Our Guest Author Ryan Robinson
Ryan Robinson. I’m a blogger, podcaster, and (recovering) side project addict who teaches 500,000 monthly readers how to start a blog and grow a profitable side business at ryrob.com.
The modern workplace has changed significantly. Many companies now operate with a mix of remote and on-site employees. This creates a more flexible and diverse workforce.
While this setup offers advantages, it also presents unique challenges. These challenges are often found in communication, productivity, and team cohesion. You need to manage the collaboration between these two groups. Otherwise, it can lead to misunderstandings, reduced efficiency, and workplace dissatisfaction.
HR professionals and team leaders must take proactive steps to bridge the gap between remote and on-site workers. When these groups work together effectively, businesses see improvements in efficiency, employee engagement, and success.
This article provides 13 practical tips to improve on-site and remote collaboration. It ensures seamless teamwork and a more productive work environment. These strategies will help HR professionals create a connected, engaged workforce that thrives in a hybrid setting.
Understanding the Differences Between Remote and On-Site Work Environments and Cultures
At first glance, remote and on-site teams seem to have no crucial differences. Yet, this couldn’t be any further from the truth, even though output results may seem similar. According to MyHub, 70% of managers believe remote and on-site teams offer the same productivity levels.
Here’s what you should know.
Remote Teams
Remote teams consist of employees working from home or outside the office. These workers rely on technology that allows them to stay connected with their colleagues and complete tasks. They enjoy benefits such as greater flexibility and fewer distractions from office chatter. Yet, they may experience isolation and difficulty when needing immediate support.
Regardless of the downsides, another report from MyHub states that 95% of employers will allow remote work to their employees.
On-Site Teams
On the other hand, on-site teams consist of employees working in a physical office. This means they interact with their peers daily. They benefit from in-person collaboration, spontaneous brainstorming sessions, and easier access to management. Yet, they may struggle with rigid schedules and office distractions.
Importance of Collaboration in Today’s Work Environment
Hybrid teams need an excellent collaboration strategy to thrive and result in success. When remote and on-site employees work well together, productivity increases. Besides, projects will progress smoothly, and workplace morale will improve.
Even though it can be tricky, it’s vital for everyone to be on the same page. This is essential when your teams work from different locations. An employee app makes communication smoother. It provides you with one place to share updates, track tasks, and connect.
You can streamline daily workflows and make it easier for remote and on-site employees to collaborate without delays. Whether it’s about scheduling, project updates, or quick check-ins, having everything in one app helps cut down on miscommunication and keeps things running smoothly.
A strong collaborative culture leads to better decision-making, innovation, and employee satisfaction. Yet, without proper strategies in place, remote workers may feel disconnected. In contrast, on-site employees might perceive an uneven workload. Ensuring effective collaboration fosters a more balanced, inclusive, and high-performing workplace.
13 Ways to Promote Collaboration Between On-Site and Remote Teams
Collaboration is key to success, especially in today’s hybrid workplaces. Connecting all the dots is crucial if your company has on-site and remote teams. You should provide both teams equal opportunities. You can achieve this if you set common goals and expectations. Besides, you should set clear communication channels and pre-defined roles.
You will only see the desired results when you learn all the steps to promote team collaboration.
Speaking of which, let’s jump right into the crucial steps.
1. Establish Clear Communication Channels
Effective communication is the foundation of seamless collaboration. Remote employees often lack the daily face-to-face interactions that office workers enjoy. What this means is it’s essential to use reliable communication tools.
Platforms such as Myhub, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack help teams stay in touch. They can also share updates and collaborate more efficiently. All these tools offer a variety of features and options to complement your company’s needs.
For instance, having designated channels for different topics is a great idea. These can be about project discussions, general announcements, and social interactions. It will help streamline communication and prevent essential messages from getting lost.
2. Set Common Goals and Expectations
You must align team objectives. These should be clear, shared goals that give remote and on-site employees a sense of purpose and direction. Yet, you should ensure expectations are the same across all teams. Why? Because equality matters, especially between the same departments.
Setting measurable goals helps improve accountability and keeps projects on track. These are some tips HR professionals can use to ease accountability:
- Layout the targets
- Confirm everyone understands their tasks
- Set specific deadlines
- Setup periodic follow-ups
Encourage managers to define clear expectations for remote and on-site workers. They should ensure that responsibilities are clear and no one feels left out.
