Hybrid Environments – Not Just a Technology Trend

(1447 words/6 minute read)

But a collaboration command!

First we were in-person.  Then things shifted and we all had to learn how to unmute ourselves and chat for business purposes in our online and remote environments.  And now we have hybrid that spans the spectrum of a single person calling in to having multiple teams that want to collaborate with other teams around the world.  And while the world can easily shift again to some other “new normal,” the hybrid environment is a reality here to stay.

Hybrid Collaboration Environments

We actually were working in hybrid environments long before any world-wide pandemics hit.  How many of us remember calling Sprint cellular customer support and noticing a very thick accent of the agent?  Or shall we date ourselves and remember the joke from Back to the Future where the broken part on the DeLorean was “Made in Japan”…so that must have been the reason it broke…?  We long ago started using offshore development teams and outsourcing work mainly due to cheaper rates and faster work paces than our own organizations.  But at that time we probably didn’t call it “collaboration.”  This was simple work that one manager in the organization was tasked with coordinating the work with the manager of the remote team and magically the work would get completed.
 

Those that worked with those remote teams realized that a lot more back and forth communications had to happen for the end result to meet business and customer expectations.  As technology advanced, we still worked with those teams, we simply changed the tools we used for that work.  Asynchronous back and forth faxes were the ways of old that had to wait for communications to be received, interpreted, responded to, and then sent back.  That worked, but as technology evolved we simply found better and faster and more efficient and effective ways to do just this.  In fact, The Washington Post had an article in 2019 that called faxing “obsolete technology” but pointed out that the actual digital sending of information is growing due to the underlying infrastructure and design and security layer.  So again, what we’re doing doesn’t change, just HOW.

Hybrid Collaboration as a Tool

So if we need to communicate, or really collaborate, with people in remote areas to where we’re working, we still do the work.  We simply look for the tools that enable us to be as effective and efficient in HOW we do the work.  It’s that balance of business goals with infrastructure to enable the business to achieve its results.  Hybrid simply became a way for organizations to still achieve their business goals when not everyone was ready to return to an in-person setting.  It simply acknowledged the human side of the work, that there were actual people on the end of those electrons, and to invite them to still be productive and collaborative WITH their teams.  Now that’s the key here.
 

The big shift came for organizations who realized the value of collaboration on grander scales.  Think about it.  How many of us were playing with chat features in our organizations long before remote working was an expectation of our employments?  Now here’s where I always have fun with technology.  The business won’t want to buy into anything unless they know there’s business value.  But until you play with the technology some and try to apply it, sometimes it’s unknown what capabilities would be of any value to the organization.  The real chicken-and-egg question.  I remember playing with the chat feature and everyone I was talking to was literally a cubicle or two away from me.  But you could see if they were at their desk because their light was green.  Maybe not the most exciting capabilities but we started to play with what worked in our environment, and often, what our security teams would even allow.  We learned the capabilities of the technology so we can best apply to our business needs.

 
Now with the pendulum shift and everyone gets forced to work within digital boxes where you only lifeline is that chat feature.  Then here we see business scenarios starting to emerge on top of the technology.  Work has to still get done.  So given what is in front of you, how are you going to get it done.? We realized the human connection where instead of simply calling two people and conferencing them on my phone, often with long-distance or international charges, I could see that both were online and with a click of the button have them not only in a digital room, but then see their faces to really feel their reaction to my collaboration challenge.  I’m still doing the same thing I did before, but in a much faster and more efficient and effective manner.  So if you can do this with two or three people, why not more?
 

Enter the era of Zoom and MS Teams and Webex and Google Meets and more!  While there’s a whole dynamic to virtual meetings, the interesting thing is about how much these tools were continued to be used as organizations had staff returning to in-office settings.  Sure, there were some that hid in their cubicle and conferenced in online to the meeting that was just down the hall.  Can’t fault them for being efficient, but I’m sure we could consider the effectiveness level of their collaboration.  But two people in a conference room chatting and collaborating, could quickly call up two other experts to chime in on the discussion.  Now with the technology, we can see their smiling faces, but even better, we can see and even interact with what their working on.  Collaboration spaces like Mural and Miro and Jamboards and Office Online came into the limelight for features that had been existing for years.  Yet now that we have multiple people in multiple settings working on a single outcome, a single workspace became incredible valuable.

Collaborative Technology for Business Value

Yet again, the technology enabled us to achieve our business goals faster and smarter.  These online options not only allow in-person and remote teams to work together on a work product, but the sharing capabilities leave the work space open for continued dialogue well after the meeting session and can allow for people who missed the session to participate asynchronously.  How many of you are listening to recorded meetings that you missed due to conflict, but greatly appreciate even more the AI-assisted summaries and action items so you can quickly skip to what you were assigned since you missed the meeting?

The technology explosion is simply enabling that necessary collaboration of experts, decision-makers, end users and customers to come together faster and in real-time to drive business results.  Sure, there’s a lot that can go into leveraging your technology for collaboration that I often train on – the setup, the communication, and most importantly the facilitation skills it requires – but simply asking what’s the easiest way and when to get everyone together that we need so that we can move forward is the key.  Hybrid is an easy solution because you welcome all the locations, work styles, even time zones and more, into your collaboration space.  Think of the power of bringing in that expertise that doesn’t work at your location or even for your organization.  Hybrid is all about combining the different environments.  It’s less about you and how you work, than finding what’s the easiest way for US to get this business work done.

Hybrid Collaboration as a Capability

And this is why we go back to hybrid collaboration as a capability, a skill set, an approach, that will be here to stay that you’ll want to leverage in your own work.  Don’t worry about running a hybrid event.  Worry about getting people to collaborate to deliver the business needs.  Hybrid environments still have session goals and desired outcomes.  The sessions still have expectations and invite participants for their roles they will play in the session.  Don’t let the technology used or the location of a person participating distract you from achieving your outcome.  But then also, don’t lose out on failing to meet deadlines and deliver to your customer because you failed to consider bringing everyone together.  It’s definitely valuable to know what capabilities are out there.  But do not be distracted by the shiny objects.  Rather be excited that you can now bring teams together to collaborate in real-time, in productive and efficient manners that drive your organization forward!  And be even more excited that these capabilities are only going to get better.  So instead of seeing people for where or how they work, start looking at the people and the capabilities they bring to team collaboration and you will be the one leveraging hybrid environments that have your organization leading the charge!