Hybrid work: between flexibility and team cohesion, how do you find the balance?

Since 2020, the hybrid work has become obvious for many businesses. Fewer trips, more flexibility, a better reconciliation professional life/personal life... On paper, everything seems perfect. In practice? It's a bit more nuanced.

According to a Ifop study (2023), 63% of employees feel that hybrid work has improved their quality of life, but 1 in 2 say they sometimes feel isolated of his team. Between strengthened autonomy and social bond weakened, the rules of the collective game have changed. And not everyone understands it.

But be careful, there is no question here of opposing the office to the teleworking, nor to point the finger at a model. The challenge is The balance. And it cannot be decreed, it is built.

• How do you stay connected without being in the office all the time?
• How do you maintain team dynamics without sacrificing individual freedom?
• And above all: how to make hybrid work a real driver of well-being and commitment, not just a default organization?

This is what we will see in this article. With one conviction: the Hybrid work is an opportunity, as long as you think of it other than as a simple work/home alternation. It can be an opportunity to reinvent the collective, to open a dialogue on the expectations of the teams, and to integrate (finally and for our greatest happiness...) the mental well-being as a central, concrete, and not taboo subject.

Ready to see hybrid work in a different way?

Flexibility sought with hybrid work, but benchmarks changed

Long dreamed of, freedom is finally becoming a reality for millions of employees. No more hours of transport, hello coffee breaks in the kitchen and meetings in socks. Hybrid work is a bit of the best of both worlds. And it's not just an impression: 82% of employees believe that this organization improves their work/life balance, according to an OpinionWay study from 2024.More autonomy, more concentration, a personalized rhythm... The list of benefits is long. Except that in the background, other less visible effects set in.

Flexibility that blurs the boundaries

When we no longer clearly distinguish the workspace from the living space, all our organizational automations falter. The breaks are getting blurry. The hours are getting longer. The brain has fewer points of reference for going into “off” mode.As a result: some find themselves replying to an email at 22:00 “just to get rid of it”... and feeling guilty for not being connected early enough in the morning.According to the study conducted by the human resources consulting company, Mercer, 55% of remote workers have trouble setting boundaries between professional and personal life.

‍ “In a hybrid work environment where boundaries can easily get mixed up, it is essential to create your own routines, adapted to your needs. These simple habits become real anchor points and help to find a sustainable balance between professional and personal life. First, if space allows it, it is better to work in a dedicated place, associated with working time. And if this is not possible, we will at least avoid the bed or the sofa, which are too linked to rest. Another fundamental reference point: timetables. Setting a clear framework, and sticking to it as much as possible, allows you to set healthy boundaries. Once these foundations have been laid (place, time), it can be useful to ritualize the transition to the working day. This can involve a change of outfit (avoiding pajamas plays a lot on the state of mind), or a simple gesture: start a playlist, prepare a coffee, take a few minutes for yourself before connecting. This ritual can also mark the end of the day, to help you really unplug. Finally, thinking about breaks remains essential, even at a distance. Why not set an alarm for a regular break, or set up a time for discussion with a colleague, by phone or video? The lunch break, too, deserves to be sacred: take the time to eat, go out, move, do something else... but especially not in 15 minutes in front of your screen. “, Amandine Farhat, Consultant & RPS/QVCT expertise referent at Qualisocial.

Mental health focus: the brain also needs walls

Contrary to what one might think, Working from home does not necessarily reduce the mental load, sometimes, it's even completely the opposite. In the absence of physical boundaries, The brain remains alert, ready to switch from a professional task to laundry or a personal call... without ever really disconnecting. This constant blur can generate Mental fatigue, a feeling of inefficiency Or a loss of meaning, especially when the objectives are poorly defined or when the recognition is discreet from a distance. And all this is not just a theory: 41% of remote employees feel isolated, and 30% say they have lost in motivation, according to OpinionWay. Hybrid work is not “the problem.” Rather, it is a new reading grid, which comes Shake up our classical landmarks. It is up to us to rebuild routines, to invent new forms of coordination... and to make room for Break time, to The informal, at collective, without necessarily going back.