3. Leverage Technology for Collaboration
Tech tools are crucial, as they’ll help you avoid the gap between remote and on-site teams. Project management tools like ClickUp, Asana, and Trello will help keep tasks organized and visible to everyone. Yet, these tools offer many features that can help manage everyday tasks like:
- Real-time notifications
- AI assistance
- Task automations
- Scheduling
- Integrations with other tools
Moving on to file-sharing platforms like MyHub and Google Drive. It’s important to note that both offer seamless file-sharing features. These are accessible to the entire organization. You can set access limits to ensure employees can access important documents. It will help reduce team delays and miscommunication.
File-sharing isn’t all it has to offer. Notable features include Myhub integrations with the most used and best tools available:
- Canva
- BambooHR
- Google Workspace
- Microsoft 365
- Cloudtalk
- Hubspot
- Notion
- And many others.
Investing in the right collaboration tools. It will ensure both teams will work efficiently, regardless of their physical location.
Another way to leverage technology is to use employee monitoring software. This software will help you understand how work gets done each step of the way. You can see time spent, spot workflow bottlenecks, and make various adjustments. All this will improve productivity.
Besides, you can gain insights that help you support your team. It’ll help reduce burnout and ensure deadlines aren’t slipping through the cracks. It’s an all-in-one overseer app.
According to Future Market Insights, the global collaboration tools market will grow almost threefold in ten years (2023-2033).
4. Regular Check-Ins and Updates
Scheduling frequent check-ins is essential for keeping everyone aligned and engaged. Weekly team meetings provide an opportunity for discussion sessions. You can discuss progress, address challenges, and celebrate achievements. These check-ins help maintain transparency and allow employees to voice their concerns.
Yet, regular updates via email or shared documents can also help. They’ll ensure no one feels left out of meaningful conversations and decisions. Sometimes, some things get through the cracks. This means even with all the tools and resources at our disposal, you can’t control everything. Yet, regular updates are vital. They’ll help mitigate the risk of losing important information. Besides, they’ll help keep all your employees informed and aligned.
5. Foster an Inclusive Culture
A strong workplace culture ensures every employee feels valued and heard. HR professionals should encourage inclusive practices. These include things like seeking input from all team members and recognizing achievements. Besides, they can involve organizing virtual and in-person events where employees can connect.
Encouraging active participation from remote and on-site workers is vital. It will help build a sense of teamwork and belonging.
Yet, don’t be one of those companies that won’t invite Steve from Operations to a meeting just because he’s in Bali and out of all your time zones. You want Steve in the meeting! Every Steve out there belongs in the meetings. If Steve doesn’t want to attend, do your best to explain the significance of his attendance.
6. Create Clearly Defined Roles
When roles are unclear, confusion and inefficiency arise. Defining roles and responsibilities helps prevent misunderstandings and ensures a smooth workflow. Teams should document clear job descriptions and expectations for each role. This will ensure all employees understand their responsibilities.
Managers should also assign tasks based on strengths and expertise. This will help balance workloads between remote and on-site employees. These are some ideas to think about when outlining roles in collaborative projects:
- Assign the same amount of responsibility and tasks to each member of the team;
- Know which member thrives in which role and assign roles accordingly;
- Ensure everyone knows when and what to deliver so each part of a project arrives in due time.
7. Implement Flexible Work Hours
HR leaders should encourage a results-oriented culture. It’ll help evaluate employees based on output rather than hours. This flexibility is great. It creates an environment where remote and on-site workers feel empowered and motivated. According to Buffer, around 22% of remote workers prefer flexible working hours.
People are different and function differently. Some thrive more in the early mornings, while others do their best work in the evenings. Yet, some also thrive when owls do. Flexibility in work hours is handy for different types of people as everyone can work when they’re “in the zone.”
Offering flexible work hours can improve productivity and employee satisfaction. Businesses can promote better work-life balance. To do so, they should allow pre-set schedules to accommodate peak productivity times.
8. Use Video Conferencing Wisely
Video conferencing helps remote employees stay engaged and connected with their on-site colleagues. Yet, excessive meetings can become counterproductive. You can maximize efficiency if you organize meetings in a specific way. Meetings should have clear agendas, be concise, and focus on essential topics.
