Leading hybrid teams

• Discuss what hybrid work looks like for your team

  The possibilities and desires around hybrid working vary from person to person and function to function. This requires mutual clarity: for which functions is partial working from home possible or not, and what is everyone's preference and consideration? Discuss the limits, wishes and possibilities with your team, make clear choices. Use the Hybrid Working Guideline and the overview of discussion topics. Communicate your choices and considerations transparently with the team and then also discuss how you can continue to work well together.

  Employees in vital processes VU Amsterdam 
  Corporate interest may mean that some employees have no choice for hybrid working and must continue to carry out their work entirely at VU Amsterdam. Avoid a dichotomy between employees who can work partly from home and those who cannot.

• Keep in touch with all your employees

  If you have much less informal contact in the workplace, you should seek specific contact by email, telephone, or Teams. This quickly seems formal and too time-consuming to do frequently, but informal contact is much appreciated. Do not put it as 'checking' whether everyone is working hard enough but as engagement and your responsibility for the well-being of the team. Regular contact is important to know whether someone is getting the work at home well organized and whether someone is doing well.

  It is tempting to especially keep in touch with those colleagues with whom you also collaborate on content. Yet it is important to keep all your team members well-connected. Consider other creative contact opportunities, such as a walk with colleagues or a WhatsApp group around a theme or subteam.

  Contact oppurtunities
  Especially with smaller teams, it works well to start every Monday with a short online meeting without an agenda, updating each other on ups and downs, and what everyone is working on for the week ahead.

  Provide a fixed structure for team meetings. The duration is less important than the regularity; if you, as an employee, want to contribute something, this at least gives you a platform.

  Too much contact opportunity is not wise either. Avoid an overkill of online meetings, get-togethers and day starts, keep it simple and clear.

  Sharing the ups and downs
  Share and celebrate successes with each other. As a manager, be more explicit in giving compliments. Find a creative way to pay attention to birthdays, anniversaries, but also other joys and sorrows. For many employees, these are important moments of personal attention, recognition and appreciation, especially if there is less cohesion due to hybrid working. 

  Hybrid working has also changed working on campus. Employees miss each other due to different campus working days, and therefore miss out on a friendly shared atmosphere, or no longer hear relevant (informal) information from each other. Occasionally take the last 10 minutes of a meeting to discuss hybrid working with each other and come up with solutions if necessary.

• Emphasise healthy balance among employees

  Respect that colleagues may experience hybrid working differently from you. Above all, ask questions and offer a listening ear. Express appreciation and trust, more explicitly than you might have done before. Think about the problems that arise in the work and, if necessary, revise schedules and task allocations.

  In addition, ask explicitly in meetings and annual consultations how your employees maintain the balance between home and work and point out the importance of this. Do not hesitate to actively ask about well-being. Hybrid working can have a major impact on the work-life balance. The key lies in discussing and asking questions.

  Paying attention to balance does not mean that you cannot be clear about expected outputs. But help colleagues find ways to achieve that desired output. Maintain some basic agreements to monitor the work-life balance. For example, the agreement that, in principle, there will be no emailing on weekends. Make sure employees take enough holidays and can then really let go of work. Also draw employees' attention to the VU pages on physically and mentally healthy working from home and GoodHabitz's online course offerings with tips on workplace design, online collaboration and maintaining peace of mind.

• Specific situations that require attention

  Some employees require a specific approach in terms of good hybrid working.

  New employees
  With hybrid working, induction of new employees is slower. Working (partly) from home makes it harder to get to know colleagues and find your place in the organisation. Therefore, pay attention to the onboarding of new employees and have more frequent contact to gauge how the employee experiences the start. Have the new employee meet with colleagues regularly at VU Amsterdam and consider organising a buddy for all starter questions.
   
  International employees
  It is especially important for international employees to have contact at least once a week. They lack a social network that makes loneliness more likely.
   
  Employees with  occupational dissabilities 
  Keep in mind that online or telephone contact may be more difficult for these colleagues and take this into account.

  Precisely informal contact can be more problematic for them than a structured meeting. Above all, ask the employee themselves what can help. Avoid isolating these colleagues and make sure they stay connected.

  Ask if an employee needs extra (technical) support to be able to do the work properly at home. For online meetings, ensure that documents that are shared on screen are sent to the employee in advance so that he or she can read them on their own PC. There are many useful tools such as subtitling apps and written interpreters that a hearing impaired person can use during online and telephone consultations. If necessary, ask whether the employee knows the way to the health and safety adviser (arbo.advies@vu.nl) for advice and use of these tools.

  Reintegrating employees
  Reintegration is even more customised with hybrid working. Whereas for some, reintegration is easier because part of the work can be done from home, for others the fragmented presence is actually an obstacle to a smooth return. Discuss with the employee what works and what is needed, and involve HR and colleagues. When reintegration is delayed or stagnating due to hybrid working, this should be well documented in connection with accountability to the UWV. The causal link between delay/stagnation and hybrid working must be included in the (interim) reports. Engage the HR Advisor if this is the case.

  Employees with mental health problems
  The more hybrid we work, the more easily we miss signals that an employee has mental problems. So be alert to signals and don't delay a conversation about it for too long. Discuss a plan of action with your HR Advisor and keep in touch at regular intervals.

• Take care of your own balance as a manager

  Anyone who has to keep a lot of balls in the air due to hybrid working, may need targeted coaching to do things differently. The lack of colleagues and the pressure of a full day of digital meetings cannot be easily influenced, but how you deal with it can. After all, your own balance and effectiveness also play a role. 

  If you could use some support with remote management, please contact your HR advisor or other experts within VU Amsterdam. If you need a sounding board, do not hesitate to approach your manager.

• More information and tips

  • VU career guidance and coaching  
  • Thrive (information and tips about mental health and well-being in the Amsterdam area)  
  • Help, support and advice

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