Team cohesion: mission (im) possible in a hybrid format?

Social ties, the first collateral victim of hybrid work

Hybrid work offers flexibility and autonomy, but it can also weaken the relational fabric within teams. Informal interactions, these spontaneous moments of sharing and complicity, are becoming rarer. According to a Buffer study (2023), 75% of remote workers feel that communicating with colleagues has become more difficult than in person. This decrease in informal exchanges can lead to Feeling isolated And a drop in engagement. A survey by the Telework Observatory highlights that social support is lower in teleworking than in person, which constitutes a major challenge for the team cohesion.

Managing remotely: a new relational challenge

The role of the manager evolves in a hybrid context. It's no longer just about overseeing tasks, but about maintaining team dynamics, promoting communication, and detecting weak signals, even via messaging. Managers need to develop new relational skills to support their remote teams.Practices such as regular meetings, the individual points And the informal discussion spaces become essential for maintaining relationships and preventing isolation. Buffer's study indicates that businesses that encourage informal communication between colleagues see a 20% increase in employee engagement

Concrete initiatives to strengthen cohesion

To maintain team cohesion in hybrid mode, several actions can be implemented:

• Create team rituals : weekly meetings, informal moments of sharing or virtual team-building activities.
• Use efficient collaboration tools: platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams or Asana promote smooth communication and optimal project management.
• Encourage open and caring communication: Establish a feedback culture where everyone feels free to express their ideas and concerns

These initiatives contribute to strengthening a sense of belonging and maintaining a positive team dynamic, even at a distance.

Finding balance: common landmarks rather than a rigid model

The optimal balance: between two and three days of remote work per week

According to a study published in 2023 (Criscuolo, C., et al., “The role of telework for productivity during and post COVID-19”, Economy and Statistics), The ideal volume of teleworking is between two and three days a week. This pace allows you to benefit from the advantages of remote work while maintaining a sufficient presence in the office to promote collaboration and team cohesion.

The importance of collective landmarks

To avoid the excesses of poorly supervised hybrid work, it is essential to define collective reference points. This includes setting up team rituals, clarifying expectations in terms of availability and communication, and defining common time slots to facilitate exchanges.

The key role of management

Managers play a crucial role in the success of hybrid work. They must adopt leadership based on trust, listening and flexibility. This includes setting clear goals, providing a regular feedback and to ensure the well-being of employees, whether in the office or remotely.

Creating the conditions for a hybrid work that feels good

1. Train managers in hybrid management and the detection of weak signals

Hybrid work is profoundly transforming the role of managers. Managing a dispersed team involves new reflexes: maintaining cohesion at a distance, maintaining a regular link with each employee, and above all, knowing how to identify weak signals of discomfort that are often more discreet when working from homeHowever, many managers do not feel they are sufficiently prepared for these challenges. A CadremEmploi study reveals that 87% of them feel unaccompanied when faced with burn-out from a member of their team. This figure is all the more worrying as the increased use of teleworking makes the detection of these situations even more difficult: fewer informal interactions, less non-verbal language, and a tendency to silently overconnect.This evolution of managerial practices requires specific support, focused on both remote management tools, adapted communication rituals, and awareness of psychosocial risks in a hybrid environment.

2. Adapt work organization according to location

In a hybrid environment, the workplace is becoming a fully-fledged organizational lever. To gain efficiency while maintaining team dynamics, it is useful to adjust tasks according to the context: give priority collaborative time and face-to-face meetings, and book Missions requiring concentration while working from home. This mode of operation not only makes it possible to better manage individual energies, but also to structure daily life around adapted rituals, promoting both productivity and cohesion.

3. Strengthen a writing culture to limit mental overload

In a hybrid work context, The culture of writing is becoming an essential lever for facilitating collaboration while maintaining concentration. Too many meetings or instant exchanges fragment the day and prevent employees from entering into truly productive working time. On the other hand, Writing allows you to put ideas forward, avoid constant interruptions, and clarify exchanges.Adopting this collective reflex is also promote autonomy : everyone can find information at any time, in a dedicated and structured space, without depending on an immediate response or an impromptu meeting. This quieter setting reduces mental load and contributes to a better balance between individual work and cooperation.

