Examples of effective team dynamics include communicating openly, sharing information with everyone, working toward clear common goals, setting clear expectations, rewarding people equally, meeting in person now and then, managing stress and burnout, and being transparent about decisions. Each one matters more when a team is split between the office and home.
Teamwork is critical for any business, and even more so with a hybrid workforce. If your team does not operate with healthy dynamics, or you are constantly resolving conflict, it is very hard to grow and sustain success. In a physical office, teammates have many chances each day to catch up, raise issues and talk through strategy. When a team is split between physical and virtual settings, you cannot always set up an impromptu meeting or get the whole department together. So the details matter every time you connect.
What are team dynamics?
Team dynamics are the unconscious psychological factors that shape how a team behaves and performs. They show up in collaboration, communication and daily interactions, in large and small groups alike. Positive team dynamics are easy to spot: people act in ways that help the whole team, not just themselves.
Every team is made up of people with different expertise, strengths and weaknesses. When team members behave in ways that benefit the entire team, the group becomes more cohesive. It generates better ideas, makes better decisions and has a higher chance of reaching its goals.
Individual ability matters. But it is arguably more important to understand how each person interacts with the rest of the team.
Why are team dynamics harder in a hybrid workplace?
In a hybrid workplace, on-site and remote employees get different amounts of contact, information and support. On-site teams interact every day and even take breaks together. Remote team members miss those moments, which makes it harder for a distributed team to build the dynamics and culture it needs to work well.
A hybrid workplace is one where employees split their time between the office and remote locations. That split affects information, rewards and workload. On-site employees often reach managers faster, while remote employees may miss updates. Office staff can end up covering tasks that remote colleagues cannot. The eight examples below address each of these gaps. For a wider view, see the guide to bringing teams together.
What are examples of effective team dynamics?
The eight examples of effective team dynamics below give hybrid teams a practical starting point. They cover how a team communicates, shares information, sets goals and expectations, rewards people, meets in person, handles stress and makes decisions. Use them to assess your own team and pick where to improve first.
1. Communicating effectively
Your first challenge when leading a hybrid team is working out how everyone will communicate. Without proper, open communication, you cannot keep healthy working relationships or build strong collaboration.
One way to ensure effective communication is to schedule frequent video calls. To support healthy communication, invest in the right tools. Use video conferencing software like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, connect everyone on Slack or another messaging tool, and use file-sharing tools like Google Drive or Dropbox. It can also help to match channels to goals: a quick call for a small, casual chat and a scheduled video call for larger, formal meetings.
To help remote workers feel more included, hold video calls during work breaks. Calls that bring on-site and virtual team members together build good relationships and culture.
2. Distributing information consistently
On-site employees usually have more access to company information. They are connected to internal networks and may reach managers and other leaders who work in the office more quickly.
Remote team members may not get every update their on-site coworkers receive. Make updates a priority so that everyone can contribute equally. Remote workers should know about every team meeting, client meeting and anything else that affects the team’s mission. They can achieve even more when they communicate well, which is where people coordination tools for hybrid teams help.
3. Establishing clear, common goals
Your company vision should be clear across every team and department, wherever people work. Without a clearly defined goal, you risk unmotivated employees who cannot engage with their work. They go through the motions and check off to-do lists.
Great teamwork shows that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Each team member should understand how their contribution fits the company’s mission and why their role matters to its success. A well-defined goal can make a team far more efficient and productive.
4. Laying out expectations
As with goals, each team member must know what is expected of them, and the only way to achieve that is to communicate it well.
Make the behaviors, attitudes and contributions you want crystal clear. You might want employees to share knowledge regularly, solve problems well and make good impromptu decisions together. You might want the focus to be teamwork and collaboration across teams. Or the most important thing may be that everyone treats others with dignity and respect. Whatever your expectations are, make sure your team knows them.
5. Rewarding equally
Remote and on-site employees should have equal access to company information. They should also be rewarded equally for their work.
For example, if your health and wellness program includes free memberships at a gym near the office, some remote team members may not be able to use them. Offer benefits and rewards that every employee can use, or provide equally valuable alternatives for remote workers.
6. Meeting occasionally
Until the pandemic, most employees had plenty of chances to build meaningful working relationships in the office. With more people working remotely, that is harder. Moving back into the office after working remotely brings its own obstacles, especially when people are used to running meetings and solving problems from home.
Building healthy bonds takes extra effort, so you need to bring employees together now and then. Hybrid working software helps team members plan in-person time and use it as effectively as possible. Kadence WorkOps shows who is coming in and lets teams book desks and rooms for the days they meet.
7. Managing stress and burnout
Every team that moves to a hybrid model is prone to stress. Some remote team members may also care for children while juggling in-office and virtual responsibilities. Meanwhile, office-based employees may take on a heavier workload to fill gaps remote workers cannot, such as answering phones, keeping the office tidy, or printing and sending documents to remote colleagues.
Make sure your whole team understands burnout: what it is, how to identify early signs, and how to recover if they become overwhelmed. One practical step is to create a flexible schedule and encourage people to set aside time each day to relax.
8. Being transparent
For healthy hybrid team dynamics, employees should understand how and why important decisions are made. Share results, good or bad, so the team can celebrate wins and make the changes needed to limit losses.
Transparency matters more than ever. If it is not already part of your company culture and team operations, build it in. Open communication within a team produces better results over the long run.
How can you improve team dynamics in a hybrid team?
Start by assessing your team against the eight examples above and fixing the weakest area first. For most hybrid teams that means better communication, consistent information and planned in-person time. Simple, reliable hybrid working software makes it easier to coordinate meetings and solve problems together.
Long-term success depends on great teamwork, and navigating group dynamics is essential to healthy communication and collaboration in a hybrid environment. To see how Kadence can support team collaboration in your workplace, book a demo. For more on leading hybrid teams, read more from Dan Bladen, Kadence’s CEO and co-founder.
Frequently asked questions
What are examples of effective team dynamics?
Effective team dynamics include open communication, consistent information sharing, clear common goals, clear expectations, equal rewards, occasional in-person meetings, active management of stress and burnout, and transparency about decisions.
What does team dynamics mean?
Team dynamics are the unconscious factors that influence how a team behaves and performs. They show up in how members collaborate, communicate and interact each day, and they shape the team’s ideas, decisions and results.
How do you build positive team dynamics in a hybrid team?
Give remote and on-site employees the same information and rewards, set clear goals and expectations, use the right communication tools, and bring people together in person from time to time.
Why is transparency important for team dynamics?
When employees understand how and why decisions are made, and see results whether good or bad, they can celebrate wins together and adjust quickly when something goes wrong.
