The Successful Hybrid Team: What the Best Hybrid Teams Know About Culture That Others Don't (But Wish They Did)

By Perrine Farque

Wiley, 336 pp., $27.50

Hybrid teams are here to stay. How and where we work has changed forever, but the need for team members to collaborate, be included, have a sense of belonging, and feel part of the company culture has not. In The Successful Hybrid Team, Farque outlines a four-pillar framework with actionable steps to help leaders create effective hybrid teams.

Pillar 1: Create a unified hybrid leadership team. It's refreshing to see the first pillar address leaders. Farque points out that "as your leadership team is the glue that keeps your company together, your first job as a leader is to build unity in your leadership team." Ensuring leadership teams are unified in successful hybrid environments is the groundwork companies must lay first.

Pillar 2: Build extreme transparency. Transparency can mean different things to different people across a company. Farque focuses on building teams of transparent leaders who recruit transparent people. That transparency should be seen and felt online and across social media platforms. Attracting talent in a hybrid environment is more competitive due to candidates no longer being tied to one city; leaders need to show their openness and build trust with potential candidates.

Pillar 3: Overcommunicate through all channels. Overcommunicating is intentionally repeating messages to build clarity and reinforce key messages. Checking for understanding in hybrid work environments can be much more complex, so reinforcing messages is one way to ensure team members are unified in their understanding. Communicating the organization's mission, vision, and values is an example of how to use overcommunication effectively to build purpose. Helping team members feel that sense of purpose and connect to the company is a continued challenge that overcommunication can help combat.

Pillar 4: Unify cross-cultural teams through cultural awareness. This is Farque's most powerful pillar. She outlines the importance of creating psychological safety and building inclusion in a work environment where so many people experience isolation. Holding regular team-building sessions focused on cultural awareness can help all team members feel

a sense of belonging, which drives retention and team morale.

Farque outlines dozens of steps leaders can take in each pillar to drive success. A good leader is probably already taking many of those steps, but a great leader will explore them to see what else they can do to build a strong hybrid team.