Prioritizing individuals and interactions on hybrid teams

More than 20 years later, the Agile Manifesto continues to play a significant role across industries—and for good reason. Agile values and principles have proven to be effective guideposts for product development. However, much has changed since the Agile Manifesto was first published. 

New technology, a disruptive global pandemic, and a subsequent massive shift to hybrid and remote working models have upended the ways we work. As a result, agile principles can feel increasingly complex and contradictory to our new work realities. 

For example, the first value of agile prioritizes "individuals and interactions over tools and processes." Yet tools are an essential component of successful hybrid teamwork, enabling remote and asynchronous collaboration and communication—sometimes across countries and time zones.

With hybrid and dispersed teams, how can agile teams practice this value in a changing workplace environment?

Let's look through the challenges today's workforce experiences and potential solutions to keep individuals and interactions as the focus.

Problem: Companies often try to solve issues of hybrid work with more tools.

People are the ones driving development and innovation, not the tools. When tools or processes are overemphasized in development, teams are less responsive and adaptable to change.

But in a hybrid work environment, tools can quickly supersede the people behind them. This is because tools enable hybrid work in the first place. So, when common challenges of hybrid work arise, such as disjointed collaboration, miscommunication, lack of transparency, and slow decision-making, leaders are often quick to throw more tools into the mix to try to solve them. Unfortunately, this often leads to more clutter and less agility.

Solution: Consider how the tools and technology you're using are supporting human connection and better communication.

Just because there's a preference toward individuals and interactions over tools doesn't mean that we can't use tools. The reality is that we need technology in order to facilitate working relationships and improve communication. The key is to use these tools strategically and intentionally. 

For example, visual collaboration can make your meetings more engaging and provide opportunities for everyone's voice to be heard. To ensure visual collaboration tools enhance your agility rather than hinder it, use these tips:

• Set guidelines around using technology. For example, you might encourage employees who are comfortable to keep their cameras on when using Zoom, Google Meet, or other video conferencing software so that other team members can still see body language and connect. On Slack, ask team members to include a picture of themselves and communicate when they are out of office or need focus time. 
• Provide training. Rather than team members wasting time figuring out how to use a new tool, provide clear training so that time can be better spent on interactions with people. Thoughtfully implementing new tools with training and support will not only ensure the success of your new tool or workflow but also provide opportunities for team interaction and engagement.

Problem: Teams no longer have a consistent space to collaborate and coordinate work.

In-person collaboration is a hallmark of agile development. Yet, one of the biggest challenges hybrid work presents is the lack of physical space to collaborate. Without a space to gather, share notes, and coordinate together, agile teams can struggle to communicate effectively and efficiently. 

Solution: Create that space virtually! 

The good news is that being agile also means being adaptable to change. So, while in-person collaboration isn't always available in today's modern workplace, agile development is still possible with some creativity and innovation. One simple solution is to recreate those physical collaboration spaces virtually. Here are just a few simple ways you can achieve this:

• Use virtual whiteboards to give teams a free-form space to share ideas, centralize team resources, and more. 
• Use Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other communication tools and form channels around specific teams (or even specific interests to try to form connections more naturally).
• Set up unstructured time in Zoom for informal meetings where people can join to chat or ask questions so it feels more like working at desks next to people.

Problem: Too many meetings lead to burnout, and teams often struggle to coordinate schedules across time zones.

Hybrid workforces are often distributed across geographical locations and time zones. This physical distance between team members means organizations often default to more meetings to replace the organic in-person interactions people had in the office. 

But more meetings can quickly lead to meeting fatigue and even burnout. Plus, with multiple time zones and schedules, coordinating meeting times is a challenge in and of itself.

In fact, research by Harvard Business Review found that employee productivity increased when the number of meetings were reduced—giving employees more power over their own schedules and work. "Rather than a schedule being the boss, they owned their to-do lists and held themselves accountable, which consequently increased their satisfaction by 52%." 

But to remain agile, hybrid teams still need to collaborate often. So how can you do that with fewer meetings?

Solution: Support asynchronous collaboration.

Asychronous collaboration is when team members collaborate at separate, unscheduled times. Rather than gathering together in a room for an hour to brainstorm, teams can contribute ideas on their own time to a shared document or space. Not only does asynchronous collaboration enable hybrid teams to maintain an agile work environment, but it also has added benefits. 

Asynchronous collaboration:

• Increases efficiency by reducing unnecessary meetings.
• Accommodates different collaboration styles so everyone has a chance to contribute.
• Promotes transparency by creating built-in documentation and enabling all stakeholders to participate.
• Connects dispersed teams so people can work when they want, where they want.

To make your asynchronous collaboration a success, leverage tools like visual collaboration software to help you document your work in an engaging, easy-to-digest format. Visual collaboration software and video or screen recording software can help you give context or leave feedback without having to be face-to-face.

Also, set clear communication standards from the start so everyone is aligned on how to collaborate most effectively on your given platform or workflow.

Problem: It's difficult to form connections when you don't see team members face-to-face.

Developing relationships and trust within a hybrid team is still important. But without in-person interactions like meetings, water cooler chats, and visits to your coworker's desk for a quick check-in, building those connections remotely can be a challenge.

Solution: Be intentional about creating moments for connection. 

Hybrid team-building takes a little extra effort and creativity, but when done thoughtfully, you can create real, meaningful interactions among your team. 

• Use virtual breakout rooms to facilitate small group discussions.
• Promote virtual, face-to-face engagement with video conferencing during meetings.
• Create a virtual team space for ongoing collaboration and informal communication. For example, you might add a spot to your virtual team space for people to add pictures of their loved ones and recent life events. 
• Start meetings with icebreakers or team-building games so you can get to know the team before jumping into work.

Be agile to stay agile

Agile is all about responding to change and adapting. While today's work landscape looks very different than the one in which the Agile Manifesto was first founded, hybrid teams can still apply agile principles to their work with a little innovation and flexibility. As you work to prioritize people and interactions over processes and tools in a hybrid environment, keep in mind that what worked in traditional settings may no longer serve your modern team. Continue to explore what works best for your team! 

Find out how to amplify agile values

To learn more about upholding agile values in today's highly distributed, remote, and hybrid teams, watch How to Amplify Agile Values in Modern Workforces. Watch this video to get practical tips from two experienced agilists who are ready to share their insights about sustaining agility in this era.

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About the author

Lucid offers a visual collaboration platform that helps teams see and build the future. With its products—Lucidspark for virtual whiteboarding, Lucidspark for intelligent diagramming, and Lucidscale for cloud visualization—Lucid empowers teams to take plans from initial ideas to successful delivery. Top businesses use Lucid's products all around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and ninety-nine percent of the Fortune 500. Learn more about our solutions for agile teams.