4. Establishing emotional regulation spaces

For prevent psychosocial risks, it is essential to create spaces where employees can express their feelings. Les discussion groups, the supervision sessions Or the psychological hotlines are all effective devices. These initiatives make it possible to free speech, strengthen team cohesion and prevent situations of stress or discomfort.

5. Regularly measure the social climate and feelings using mental health barometers

To effectively adjust actions in favor of the well-being of employees, you still need to have updated data. Tools such as social barometers make it possible to: monitor the evolution of well-being, satisfaction and commitment in time. But how often should they be administered?

• Every quarter : this is often the recommended pace for detecting trends, reacting quickly to weak signals and integrating this measure into a continuous improvement process.
• Every month : relevant in contexts of strong transformation, crisis or generalized teleworking. This higher frequency allows for finer control, but requires lightweight tools that are well accepted by the teams.
• Once or twice a year : useful for more complete or qualitative surveys, in addition to shorter and more frequent surveys.

Note: it is always possible to adjust the frequency according to the feelings of the teams, previous results or the perceived mental load.

‍ “Administering a social barometer is above all sending a strong signal to employees: to be listened to, heard and taken into account. This helps create a climate of trust where everyone can express their feelings, which is essential to prevent difficulties before they escalate. For this tool to be useful, it is first of all necessary to ensure the climate in which it is administered: for it to be useful, there must already be a bond of trust between the employer and the teams and regardless of the context, it is important to reassure employees about the employer's motivation to take this type of questionnaire and on the anonymous nature of the latter. For it to be useful, you also need to find the right frequency. If the measurement is too spaced out, it is likely to miss important signals. Too frequent, it can become heavy and tiring. In general, a quarterly rhythm is a good compromise, it allows you to follow the evolution without overloading the teams. The quality of the data depends above all on the simplicity of the questionnaires and on the transparency of what will be done with the results. A clear, easy to complete and well-explained barometer invites regular and sincere participation, and thus provides a true picture of the social climate. Finally, to ensure the usefulness and therefore sustainability of the barometer over time, it is necessary that it be accompanied by feedback from employees (regardless of its form) and proposals for concrete actions. “, Amandine Farhat, Consultant & RPS/QVCT expertise referent at Qualisocial.

Examples of concrete actions

• Mental health workshops: These workshops are an opportunity to speak out, to break down preconceived ideas and to address topics that are still sometimes taboo with simplicity. Mental fatigue, emotional load, deadline pressure: when you put words to it, you make better progress. The objective is not to medicalize exchanges, but to de-dramatize, to make these topics Accessible to everyone, based on the daily experience of the teams.
• “Hybrid manager” training courses: Hybrid management cannot be improvised. This means rethinking your role: how do you keep in touch with your team when everyone is not there? How do you detect the signs of dropping out from a distance? These courses allow managers to develop simple reflexes, to share their practices and to build a clear and caring framework, both for themselves and for their teams.
• Spaces for listening and psychological support: Creating a listening space is not just about opening a telephone line. It's showing employees that they have the right to speak, that the company is there, really. These listening units can be internal or entrusted to specialized partners (such as Social quality! 👋), which support organizations in setting up adapted systems: anonymous, confidential, responsive, designed to adapt to business realities.

Finally, Hybrid yes, but always with the human being at the heart. Hybrid working is not just a change of scenery between office and living room. It is a transformation of the ways we collaborate, manage, and organize ourselves. A daily revolution that opens doors: more autonomy, more flexibility, better reconciliation of life times. But for this freedom to be a driver of performance, (and not a source of imbalance), it must be accompanied by a solid framework, built collectively. This framework is the company that shapes it: through its culture, its rituals, its tools, its way of listening to and supporting its teams. Because yes, Well-being cannot be improvised. It can be structured, measured and cultivated. And mental health, far from being a taboo or “separate” subject, is a clear indicator of the quality of the relationship at work. Rather than opposing face-to-face and distance, rigor and flexibility, performance and well-being, it is time to compose a hybrid score where everyone finds their place, and meaning.