Hybrid is a hit, but team bonding can suffer

Hybrid working is a hit with workers around the world – although it is still presenting challenges when it comes to forming bonds within teams, according to a long-running study into working practices. Leesman, which benchmarks workplace experiences for companies, has interviewed almost 2,500 people across more than 60 countries from eight companies – Standard Chartered, Hickey, The Executive Centre, GSK, Haworth, NatWest and Haleon. The study, entitled The Hybrid Future, was conducted over the past three years. The largest percentage of respondents – 60% – said they have to work in the office “some or most of the time”. By comparison, 28% said they have full choice over where to work, 11% said they have to work in the office full-time and just 1% said their company is fully remote. Almost all respondents (91%) said they like hybrid working in general, with 80% saying they have had “a good hybrid working experience” within the past month. The survey underlined the impact of working remotely on team bonding, with 42% of respondents saying they sometimes or frequently feel disconnected from colleagues when working remotely and a quarter saying they can feel left out of important discussions. However, even when working in the office, half of respondents said they rarely or never socialise with colleagues after work – although 28% said they would like more opportunity to do so. To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@eg.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @EGPropertyNews Photo © Ivan Samkov/Pexels