A good manager is the glue that holds teams together. This is particularly true when employees are working in a hybrid or remote work environment. But now there is data that shows managers matter more than they ever have before. Microsoft data shows that team connections require a strong manager to make things work, particularly during the shift to hybrid work models. Here’s what you need to know about connecting your team in a hybrid environment.
Why Managers Matter to Your Hybrid IT Team
Collaboration is a critical component of most of the work we do in IT. Microsoft recently released findings showing the impact of remote work on team collaboration. They studied their more than 150,000 employees and found that, after two months in a COVID-induced lockdown, 91% of their employees said they felt connected to their team. But that number eroded to 75% around six months later. The team connections tech organizations sought to build slowly eroded the longer employees were remote. The answer, they decided, was twofold: First, to evolve their full remote teams to hybrid work to re-establish connections; Second, to train managers in the techniques they need to keep tighter bonds with their IT workforce.
Microsoft calls hybrid work models, “the next great disruption” and they say the top tech talent market has shifted to include fully and partially remote requirements.
Today, IT staffing requires a minimum a hybrid work model, but Microsoft suggests that remote work can often disperse teams to the point where collaboration suffers. Their answer is to train managers in how to provide critical connections between employees no matter where they’re working that day. They say, “When managers proactively provide support, team members feel closer to one another and their work.” But how do managers pull this off?
How Do Good Managers Pull Together Hybrid Teams?
With these findings in hand, Microsoft began to work on the critical connections their managers form and maintain with their workforce. They say, “To improve team connection, especially during the uncertainties of the shift to hybrid work, managers matter more than ever.” Their study found that managers can help with teams with:
- Prioritizing tasks and projects
- Feeling more productive
- Maintaining work/life balance
- Connecting a dispersed workforce together
Microsoft found three decisive areas where managers can impact their IT teams:
- Work prioritization support
- Feeling productive
- Work/life balance
Managers can create the conditions that hold together the workforce. This starts with onboarding, where the first bonds of reliance on managers really start. During the pandemic, reliance on managers increased during the onboarding process. This also is an effective time to help establish workflows to help new employees prioritize tasks.
The Microsoft study illustrated that managers play an increasingly vital role in hybrid work models. You can empower your managers by giving them the support they need to maintain work connections with remote workers. The benefit is that your IT teams will become tighter despite the miles that separate them.
Do You Need Management Talent?
If you are searching for management talent that can pull your organization together, Prosum is the best staffing agency, specializing in talent in the Denver, Phoenix, and Los Angeles markets. We offer our clients IT staffing solutions including IT staff augmentation. Our clients consider us a top local employment agency. We can help you find the talent you need to bridge any hiring gaps. Call on us.
