The modern workplace is increasingly flexible, collaborative, and reliant on advanced technology to bridge the gap between remote and in-office teams. In this work-form-home (WFA) era, a hyper-collaborative mindset has become the norm and expectation. Some might think that remote work puts up a barrier between team members looking to continue collaborating from a distance, but thanks to the abundance of collaborative tech tools available to remote workers today, it has never been easier to collaborate from anywhere.

Collaboration across time zones and employee schedules is crucial to any team’s success. With more workers having at least one weekly online or hybrid meeting (86%) than in-person one (83%), according to our 2024 State of Hybrid Work Report, leveraging the right communication tools is essential. As companies embrace hybrid and remote models, they must support both synchronous and asynchronous work by adapting policies, office spaces, and project management tools—an approach that can boost productivity by 1.4 extra days a month per employee and ensure seamless teamwork across all working styles.

Collaboration is the key to successful hybrid teams

Companies that are intuitive to their employees’ needs embrace their desires for more collaboration and implement better technology to facilitate this change. In 2024, 28% of offices increased IT staff, 24% upgraded video meeting technology, and 16% expanded collaborative meeting spaces. With these effective technologies, employees are more enticed to come to work and are happier overall. As we know, happy employees are the best employees. So, how do you make enhanced collaboration a reality in your workplace? When it comes to implementing substantial workplace changes designed to boost hybrid collaboration, sometimes all you need to do is tweak a policy to make it more inclusive. Other times, you’ll need to invest in new tech or even redesign entire workplace rooms. Whatever changes it takes to make your workplace the collaborative haven your hybrid teams deserve. 

Let’s explore some ways to make meetings, policies, and even the tech you use in the workplace more collaborative.

Collaborative meetings

When it comes to running collaborative meetings, the key is to focus on inclusivity. For hybrid teams, meetings that aren’t inclusive—meaning that they do not provide an equal opportunity for all attendees to participate—are not going to lead to successful collaborative moments like inclusive meetings will.

To infuse all of your meetings with optimal collaborative potential:

• Create and share a meeting agenda template in the days before the meeting that all attendees will have the opportunity to add to if necessary
• Have a clear goal for each meeting that directly relates to the responsibilities of all attendees
• Assign meeting responsibilities to each attendee so everyone has a specific role
• Record meetings to share with anyone unable to attend
• Incorporate meeting tech that ensures all meetings can be attended in-person or virtually, and make it clear that regardless of how you are attending the meeting, you are an equal participant as the other attendees
• Create a warm, approachable atmosphere for your meetings to encourage collaborative and creative thinking
• Aim for collective decision-making that takes into account the experience and opinion of each attendee
• Create a regular meeting schedule that benefits all participants, so attendees can grow to know what to expect from meetings instead of approaching them in the dark
  
  

Collaborative policies

To promote a collaborative mindset in the workplace, you’ll need to implement new policies, like a remote or flexible work policy. As is the norm when enacting workplace-wide changes, take the time to engage in open dialogue with your team and department leaders about the changes you are making. 

Without the input of the employees these policies affect, you might inadvertently create policies that are unnecessary or don’t meet their changing needs. As a rule of thumb, it’s always a good idea to take a temperature check of your employees before implementing any new policies, especially those that will affect their everyday work life.

Some policies you can incorporate into your workplace to make it a more collaborative environment include:

• All team projects should include elements that reflect the individual perspectives of each team member.
• Hold regularly scheduled small-group brainstorming sessions to stoke creativity and encourage group-think.
• To promote inclusivity on the team level, create productive teams with a productive mix of in-person, remote, and hybrid employees.
• Update your company handbook to reflect your new collaborative mindset.
• To encourage an environment of open communication, create workplace best practices for communication that dictate the proper ways for teammates to connect regardless of where they are working from or which project they are working on.
• Hold team-building events that promote collaboration in new, fun ways.
• Embed collaborative thinking right into the onboarding and new employee training process so it is ingrained in workers from day one.
  
  

Collaborative technology

When it comes to collaborating as a member of a hybrid team, how well your team works together depends on your tech tools. Without effective tools that work equally well for in-person, remote, and flexible employees, you won’t even get the chance to see the full potential of your collaborative efforts.

To ensure that every member of your team plays an equal role in your collaborative efforts, incorporate some of these tech essentials:

• Shared or public calendars to keep all team members on schedule regardless of where they’re working from on any given day
• Synchronous and asynchronous communication tools, like Slack
• Cloud-based project management tools for easy access from any device and any location
• Video conferencing technology that supports hybrid meetings
• Smart video cameras, like the Meeting Owl, give hybrid meetings that coveted in-person feeling. For larger rooms, an expansion mic can be used so all participants at larger tables can be heard clearly 
• A CRM that holds all files and necessary group materials in one central location
• Smart whiteboard for optimum hybrid collaboration. Try a WhiteBoard Owl to stream whiteboard content to remote participants in real time.
  
  

The ultimate hybrid collaboration checklist

Before you implement a new workplace policy, invest in new hybrid software, or send out an agenda for upcoming meetings, ask yourself the questions on this checklist to ensure you are putting your most collaborative foot forward in everything you do:

• Is this as collaborative as it can be?
• Is it equally accessible to all employees, regardless of where they are working from?
• Does this support an inclusive workplace environment?
• Are any employees being barred from this based on their location?
• Does every employee have the tools they need to participate?
• Will the result be a fully collaborative effort?
• Is every employee being supported in the ways they need to reach this goal?
• Does every team have access to the resources, materials, and tech they need?
• Do teams have the necessary knowledge and skills they need?
• Are the policies in place designed to encourage collaborative behavior?
• Does everyone involved have a clear understanding of their expected role?
• Do the goals of individuals clearly apply to the goals of the group?
  
  

While collaboration is a natural element of every modern workplace, implementing policies and guidelines that support hybrid collaboration takes a concentrated effort. Being intentional in the ways you choose to support your employees could be the difference between retaining your talented workers and having to start recruiting new ones.