Many organisations have policies, procedures and guidance about hybrid work. First of all, familiarise yourself with any relevant existing documents and check if any training or support is available. Share any policies or procedures, or other information (such as specific rules) about the organisation’s approach to hybrid working, with your team.

It will be helpful where possible to talk to your team individually about their personal preferences for working patterns. Although it may not be possible to meet all employee preferences or expectations, when people are able to work within their preferred style this can help them to be productive, support employee engagement and is also good for wellbeing. When recruiting new team members, also be sure to provide information on hybrid work opportunities and how hybrid working typically operates in your team.  

• What is working well about our approach to hybrid work? 
• What challenges do we experience when working in a hybrid way, and how can we overcome them?
• How effective is our balance of time in the office versus remote work? Are we meeting the needs of our stakeholders, colleagues or customers?
• When we work in a hybrid way, how can we ensure that we are inclusive, fair and work with wellbeing in mind?
• Is there anything we can do to continue to improve our ways of working?

How hybrid working needs to work and be managed in practice will vary extensively according to the type of work being undertaken - be prepared to engage in ongoing conversations with your team and adapt your approach as you learn what works and what does not. You may need to try different methods and approaches to determine what works best for your particular situation. 

Communication needs to be more intentional and planned in a hybrid environment, as there might be fewer casual or ad hoc conversations. Exactly how a hybrid team needs to communicate will vary depending on its size and the types of roles being undertaken.

Communication in a hybrid team requires a different approach to communicating with an office based or fully remote team. However, the key principles of good communication remain: employees need to have the information that they need, in a timely way, to allow them to successfully undertake their work.

Good communication is a shared responsibility across the team; engage the team in a discussion about the best ways to communicate. Consider some of the following:

• Discussing and agreeing arrangements for meetings. How often does the team need to meet, and for what purpose?  When should meetings be online, and when should they be face-to-face? What other ways are there to communicate other than meetings? 
• Deciding upon key communication channels. There are many different ways to communicate – but too many can be overwhelming. It can be helpful to agree primary channels for particular purposes. For example, deciding on one platform for online meetings, and a platform for messaging. Check that everyone knows how to use them fully.
• Processes for sharing working arrangements and locations. Agree a mechanism for sharing who is working where and when. This could include using status updates, auto-signature messages or even a ‘people on a page’ plan sharing working days, locations and hours.
• When and how different forms of communication should take place. Is a meeting the right format for a status update, or should these be done via email? What communication should take place synchronously (at the same time) and what could be done asynchronously such as via an online update, so that people can access the information at their convenience?

One of the most important factors in communicating with a hybrid team is ensuring that information reaches everyone, wherever and whenever they are working. Equal access to information and knowledge is key to preventing communication issues and feelings of unfairness.

Greater flexibility, in both where and when people work, can open up opportunities to people who cannot work a traditional 9-5 working day, including those who have disabilities or caring responsibilities. Increased flexible work can also support the reduction of the gender pay gap. However, if not managed properly it can lead to challenges too, including employees who are working remotely not being sufficiently included, recognised or having equal employee voice.

Consider these recommendations to support fairness and inclusion:

• Unless there is good quality technology to support hybrid meetings, consder holding meetings online by default. When some members of the team are working in the office and some are working remotely, meetings should always be held online. If some meeting attendees are in a meeting room environment with others joining online, this can result in a poorer experience for those not present in the workplace, limiting their opportunity to meaningfully contribute or be heard.
• Ensure everyone has an equal voice, wherever or whenever they are working. Be aware that we can tend to default to people that we can see or are in close proximity to – don’t forget about homeworkers.
• Address conflict quickly. It is possible that issues will arise in relation to hybrid work. This could be as a result of miscommunication or perhaps because, as a result of different roles, some employees can work remotely and some cannot. If conflict does arise, address it early, effectively and in an impartial manner, including following up as appropriate. Refer to the guide on managing conflict for more information.
• Be open and consistent when determining who can work in a hybrid way. In many organisations there may be some roles that cannot work remotely at all. There may also be some roles that can have a great deal of location flexibility and some that can only have a small amount. When deciding who can or cannot work remotely, be clear about your decisions, act consistently and communicate these in an open way.

Managing a hybrid team is quite different from managing a team that is either mostly office-based, or mostly remote. It will require a range of new skills and approaches. Some of these tips and techniques can help you to manage in a hybrid environment:

1. Engage your team in establishing your ways of working. Agreeing and reviewing these together will help people feel included and that they have an active voice. This should include how to communicate as a team and key principles that everyone can work to.
2. Ensure that you have regular 1-2-1 time with your team. This is good practice at any time, but when you may not be working in the same place or at the same time as your team, scheduling regular time to keep in touch becomes even more important. These meetings can be online or face to face - or a mixture of both.
3. Talk about wellbeing with hybrid workers. When people work from home, they may find it difficult to manage the boundaries between work and home, and some people have a tendency to work longer hours. Help people to meaningfully disconnect and manage their technology and work life balance. Act as a good role model with your own working practices. 
4. Be clear on objectives. When people work remotely their performance may be less observable. You will need to be clear with your team how you will assess their performance, and you will need to focus on desired results and outcomes as your main measure for performance. It is always good practice to have well written objectives and provide regular feedback – this is one more area that becomes increasingly important in a hybrid environment. 
5. Build in time for social connection. Although many employees want to work from home, most also recognise the benefits of regularly coming together with colleagues in person. This can include face-to-face meetings, development events, social activities but also creating online social spaces for informal conversations and sharing.