Many teams have ridden the pendulum from in-office work to virtual work. Now, recent data shows 43% of Canadian CEOs expect to adopt a hybrid work model, and in the U.S. 74% of companies are reportedly using, or planning to use, a hybrid work model – which is the hardest of all three models.

Teams are working hard to overcome hybrid work challenges with better communication and more virtual connections, so team members can maintain relationships even when they aren’t working in the same building. When we first transitioned to remote work, far too many people felt disconnected, leading to higher turnover – and what’s now known as The Great Resignation.

As these changes continue to ripple through the workplace, and more and more teams adopt a hybrid approach to work, it’s time to assess. Is your team thriving? Or just surviving?

Recently, I joined author, speaker and fellow productivity expert, Paula Rizzo, on her live-streaming show Inside Scoop, to talk about what makes a high-performing hybrid team. This conversation is happening all across the workplace and these skills are essential in our new work environment.

Here are three ways you and your organization can cultivate a healthy, productive – and happy – hybrid culture. Let’s get this right!

These strategies are a starting point. For more like this, I invite you to use our comprehensive Hybrid Team Checklist designed to help your team thrive, wherever they work. Our checklist follows the TEAM approach we use in our High-Performance Teamwork program: Trust, Engagement, Autonomy, and Meaning.

1) Reclaim casual banter

When everyone was in the office it was easy to pass someone in the hall and have a chat.

Now, we may have to be a little more deliberate and conscious about how we connect with our colleagues – but we don’t need a building to make it happen.

Instead of asking how a meeting went when you run into someone, consciously and deliberately make time to check with them. You can email to see how a project is going. Or schedule a virtual coffee or team check-in.

Some organizations use a group chat throughout the day to share pictures, stories, memes, etc. This helps with team bonding and allows an opportunity for people to get to know each other outside of work, which is vital to a high-performance team.

During video calls, it’s important to take a few minutes at the beginning of meetings for casual conversation. Seemingly idle chit chat is not only healthy, but it is also a productive and meaningful contributor to our satisfaction at work. It promotes team bonding, makes leaders appear more approachable and it can offer a reprieve from high-pressure situations.

For more on how to manage video and email fatigue, download our Hybrid Team Checklist.

Of course, we still want to maintain the balance between our “chat” time and our focus work. I wouldn’t recommend keeping the group chat open all day, just as I wouldn’t recommend keeping your inbox open all day. But you can schedule time to check in and re-connect with your colleagues in the group chat, as you would in the office.

You can also use standing “office hours.” This type of recurring appointment helps everyone stay in touch and provides a regular time slot for catching up on items that may not warrant an email or a standalone meeting but do need to be addressed. This gives team members a chance to connect at regularly scheduled intervals and engage with other colleagues they may not otherwise have an opportunity to meet with.

2) Lean into trust

At the same time, we need to balance our conscious communication with trust and autonomy.

Sure, we’ve lost the facetime we had when we were all co-working in the office. But facetime is not a reliable indicator of work effort. Research has proven we can be even more productive when working virtually. So, release the need to micromanage your team. They will thrive with autonomy appropriately scaled to their experience and task complexity.

An effective leader focuses on results over process. They trust their team to get the work done and on time, when and how it fits into their schedule, subject to business needs.

Now more than ever, employees are asking for flexibility. Trusting your team is an effective way to offer this flexibility. When you tell your team their results matter more than the number of hours they sit at their desk, your team is empowered and motivated to perform at a higher level.

3) Work and connect with purpose

A contributing factor to employee satisfaction (and retention) is meaningful work. We all want to feel valued, and we want to know our work has value. This core human need has intensified since the start of the pandemic, when so many of us have been reflecting on how we spend our precious time.

The key to keeping people is to keep people engaged. Understanding how the work connects to the company’s larger mission will help inspire people to work harder. Every time you delegate work, take on a project, or dive into something, you want to honour and underscore how this task aligns with your team’s values and overall vision by highlighting team values, and getting to know your team’s personal values. Connecting the work to those values will help people find meaning and purpose in their work.

Perks may work in the short-term – but it’s not what keeps people coming back. In the long-term, people are seeking meaningful work and connections far more than snacks.

Making time to get to know, develop and show appreciation for your team is incredibly powerful and motivating. When people feel valued and respected, they also feel skilled and purpose-driven, both key elements of a high-performance team.

No doubt, hybrid work is called the next great work disruption for a reason! Having the right habits in place will go a long way toward easing the transition for you and your team. With many things out of our immediate control, this is one area where we can reclaim control by establishing a solid foundation for success.

I’d love to hear how you and your teams are managing hybrid work and what strategies work for you. Please share in the comments.

For more like this, check out my conversation with the fabulous List Producer, Paula Rizzo and ask us how our customized programming can help your organization thrive in a hybrid environment.