Return to office has been a raging issue for a while now. But despite all the talk about its benefits and the counters raised against them, RTO mandates have mostly failed. Even executives are now admitting that this approach may not be the best and may not even boost productivity.
The consensus is still not on the horizon on how most companies are going to work this issue out. We know that hybrid work modes are the most popular. However, there is a huge gig economy that has arisen in a very short time and it is filled with high-performing talent. So, many companies may lose strong talent assets if they choose to implement strict return-to-office policies.
In some cases, like with manufacturing jobs that require on-site presence, even from managers, working this up is difficult. However, in other jobs like IT or client service, working from home is easily the best option.
With that in mind, executives should look towards optimizing their remote and hybrid working processes. The best way to do this is to minimize return-to-office mandates and increase employee engagement instead. Here are 12 ways to make your remote and hybrid teams work like a return-to-office workforce:
7 ways to motivate hybrid and remote team to work like return to office workers
7 Things That’ll make Your Remote & Hybrid Teams Perform like Return to Office Workers
Set a Schedule
Key Takeaways:
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Fixing a meeting and review schedule helps define the flow of work per week and fortnight.
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Team meetings are a good way to organize and keep progress checks for managers.
Remote work doesn’t need to be disorganized. It is easy to make it work to proficiency if you have a good game plan. For this, you need a weekly meeting where all of the team gathers and understands how they will liaise for the subsequent days. This meeting also works as a checkpoint for the previous week’s work. Using this as a lynchpin for defining the project program will. Help remove task completion latency in both hybrid and remote work. Plus, you get to take feedback while also creating strong team collaboration and employee engagement activities.
Make It Dynamic
Key Takeaways:
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Team collaboration must work dynamically to produce the highest innovation potential.
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Revolving roles and leadership opportunities may also bring out potential future frontrunners on projects.
Dynamic team collaboration and employee engagement via remote networking have a lot to offer. Using dynamic team interactions via video chat, managers and employees ideate better and relate their tasks more effectively. In a larger team or group, changing roles and responsibilities can throw up better team composition options. For example, in projects, team members with adaptive skills in management may serve better as buffers for project QA. Meanwhile, creative thinkers may be better at working on the innovative elements of the project. In both cases, optimizing relevant skills will enable teams to evolve as per their market showing and best leveraging for future growth.
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Take the Time to Talk
Key Takeaways:
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Open communication and feedback help keep people in touch and create a return to office-like familiarity
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Managers can divide larger teams into smaller groups to have more direct collaboration.
The biggest thing managers need right now is time for themselves. However, they also need to have employee engagement programs that actually work. The balance lies in using apps like LEAD.bot bot which offer multiple team collaboration development options. For example, virtual coffee chats between managers, employees, and new hires help in creating a healthy collaboration environment. They can also use watercooler features to call together teams and foster group engagement on common topics. Smart managers can also use this to foster innovation and create dynamic team activity. As per this Fortune article,
“Workers around the world are increasingly prioritizing long-term skills growth and looking to organizations that can help them facilitate this,” Carol Stubbings, PwC U.K.’s global markets and tax and legal services leader. “Ultimately, employees may be looking to switch for a variety of reasons, many of which will depend on their unique circumstances and the broader trends facing their geography, industry, and role.”
Understanding how your workers plan their future opens up new ways to bring them to return to office. If you offer employee engagement activities that actually help workers, then they are much more likely to want to work from the office.
Group it Sometimes
Key Takeaways:
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Team chats and feedback sessions offer strong value by opening new communication channels.
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Apps like LEAD.bot offer more than just video conferencing chats by making your MS Teams or Slack channels into team collaboration and ideation hubs.
Group chats are often very underrated because many managers do not know how to harness them. However, nothing is better for making a return to office bid than creating a great group chat culture in your team. Even for teams that want to work hybrid and remote, getting together on common topics of interest is a crucial factor.
If there is regular cross-chatter, without conflict, workers are much more likely to collaborate better with each other. This means more employee engagement and more workforce performance benefits. The upshot from all of this is manifold – you can identify changemakers, quiet contributors, and potential future leaders from group chats. The needle movers are going to stand out and managers also use common group topics to find out what the best kind of mentorship investment may be for their team.
Using perks, benefits and career growth through skills development to promote return to office cultural shifts
(Not) Always on Agenda
Key Takeaways:
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Off-topic discussions and free sessions are great employee engagement activities.
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Play and recreation with remote teams help develop strong team bonding and cross-team collaboration.
Managers must develop the means to create stronger team bonding through non-work-related interactions. Virtual coffee chats are the most obvious answer but they only work in groups or 2 or 3. You can do group virtual coffee chats but this can get boring for many since most of the conversation will be led by active participants. As this Forbes article mentions,
“Share your fears and anxieties with your support network. Often, just talking about what you’re going through can relieve some of the burden. Additionally, your network can offer different perspectives, advice, or simply a listening ear, which alone can be incredibly reassuring.”
So, creating cross-team collaboration activities demands creating work-fun activities that keep employee engagement at the center. They are essential for making a return to office-like situations where remote and hybrid workers feel like they are connected to their office at all times.
Get Low-Stakes Competition
Key Takeaways:
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Low-stakes competition like meme wars or party games is just as good with remote teams as with in-office workers.
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Managers should employ low-stakes competition for team building and employee engagement to gain a return to office interest.
Low-stakes competition is one of the best ways to create competitive creativity among remote and hybrid team workers. What’s more, this helps in developing a sense of trend-centric vogue with subordinates. Managers who have mastered employee engagement via meme wars are a perfect example of this. They can use simple popular memes and set off a wave of interactions others would love to have. The trick lies in not forcing it like a planned employee engagement activity but simply being “in vibe” with the popular market trend and the preferences of colleagues.
Appreciations
Key Takeaways:
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Appreciating remote employees may foster a more positive approach toward return-to-office policies.
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Managers may use these with cross-team collaboration processes to develop strong organizational network connections.
Appreciations and rewards are a great way to develop a love for teamwork especially in a physical workspace. While a lot of remote workers may not be warm on that instantly, they will likely feel so once they see their peers getting recognition. This is important for companies that want to office peacock their employees back into office space. A culture of appreciation and accomplishment celebration is the best way to promote strong company culture and values.
Are You Ready to Ditch ignored Return to Office Mandates and Boost Your Operational Efficiency?
Your return-to-office mandates are not likely to work unless you have a compelling incentive to offer. Both hybrid and remote employees must feel like they are missing out by working off-site. Only then can you expect any kind of traction on any return-to-office mandates.
The methods listed above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to office peacocking and renewing interest in working from the office. You need to find the right mix by developing your employee engagement activities the right way. The ideal method is to blend these activities in with cross-team collaboration. This is where LEAD.bot bot is your best bet for organic team collaboration activities and employee engagement programs.
LEAD.bot is a team engagement platform available on Slack and Teams. It is an all-in-one team development software with features like virtual coffee chats, buddy programs, birthday celebrations & work anniversary celebrations, new hire onboarding programs, and Pulse Surveys.
LEAD.bot also offers cutting-edge Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) for big enterprises and institutions. Executive to mid-level managers use ONA to gain highly actionable insights and build strong workplace connections. Using this app enables developing innovative employee engagement ideas to connect employees and foster better organizational health, employee retention, and overall performance with this simple app!
LEAD.bot is a product of LEAD.app and we also LEAD.bot’s sister app Sunrize which showcases workplace attendance by graphs right on Slack! Book a demo now!
