Research: Hybrid workers struggle more than remote workers to feel connected to others

 

Last summer, research by my team (analytics & research for Viva People Science) found that employees working in hybrid contexts actually felt less connected to colleagues compared to both full-time remote and office workers. Specifically, employees with hybrid work arrangements were 52% more likely than on-site workers and 40% more likely than remote workers to indicate they felt disconnected from colleagues over the past year.

 

At first blush, it is common to think of hybrid work as falling "between" remote and office work in terms of proximity and connection to colleagues. In fact, it appears hybrid is a distinct experience which presents a new set of challenges. If I remotely join a hybrid meeting, I am perhaps hyper-aware that I am not present with my colleagues, some of whom are sitting together in a conference room. If I am in the conference room, my attention is now split between a screen displaying virtual attendees, and other colleagues in the room. These scenarios contrast with fully-remote or fully-onsite workplace wherein everyone is on equal, virtual or face-to-face footing.

 

The idea that "remoteness" is a continuum in a hybrid world is perhaps one of the most widespread misconceptions in today's new world of work! With this in mind, we must build meeting and collaboration solutions that account for the unique characteristics of each work arrangement, rather than treat these experiences as gradations of one another.

 

I'd love to hear your reactions, thoughts, and hypotheses about how this might be playing out in your own organizations!

 

See the full-length report here or attached to this post as a PDF.