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We don't need to mention it anymore - the world of work has changed significantly since 2020, and we feel the winds of change everywhere. It's now normal for some colleagues to work from home, while others are in the office or enjoying a workation. This colorful arrangement of remote and on-site working, or “hybrid working” - offers many new possibilities and opportunities. But what sounds so ideal and simple is not always that easy to implement.
Fortunately, there are tools and techniques that can help you successfully establish hybrid working in your company. In this series of articles, you'll find tips on how to strengthen teamwork and overall cohesion, regardless of whether you're a CEO, project manager, or team member. In the first part, we looked at how teamwork can succeed regardless of time and place. Today, we'll look at how hybrid working can make you more productive and how collaboration tools can help you work together more effectively as a team.
Hybrid work and productivity - Compatible? Of course!
There are still companies that tolerate remote or hybrid work only to a limited extent or sometimes even only in exceptional situations (e.g. during a global pandemic). But why is that? There are certainly various - more or less understandable - reasons for this. One of these less understandable reasons is the fear that a team’s productivity could suffer, particularly if team members do not work at the same time or in the same place. This fear, at least with the appropriate home office equipment and suitable collaboration tools, should no longer be a legitimate concern.
We'll go a step further and even claim that hybrid work, in conjunction with location and time independent collaboration tools - can actually increase both the productivity of individuals and entire teams!
On an individual level, this is already evident. For example, take the fact that a person is generally either an early bird or night owl. Some of us have a higher concentration level and are more productive in the morning, while others are much more productive in the afternoon or evening. Plus when we work remotely from home, it is easier to integrate our private to-dos into a work day - this leads to a better work-life balance and reduced levels stress, which can actually make us more productive.
But what's the case with hybrid work at the team level? Admittedly, it's sometimes still easier (or even nicer) to tackle difficult tasks together when sitting next to each other in the office or having face-to-face conversations. However, in everyday work there are also many appointments and to-dos that are much easier to handle when under hybrid or remote working conditions. For example, virtual meetings can never result in double-booked conference rooms. No one has to fight over the whiteboard pens in the office, because everyone can enter their ideas simultaneously on a digital whiteboard that can be launched through Google Meet. And important documents don't have to be searched for in a chaos of sheets, because Google Docs can be shared directly with everyone.
Why do collaboration tools need to be flexible?
Not only can scheduled cross-site meetings become more productive using Google Workspace, but so can countless other moments in a typical work day. You can quickly coordinate with others in chat, make a quick video call when you need urgent help with something, or gather new project ideas in collaborative brainstorming documents.
It's critical that collaboration tools are flexible. For one thing, they need to support both real-time and asynchronous hybrid collaboration. Also, different tools need to work together in a meaningful and synchronized way, so you can use them at the same time. Just being able to seamlessly switch between different types of communication (for example, between a shared document in a chat room and a video call) makes you and your team more productive in day-to-day work.
As you can see, hybrid work environments can help you and your team work more effectively in different contexts - provided you're equipped with the appropriate collaboration tools. For more information, statistics, and data on hybrid work with Google Workspace, download the free whitepaper "Navigating hybrid work: A Google Workspace handbook."
More tips to become more productive
If you're still interested in finding out how to become more productive using Google Workspace tools, we've got more reading material for you! A few months ago, we dedicated ourselves to creating a Google Workspace productivity guide.
In addition to the Google Calendar, Gmail and Google Meet tools, we've also looked at good habits you can use to create the optimal work environment.
Get to know Google Workspace
We are a German Google Cloud Partner, and mainly offer support in German.
If you would like to keep up to date with the latest developments within Google Workspace, we can recommend our Google Workspace Update playlist on YouTube.
Further Reading
- All articles in the Google Hybrid Work series
- 9 tips to work more productively: How to create your ideal work environment
- 11 tips to work more productively: How to make your meetings more meaningful in Google Meet
- Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Which tool has the bigger impact on business success?
