Introduction
Most jobs need some degree of teamwork. Many businesses have found that the worldwide pandemic has necessitated the formation of virtual and international teams. Because of the pandemic, several businesses have implemented new policies, such as allowing employees to work from home or adopt alternative schedules, both of which may disrupt team dynamics. The effects of mixed work schedules on virtual and global teams inside enterprises are the topic of this paper. Hybrid work is a strategy “where some employees return to the workplace, and others continue to work from home” (Wiseman, 2021) or “that allows a certain level of flexibility in when and where people work” (Makarova, 2021). Resource availability, siloed teams, productivity, disengagement, power dynamics, and communication are just a few of the difficulties that arise from hybrid work and virtual teams.
Summary of Research
More resources might be needed for mixed work patterns and remote teams. Workers who operate from home may require access to office-only materials. Display devices, portable computers, video conferencing equipment, and an active internet connection fall under this category. It remained a stumbling block for many businesses as they adapted to remote labor after the worldwide epidemic. 42% of workers report that they still need the basic office equipment at home after working remotely for a year, and 10% claim they need a fast enough internet connection to accomplish their jobs.
Yet more than 46% of workers claim their company does not reimburse them for costs associated with working remotely (Wiseman, 2021). The success of any group depends on everyone being given the tools they need to do their part. Employers should consider their workers’ potential resource requirements and do all they can to help, whether financially or by giving access to appropriate tools.
Managing virtual teams in a mixed work context sometimes results in the development of isolated teams inside the business. “The walls that separate groups according to areas of experience and expertise” (Ernst & Chrobot-Mason, 2011) are an example of horizontal boundaries, and siloed teams are one of these borders. It is common when one task is prioritized over another or when one group’s efforts undermine the effectiveness of another. Leaders need to look for opportunities for teams to work together and exchange ideas to reduce the impact of isolated groups.
Social capital, cross-team cooperation, and impromptu idea-sharing have fueled workplace innovation for decades, and leaders must find strategies to encourage these practices (Wiseman, 2021). Hybrid work weeks may reduce productivity in remote teams. While it gives workers more freedom, remote work makes it harder for managers to keep tabs on their teams. “Maintaining individual and team productivity has become a top priority in today’s remote-hybrid workforce. When workers are required to work away from the office, it becomes more difficult to keep tabs on them. Thus, supervisors must find new means of monitoring their well-being (Makarova, 2021).
Leaders must keep tabs on their teams to ensure everyone is moving in the correct direction. Managers need to develop creative solutions to the difficulties posed by remote work to maintain an adequate level of oversight. Teams’ success may be monitored by holding weekly meetings to discuss issues, requesting updates from team members on how things are going, or imposing mandatory deadlines. Hybrid work weeks, in which workers spend part of their time working from home and other times in the office, may lead to a loss of team cohesion. Less time spent in the workplace implies less time spent interacting with superiors and coworkers. It isn’t easy to network and keep in touch with coworkers if you don’t take regular coffee breaks and chat with them in the hall (Makarova, 2021). The opportunity for face-to-face communication and developing personal relationships among workers is a key benefit of office work.
Team members may put their differences aside, identify areas of agreement, and grow as a unit when they have invested time and energy into building social capital. The OECD defines social capital as “the links, shared values, and understandings in society that enable individuals and groups to trust each other and work together” (n.d.). When team members have strong bonds, they can better identify and capitalize on one another’s abilities in the workplace. Employees can build more meaningful bonds due to these interactions and learn more about one another.
Many groups have experience working either from home or in an office setting. The power dynamic between the two settings may be altered by the hybrid nature of the work week. Those who work in an office setting will get to know their teammates and managers better. They may take part in unplanned discussions and ideas generation. Workers who are present and visible to management are also more likely to get attention. An issue that often arises with dispersed teams is that those working in the office end up having more perks and authority than those working from home. The inverse is also possible. Employees who work onsite “tend to get more responsibility and work longer hours” (Drader, 2021). Split environments may be difficult to operate in because of the imbalance of power. It’s crucial that, even if some workers are off-site and others are in the office, they all function as one cohesive unit.
Finally, communication is one of the biggest obstacles that virtual teams may have while working with mixed schedules. Whether you’re working in a virtual or physical setting, effective communication is a must. Key difficulties in distant communication include “building trust between teammates,” keeping in touch often, organizing activities, and speaking clearly, according to the research of Moster, Ford, and Rodeghero (2021). Communicating helps workers connect and develop trust in one another. It is simpler for onsite workers to do than it is for remote workers since the latter can’t take part in workplace social events. The need for a new mode of communication has its own set of difficulties. Office work facilitates instantaneous interaction between workers.
A coworker might be approached with questions as they pass another’s desk, or coworkers can chat briefly after a meeting. In the digital realm, this sort of conversation may quickly become tedious due to the potential for an avalanche of emails and chats. Leaders must assist their teams in rethinking their communication strategies in light of the new remote work or hybrid work environment. No longer can we depend on instinct when it comes to communication; instead, we must consciously transition to relying more on asynchronous communication to increase our attention and productivity (Thomas, 2021). Team members may improve their output by considering factors like the frequency and value of team communications.
