With vaccine levels approaching nearly 70% and concerns about the Omicron variant  diminishing, businesses everywhere — including major companies such as Citigroup, BNY Mellon, Google and Twitter — are now gearing up for the Great Return. — are now gearing up for the Great Return. 

During this transition, many companies will be acclimating themselves to hybrid working. Here are some tips for managing a hybrid team to help make your return to the post-pandemic workplace as smooth as possible.

1. Get Your Office Hybrid-Ready

In order to accommodate hybrid working, the post-pandemic office looks a bit different than it did a couple of years ago. As companies begin reopening their offices, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield predicts a need for "new, more flexible kinds of office designs,” Axios.com reports.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Coordinate with HR and leadership to ensure your meeting rooms are properly equipped for hybrid meetings. For example, consider investing in a 360-degree camera with multi-presenter detection and remote autofocus functions to help make group discussions feel more natural to both in-office and at-home attendees. 
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• Create a comfortable lounge with a couch, bean bag chairs, and an espresso machine to facilitate connection while creating a “homey” vibe.
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• For team members who find that working at home helps them focus better, establish a library or designated quiet space where they can work undisturbed.

2. Focus on Morale

With reports of burnout and lack of engagement rampant during COVID-19, hybrid workplace managers should make building team morale an even greater priority than it was before the pandemic. Try these best practices to give morale a boost:

• Try to hold all 1:1 meetings in person to build stronger connections with your team members. 
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• Make the most of your in-person time together by adding team-building activities and games to your on-site meetings. 
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• Collect your team’s feedback on hybrid working and make sure their voices are heard by upper management. Let them know their input is important.

For more ideas on bringing your team closer together in the post-pandemic workplace, read “3 In Office Team Building Ideas.”

3. Invest in the Right Digital Tools

With hybrid working now increasingly common in the post-pandemic workplace, it’s no surprise that 70 percent of executives plan to invest in a new IT infrastructure and 72 percent in virtual collaboration tools, PwC’s U.S. Remote Work Survey reveals. Still, the study also shows that some workers are finding it hard to collaborate with their team or find vital information in their digital platforms.

Take the time to carefully research the right tools for your team. Make sure you have your bases covered with technology solutions for the following:

• Hybrid workplace management software
• Time-tracking tools
• Project management software, 
• Communication platforms such as Zoom and Slack

Additionally, you’ll want to make sure your team members have a reliable internet connection and high-quality devices at home as well as in the office. Consider advocating for a work-from-home technology reimbursement program at your company, which would cover some of the items associates need to work remotely.

Managing a Hybrid Team in the Post-Pandemic Workplace

Managing change is never easy, especially during times of unprecedented change. But by focusing on team morale and investing in the right tools, you can do your part to ease the transition back to the office. 

For more help with hybrid team management, join the beta program now for Scoop’s Team Sync, the first assistant built to eliminate time spent scheduling for hybrid teams.