I - is for Inclusive (Remote/Hybrid Workers)

How to ensure remote/hybrid workers feel part of the team

As a manager it’s your role to make sure the team values and environment promote inclusivity.  This ranges from being fully aware of the needs and impacts of equality and diversity, understanding and challenging all the unconscious biases we carry around with us, like confirmation bias and affinity bias.  It’s also your responsibility to build a strong cohesive team which these days includes successfully managing remote and hybrid workers so that they feel a strong sense of belonging, despite their geographical distance.

It's this last element that I’m concentrating on this week.  Where work isn’t location specific, there is now a significant percentage of people working from home for some, if not all, of the time.

What can you do as a manager to ensure your remote/hybrid team is inclusive? There are five things you can consider that will help you build and maintain a team dynamic that includes everyone.

Firstly, unless everyone in the team is present in the office, conduct all team meetings online.  Even those who are in the office should attend via Zoom or Teams or whatever platform your business uses. This ensures that everyone at the meeting has the same experience and is equally included in what’s going on. I’ve been in meetings where the majority of attendees are physically present, and there is a screen in the room for remote workers to dial in.  It was difficult for the remote workers to engage the same way as those in the room without the meeting lead directly including them in the discussions etc. that were taking place.  Having also been on the other end – dialling in to a meeting – I felt a bit like a third wheel on a date, I was present, but easy to ignore!

You can introduce some informal time for chatting at the beginning of these meetings.  I used to ask my team if anyone had any good jokes or wanted to recommend a TV show as a starter.  You can even set up a couple of drop-in coffee sessions at lunchtime where anyone can join and chat about non-work stuff.  If you do this take note of anyone regularly not attending and make sure they’re ok.

Next - consider a rota for hybrid teams – where whoever is working in the office changes – this does however need to take account of those who can’t reasonably work from home.  As far as possible you are making sure that office responsibilities are fairly shared and not always left to the person who lives closest to the office or doesn’t have other responsibilities.

Thirdly, if not already in place, establish a central source for all team communications.  Somewhere everyone can easily access, a place where everyone can find and place items where there is a cross team interest.  This might be newsletters, company information (if not available on an intranet) training opportunities, project updates etc. On the informal side you might set up a team WhatsApp group or something similar – just take care to identify and agree some rules to avoid it being misused.

Next, we all have our own set of unconscious biases. As a manager it’s important that we are aware of these and try to address them (by their nature of being unconscious this takes a lot of effort). There is one particular bias that can cause issues for hybrid teams. Proximity bias, also known as “out of sight, out of mind”. This occurs when those who are office based are seen as more productive and are given more preference.  You must make it a priority to actively think about all team members, whether office based or working elsewhere, when considering any actions or decisions.  Make sure you identify the best person, not just the most convenient, so as to avoid proximity bias as much as possible.

Finally, despite your best efforts you are likely going to be busy, and remote workers might feel they can’t bother you.  Establish online buddies, so that everyone has someone they can call on to have a quick chat to, to discuss anything or to let off a bit of steam with.  Not everyone will need a buddy as some people will naturally make connections, but this could be particularly important for those remote workers who are a little more introvert.

In addition to the points above it’s also good to C.H.E.C.K. I.N. with your remote/hybrid workers on a one-to-one basis to make sure they feel valued and included.

C.H.E.C.K.- I.N. with remote workers.

C - you can show your Concern for them,

H - ask after their Health and wellbeing,

E - it allows you to Engage with them on a one-to-one basis,

C - it’s an opportunity to Congratulate or Compliment them on a job well done, 

K - you can check their Knowledge, and if helpful share your own,

I - it’s an opportunity to Improve what you know about them

N - you can make sure that they feel Nurtured - and definitely not Neglected!

I’d love to know which of these you think will be most effective in managing remote/hybrid workers/teams.