Trends
As a result of having to accommodate hybrid schedules and remote teams, businesses have developed new methods of communication and implemented cutting-edge productivity technologies. Software like Skype, Slack, and Microsoft Teams are used in businesses nowadays for internal communication (Moster, Ford, & Rodeghero, 2021). These resources provide businesses with various options for communicating with their staff, ensuring that remote and onsite workers feel welcome and heard.
Although there are significant differences between virtual and onsite work, team members may develop connections and build relationships via software and other effective means of communication. Teams with hybrid work schedules may stay in touch through email, instant messaging, and video conferences. When put to good use, these channels of interaction help break down walls of mistrust between members of disparate groups. Groups may boost communication and collaboration by holding regular video sessions online. Teams may use group chats for fast communication and the possibility of networking. Team members can communicate more efficiently and effectively using the proper tools. For example, email may be used to communicate about more timely and urgent topics. When the requirement for a prompt answer is greater, it may be appropriate to use instant messaging for this conversation.
Application of Research
Throughout college, graduate school, and the professional world, I have always been required to work on teams. Due to remote and hybrid scheduling, I have worked in virtual and global teams in both the classroom and the workplace. It has been difficult, but the teams’ successes may be attributed to their openness to and acceptance of their difficulties.
I have attended graduate school online via the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC). Because of this, I’ve had to do all of my group work online. I have found that isolation and poor communication are the most difficult aspects of working in academic virtual teams. Before this class, I had never had the chance to get to know my classmates personally. All conversations focused on completing the task, and no planning or follow-up occurred between group sessions. My group in MGMT 640, Financial Decision Making for Managers, is a perfect case in point. There were to be five students in this cluster.
Due to the inactivity of one team member, we are now a quartet. We were a team of four; one did not keep in touch as frequently as the others. The three of us who were left kept in touch and got to know each other better throughout the semester. Tensions and stress levels rose due to our fourth team member’s withdrawal and silence. This team member was notorious for missing deadlines and failing to keep up with their assigned work. I’ve had a great time getting to know my team members for HRMD 665, Managing Virtual and Global Teams. Between scheduled meetings, we often check in with one another for clarification on individual and team tasks and lighthearted banter. The bond we’ve established and the open lines of communication have made our team more effective than any I’ve led before. We’ve managed to keep things calm and productive here for the semester.
I started a new job where I could work from home during the pandemic, and I’ve been doing that. Disconnection and a lack of communication have been my biggest struggles on teams. My interactions with the company have been virtual, including the interview and my current position. As a result, I’ve found it difficult to communicate with individuals who have been with the company longer. Even though I spend a lot of time with the people I work closest with and report to, I haven’t bonded with them like other workers.
Despite the distance, we could still figure out how to talk to each other. Having to join the team remotely as a new hire was daunting since I was unfamiliar with my coworkers and needed to figure out how to introduce myself. Thankfully, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams are the de facto means of communication at my office. The group may now use any combination of email, chat, and phone calls to coordinate their efforts. By using email for less pressing issues and instant messaging for more pressing ones, I have maintained regular contact with other staff, fostering efficiency and mutual trust.
Conclusion
One of the difficulties of working in virtual or multinational teams is the need for a hybrid workweek. The success of any group depends on its members’ ability to work together, share information, solve problems, stay focused, make connections, create an equitable and welcoming workplace, and communicate clearly and openly, regardless of whether they are physically there or not. In a digital environment, these difficulties multiply.
Remote team members need more resources, lose the team dynamic, become less productive, detach from colleagues, have fewer chances, and communicate less effectively than their onsite counterparts since they miss these face-to-face encounters and the office atmosphere. A mixed work schedule may need some adjusting, but there are resources to assist with that. Skype, Slack, and Microsoft Teams are just a few examples of software that lets virtual teams interact and bond with one another. Teams may be as productive outside of the office with the help of video meetings and instant messaging. Organizations may head off potential difficulties with mixed work weeks and remote employment if they are prepared for the obstacles. The continued popularity and efficiency of hybrid work schedules depend on this.
References
Drader, A. (2021, June 11). Hybrid Work and Team Dynamics: Are Ya Ready? Business 2 Community. Retrieved from https://www.business2community.com/leadership/hybrid-work-and-teamdynamics-are-ya-ready-02412277.
Ernst, C., & Chrobot-Mason, D. (2011). Flat world, hard boundaries–How to lead across them. MIT Sloan Management Review. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/flat-world-hard-boundaries-how-to-lead-across-them/
Makarova, O. (2021, June 30). Hybrid work Arrangement with Microsoft Teams: The Future of Office. SalesTim. Retrieved from https://www.salestim.com/hybrid-work-arrangement-with-microsoftteams-the-future-of-office/.
Moster, M., Ford, D., & Rodeghero, P. (2021, May). ” Is My Mic On?” Preparing SE Students for Collaborative Remote Work and Hybrid Team Communication. In 2021 IEEE/ACM 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (ICSE-SEET) (pp. 89-94). IEEE. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9402185/
Thomas, M. (2021, October 3). Hybrid work environments require new communication strategies. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurathomas/2021/10/03/hybrid-workenvironments-require-new-communication-strategies/?sh=6532ee7f5626.
What is social capital? OECD Insights: Human Capital. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/insights/37966934.pdf.
Wiseman, B. (2021, March 22). The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work – Are We Ready? Microsoft. Retrieved from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work.
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