Elon Musk may hate it, but there is no doubt that hybrid and remote work is here to stay for Southeast Asian (SEA) teams. Research by McKinsey has shown that SEA workers prefer a hybrid mixture of on-site and remote work setups. Employees are overwhelmingly looking for flexibility and work-life balance, but at the same time, maintaining a strong connection to their organisation and colleagues. However, many are finding this is not always the case.
Despite the surge in usage of communication and collaboration tools during the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are failing to effectively communicate their hybrid work policies to their teams. Workers are left feeling adrift by their managers, unsure about when and where they are expected to work, leading to confusion and decreased productivity.
Between hybrid and remote teams, problems of communication can be a source of endless frustration for employees and managers. The classic phrase of the pandemic ‘you’re on mute’ still regularly makes an appearance on many video calls.
Even four years after the beginning of the pandemic, businesses across the world still struggle to maintain clear and consistent communication across dispersed teams and time zones.
Zooming in: Navigating hybrid hurdles in SEA work culture
Collaborating solely remotely can also create friction between team members. The tone is much harder to gauge from the written text than it is from verbal communication, which can lead to many miscommunications. People may come across as more direct and brusque on a messenger platform, and things like cultural nuances and non-verbal cues are easily lost in a long stream of text.
Meanwhile, one of the biggest hybrid pain points for business leaders is the loss of the so-called ‘water cooler’ moments. These are the informal office interactions that help foster relationships and collaboration, as well as spark occasional inspiration.
Also Read: Connecting clouds in SEA: How to ensure interoperability in the hybrid and multi-cloud context
Losing these opportunities to connect easily with your colleagues is detrimental to the critical tasks of teamwork and brainstorming. If hybrid organisations fail to build these collaborative environments, they will find themselves with reduced engagement, strained knowledge sharing, and difficulty building rapport.
It is also worth bearing in mind that while SEA markets may be close geographically, there are some significant disparities between internet and mobile data speeds. Singapore boasts the fastest mobile and internet speeds at 88.91 Mbps and 277.57 Mbps, respectively. Its neighbour, Indonesia, however, lags with 25.37 Mbps in mobile speeds and 29.43 Mbps in internet speeds.
Charting your tech journey through hybrid hurdles
Navigating these hybrid work challenges in SEA can be a headache for business leaders, but technology is, thankfully, making the process easier. Drawing up a technology roadmap means choosing the right communication platforms for various needs, whether that’s video conferencing, instant messaging, project management tools and full-scale cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms.
Collaboration is more than just teams talking to each other. It is about real-time collaboration, document sharing and secure accessibility across devices. These are the mechanisms that allow teams to work together effectively, meet deadlines and create business success.
Organisations should be open about their expectations from employees in a hybrid environment. This requires fostering open communication and information-sharing within the organisation. Leaders should be transparent about their business expectations and plans through regular team meetings, knowledge-sharing sessions and feedback forums.
They should also invest and advocate for training employees on effective communication skills in a hybrid environment. This includes mastering technology tools, practising active listening, and building virtual relationships.
Unified communication tools for a mobile workforce
Once these cultural steps are in place, then leaders and IT procurement officers can examine their technology stack. For the modern workplace, unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) is increasingly used to manage large, disparate teams across locations and markets.
Also Read: Is hybrid work arrangement the future of work?
UCaaS are end-to-end solutions that include integrated video conferencing, instant messaging and online collaborations for project management. These bring together the holy trinity of collaboration: rapid response, clear communication and room to create into one platform. Optimised for smartphone-first and mobile workforces, UCaaS helps connect people remotely, wherever they are.
Due to the global pull encouraging more workers back to the office, many UCaaS solutions now come with features such as interactive meetings. Hybrid teams can re-create a fully in-office experience with features like polls, whiteboards, and breakout rooms for dynamic and engaging virtual meetings.
Harnessing UCaaS for enhanced team communication and productivity
UCaaS project management tools also help facilitate task assignments, progress tracking, and team communication within a centralised platform. Seamless collaboration on documents and projects in real-time is now possible through file-sharing and tracking.
UCaaS and collaboration technology are constantly innovating. Simple virtual meetings are now being infused with everything from full collaboration tools to transcription and even artificial intelligence. Leaders who consider the full spectrum of collaboration technology, even down to something as simple as file-sharing, will be the ones reaping the most benefits from their teams, regardless of whether they are in the office or at the beach.
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This article was first published on May 7, 2024
The post Charting a clear course: Building effective communication in SEA’s hybrid work era appeared first on e27.