A scientific approach to efficient, effective hybrid work

In-person interaction is often the most effective way to share complex information and experiential wisdom.

When two people in the same space make eye contact, a sort of electro-chemical magic occurs. It’s something that no video call can ever replicate.

This meeting of people in real life as opposed to via a screen is a vital part of successful human connectivity, says Dr Fiona Kerr, founder and CEO of Focus NTI (Neurotech Institute) and keynote speaker at IPA’s National Congress 2023.

“We are hardwired to connect when we share space,” Dr Kerr says.

“Humans send and receive thousands of pieces of information through direct eye gaze, our voice, touch, even just the socially acceptable handshake and the dynamic resonance we create as we move together.”

Dr Kerr explains that these elements add up, causing people to synchronise their brains and bodies.

“Electrical and chemical connections let us trade thousands of volatile messages about our feelings and thoughts, and set up ‘brain wi-fi’ – known as interbrain synchrony – between us when we are face to face.”

This does not mean people should never work from home, Dr Kerr says. It’s simply important to understand the cognitive effects of human interaction to design an effective approach to hybrid work.

In fact, Dr Kerr says, in terms of best practice there is specific work that should be done in a physical, shared environment, and other tasks best suited to working on one’s own, far from distraction.

Togetherness helps bonding and problem solving

The team cognition created by stable teams spending time face-to-face improves trust, complex problem solving and decision making, allowing those teams to overcome challenges faster and more effectively when together.

“We literally excite each other’s brains more, increasing the level of electrochemical activity and fuel we can bring to solving more complex problems,” Dr Kerr says.

“The organisational outcomes of being together have been well researched for many years, and include increased bonding, goodwill and trust, reframing negative issues, innovating, and thinking of creative solutions and ideas as we feel safer to go out on a limb.”

As well as problem solving, in-person interaction is often the most effective way to share complex information – Dr Kerr lists tacit knowledge, nuanced information and experiential wisdom in teaching or mentoring situations.

“Much of this information is picked up and encoded by parts of the brain not stimulated virtually,” she says.

In 2021, a Gartner survey revealed Australian workers were rethinking the role work played in their lives and craving change – suggesting to some that a US ‘great resignation’ would find its way to our shores. Dr Kerr was not surprised – working from home for long periods during and after COVID lockdowns had taken its toll.

Remote hiring and difficulty meeting in person, Kerr explains, meant many employees never experienced the bonding and neurophysiological benefits of being together in the same space.

Best practice has always been to onboard new people in-person, but post lockdowns, global data shows that the most successful hybrid organisations ensure people are onboarded in person and spend up to two weeks in the office with the team to cement relationships and build alignment, she says.

“This stimulates electrochemical activity which includes oxytocin – an interesting chemical that increases socialisation and affiliation, and reduces stress levels and avoidance in information exchange,” she says.

“It improves our radar – making us listen better and ask different questions. All of this helps to build trust and connection as more of our socio-emotional pathways are turned on.”

One of the fascinating things about our efficient brains is that if we know we are going to have an ongoing relationship, to save effort the brain minimises the high level of electrochemical activity created by our initial face-to-face connection by building a small neural network of the other person.

“It’s a little spider web of you, a little mini-me that turns on the next time we interact,” Dr Kerr says.

Each time we meet, that network becomes richer. It also helps virtual interactions to be more robust.

When is it best to work remotely?

If being together holds such great power, why work from home? Hybrid work, designed with intention to increase flexibility without impacting productivity, can be an antidote to the overwork currently plaguing professionals – half of IPA members told us they work more than full-time hours. More than a quarter said it’s difficult to take time out for holidays and 14% said their workload has a negative impact on family life.

Aside from this, there are several payoffs for efficiency and effectiveness, Dr Kerr says.

She suggests that two-and-a-half to three days in the office each week for most teams is the ideal to maintain bonding, trust and alignment, as well as mitigate the risk of loneliness.

“However, how often, where and why we collocate should primarily be shaped around the work and outcome requirements, including the level of task interconnection with others, the need for joint problem solving, aligning ideas around issues or changes, and working with fuzzy or nuanced information,” Dr Kerr says.

She suggests that transactional tasks, which tech tools and data collection have made relatively portable, can be completed effectively remotely.

“Having the peace for deep dive or strategic thinking is also often done away from office distractions, though this requires agreement that people not be digitally disturbed or on call,” she says.

Of course, some people do need to leave their homes and work in the office to find a quiet, dedicated workspace – this is why hybrid workplaces are most effective when they cater to a range of needs and activities rather than mandating ‘work at home’ days.

Knowing all of this, those working together in a hybrid environment can discuss and agree with their managers which tasks are best suited to collocation and which are suited to working remotely, and plan accordingly.

This also changes the conversation to one of actively deciding when it is more effective to be together, instead of trying to juggle many individual agendas, which not only leaves workers cognitively stressed but makes teams less efficient, Dr Kerr says.

Hybrid work: Get the office space right

Increasing knowledge about hybrid work and the neuroscience of interaction, along with years of research on the impact of office layouts, shows us the importance of a well-designed office space.

Open plan spaces have always been problematic and hot desking is particularly so, Dr Kerr says. The latter is too often used as an easy fix for lowering the footprint and cost of office space, but is poorly suited to supporting staff returning to the office to reconnect with the team and organisation.

In most organisations, open plan offices and hot desking lower the level of interaction, collaboration, productivity, equality and team synchrony. They create public spaces fraught with uncertainty, social challenges and different rules than the communal or private ones. As one researcher defined it, hot desking turns colleagues into ‘settlers’ who manage to take the same desks most days and ‘strangers’ who do not – and therefore must invest more of their time in the “low-level subsistence activity” of finding and setting up a space.

There are great alternatives such as family desks, zones and communities that lower the footprint, but which maintain productivity, connection and belonging, quite literally, to a dedicated place.

“Designing useful open plans is about parsing the spaces,” Dr Kerr says.

Ensure defined spaces for team interaction, socialising, quiet work and informal learning from each other. Each area should have a purpose, and Dr Kerr suggests a series of questions to map those purposes:

• What do people need to do in each area?
• Which areas are quiet and which are interactive?
• How will people move through and around them?
• Do they need to write on the walls, sit together, or be alone?
• Do people need to be separated by hard barriers or will soft lines work?

The question of generations

Dr Kerr’s final advice – never assume those in the younger generation desperately desire to work from home full time.

“The data is absolutely clear. When people were finally allowed to come back into the office, the two groups that were in like a shot were the young people and the older empty nesters,” Dr Kerr says.

“The young people know it’s critical for them to be in a communal space, because they’re creating their belonging networks. They are getting close to their teams and their supervisors, and soaking up tacit knowledge around culture and values as well as technical issues like a sponge. So, ensure they can be present.”