Encouraging remote employees to turn on their cameras during meetings is good. It fosters a sense of presence and improves communication. Engage them by asking for their thoughts and ensure equal participation. This will create a more interactive and productive meeting experience.
Best practices for video meetings:
- Keep meetings under 45 minutes.
- Encourage all participants to contribute.
- .Use screen-sharing and other visual aids to enhance engagement.
9. Encourage Team Building Activities
Strong relationships lead to better collaboration. Virtual team-building activities like online games, trivia contests, virtual coffee breaks, and even online cooking with co-workers can help remote employees bond with their on-site counterparts.
Companies should organize in-person meetups or team retreats to strengthen relationships if circumstances allow. Creating opportunities for informal interactions improves team cohesion and fosters a positive work environment.
10. Provide the Right Tools and Resources
Ensuring all employees can access the necessary tools is critical for successful collaboration. Cloud-based platforms like MyHub enable seamless file sharing, communication, and integrations with some of the most used tools and apps.
Providing high-quality headsets and webcams for remote and on-site employees enhances their ability to participate in meetings. Equipping teams with the right technology ensures that collaboration remains smooth and efficient.
Yet, a compliance training LMS is an integral part of your tool stack arsenal. It ensures seamless collaboration between remote and on-site teams. Besides, it centralizes compliance training for all employees, regardless of location.
The LMS establishes a shared understanding of workplace expectations by ensuring everyone is up-to-date on policies, ethical standards, and regulations. It can also host collaboration-focused training modules. These include conflict resolution, effective communication, and cross-functional teamwork. All these will empower employees to work together.
By offering these resources through a compliance training LMS, organizations can end knowledge gaps, create alignment across teams, and support a collaborative culture that thrives remotely and on-site.
11. Establish Clear Documentation Practices
Proper documentation is key to maintaining transparency and efficiency in a hybrid work environment. When remote and on-site employees can access essential files equally, processes become smoother, and collaboration improves. Teams risk miscommunication, duplicated efforts, and missed deadlines without transparent documentation practices.
A centralized document management system ensures employees can access, edit, and share important files. MyHub is a great tool that provides a secure and organized platform for storing company documents, policies, and workflows. It allows teams to collaborate in real time, keeping files updated and accessible.
To make documents organized effectively, you should:
- Use a cloud-based platform: Tools like MyHub allow document access to all employees, regardless of location.
- Establish naming conventions: Standardized file names help teams find what they need quickly.
- Organize documents by category: Grouping files by project, department, or function prevents clutter.
- Ensure version control: Keeping track of document edits will provide everyone with the same data and the most recent information.
- Set permission levels: Restricting or granting access based on roles prevents unauthorized changes and maintains data security.
HR professionals should also encourage a habit of documentation among employees. Meeting notes, project updates, and essential discussions should all have records and storage space in a shared location. This way, even employees absent from a meeting can easily catch up.
Creating a transparent document management system will support a smooth collaboration between on-site and remote teams. But, you need to adhere to best practices to achieve this goal.
12. Promote Feedback and Continuous Improvement
Encouraging open and honest feedback helps teams improve continuously. Employees should feel comfortable providing feedback. Their input and thoughts on collaboration practices, work processes, and challenges are vital.
Yet, employers should also know when and how to share constructive feedback. This would help employees to improve their work output. All these practices will enhance further growth for both parties involved.
Managers can collect feedback through surveys or one-on-one discussions. They can put in place changes based on employee input. Fostering a culture of continuous improvement, suggestions, and open dialogues ensures that collaboration remains effective and adapts to evolving work environments.
13. Celebrate Successes Together
Recognizing and celebrating achievements boosts team morale and motivation. Companies should acknowledge individual and team successes. They can do so through virtual shout-outs, company-wide emails, or small incentives.
Hosting virtual or in-person celebrations helps strengthen relationships. Besides, it encourages employees to continue working collaboratively towards common goals.
Final Thoughts
On-site and remote collaboration is essential for businesses navigating the modern workplace. By implementing these 13 strategies, HR professionals can create a work environment where communication flows seamlessly, teamwork is strong, and employees feel valued.
A well-integrated team leads to higher productivity, innovation, and job satisfaction. Start incorporating these tips today to improve your workplace collaboration.
For an even more streamlined experience, try MyHub’s 14-day free trial and enhance your team’s connectivity and efficiency.
