It’s about a group of employees who need to feel like a team. Be careful that you aren’t assuming what worked during the pandemic is still relevant today. Those were different times, more restricted times, and your employees aren’t staying at home. They’re just not coming to the office.
Course correct by example. The analogy of giving 110% has never been more important. If you want people to show up more, you need to be there every day to greet them. If the guidance says to come in two days, you should be there for four days so that your team always sees you. It isn’t fair, and it may not even feel right. But it’s the number one excuse employees are giving for why they aren’t adopting the hybrid model. “My manager isn’t even there.” To change their behavior, you need to go well beyond it until the team hits the cadence you’ve prescribed. Then, you can settle into the same schedule.
Explain the why, not the what. Most messaging around the hybrid team communication strategy wasn’t very good. It explained what companies were doing but didn’t prove out why they were doing it. And employees took away a mandate that felt restrictive, not beneficial. It wasn’t your message, but it’s your mess to clean up. You need to believe in and communicate the value of a hybrid team communication strategy and make it real for your team.
Build a model for a new way of working. In our workshops, we’ve coached people leaders to be intentional about talking through how a team works. It is a reset and deserves discussion to get to an understanding. Every team has tasks that are independent, and tasks that are interdependent. Employees need some help remembering that.
Deliver on development. Many people leaders are leaning on external resources, like us, to develop programming that adds meaning to their monthly or quarterly meetings. That’s a good idea. It allows you to deliver employee development without shouldering all of it yourself.
Expand perspectives. Employees are stuck on proving that they work well remotely. Don’t fight their perspective. They may be right, and they aren’t feeling heard. Instead, expand their perspective to the team view which they can’t really see. That’s the unique view you have and the reason to bring people together.
All companies are dealing with resistance to the hybrid strategy. It’s a key ingredient in the evolving company culture, but it won’t take hold without the efforts of people leaders. It’s a tall ask, and companies need to find those who are willing to step up and make it happen.
A little support through coaching or a group workshop is proving to be a big help. If your people leaders could use a boost and some guidance on moving ahead, we’d welcome a chance to help you accelerate your efforts.
Create a Clear Hybrid Team Communication Agreement
A hybrid-work policy and hybrid team communication plan establishes organizational direction. A hybrid team communication agreement explains how that direction will work from one day to the next.
Managers should involve employees in defining practical hybrid team communication norms while remaining clear about which expectations are established by the organization. This creates room for employee input without suggesting that every requirement is optional.
A useful hybrid team communication agreement should answer questions such as:
- Which days or activities require in-person participation?
- What flexibility is available?
- Which channels should be used for urgent and nonurgent communication?
- When is a live conversation more appropriate than an email or message?
- How will decisions and important updates be documented?
- What response times should employees expect?
- How will remote participants be included in meetings?
- How will individual and team performance be measured?
- How often will the team review and adjust its working model?
The hybrid team communication agreement should be easy to understand, consistently applied and revisited as the team’s needs change.
Hybrid Team Communication: Give Office Time a Clear Purpose
Employees are more likely to understand workplace expectations when managers explain why particular activities benefit from being done together. This is true for hybrid team communication.
Office time should support work that gains value from live interaction. That may include strategic planning, collaborative problem-solving, relationship building, mentoring, onboarding or conversations that require greater nuance.
If employees commute to an office only to spend the day in separate video meetings, the purpose of being together becomes difficult to see.
Managers should connect the location to the work. Explain what the team is trying to accomplish, why being together will help and what employees should expect from the time.
Hybrid Team Communication: Build Trust Through Consistency
Trust in a hybrid team communication strategy does not depend on allowing unlimited flexibility or requiring constant visibility. It depends on clarity and consistency.
Employees should understand what is expected, how decisions are made and how their performance will be evaluated. Those standards should apply fairly whether someone is working in the office or remotely.
Managers also need to model the expectations they communicate. If a team is asked to gather for a particular purpose, the manager should be present, prepared and actively involved. Leadership behavior tells employees whether an expectation is meaningful or simply procedural.
Hybrid Team Communication: Listen Before Addressing Resistance
Employees may have valid concerns about commuting, concentration, caregiving responsibilities, scheduling or whether office time is being used effectively. Listening to those concerns does not require a manager to abandon the organization’s direction.
It gives the manager the information needed to communicate more effectively.
A productive conversation can acknowledge the employee’s perspective, clarify what is flexible and what is not, and explain how the expectation supports the team’s work. The goal is to replace uncertainty and frustration with a clearer understanding of the situation.
Hybrid Team Communication: Equip Managers to Lead Hybrid Teams
Hybrid team communication success is often determined at the manager level. People leaders translate organizational policies into team expectations, facilitate collaboration, give feedback and maintain relationships across locations.
Those responsibilities require communication skills that many managers have never been taught.
SW&A helps organizations equip managers to communicate expectations, navigate resistance, facilitate hybrid conversations and create stronger connections across teams. Through tailored communication training and coaching, managers develop practical approaches they can use in the situations they face every day.
Is your hybrid-work strategy or hybrid team communication clear at the organizational level but inconsistent from one team to another? Talk with SW&A about helping your managers create greater clarity, trust and accountability across the organization.
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