In the U.S., more than half of employers offering hybrid work options require staff to be onsite at least three days a week. But how that’s structured can create the professional equivalent of high school cliques.
A new study featuring research from the University of Washington found that when employees get to choose which days they come into the office, they tend to coordinate with certain colleagues, creating “subgroups” that develop stronger relationships.
Imbalanced alliances also form when teams are geographically dispersed and some employees are always remote while others come in regularly.
They coined the term “co-location imbalance” to describe the phenomenon.
“The people who are in the same subgroup form a virtuous cycle with more collaboration and more of a sense of identity with their subgroup,” said Michael Johnson, a co-author of the study and UW Foster School of Business professor, in a news release.
“But there is also a vicious cycle of less collaboration and less of a sense of identity with the other subgroups, or those who are not in their subgroup,” he added.
The researchers noted that the divisions can fall along demographic lines of age, race, ethnicity and gender.
The study, which published in April in the peer-reviewed Journal of Organizational Behavior, described distinct, unique power structures that can form when workers align. The configurations include a subgroup that leads, makes decisions and delegates tasks to outside groups or unaligned individuals.
Some takeaways from the research:
- Establishing an “anchor day” or days in which everyone is onsite, or times when entire teams need to meet in person for collaborating on a project, can reduce the likelihood of subgroup formation.
- Deliberately scheduling events such as meetings, group tasks, shared meals and other social activities on in-office days can promote cohesion.
- Employees at companies with open, shared spaces are more likely to synchronize in-office days with their colleagues than those in closed office spaces, suggesting that workers choose to be onsite because they’re seeking opportunities for in-person interactions.
- Co-location imbalances are fluid and can change over time as conditions vary.
- Artificial intelligence could be used to predict the potential of subgroup formation by analyzing who is onsite and when and considering the “relational strength” between team members.
“Organizations need intentional strategies that consider co-location patterns, not just total office days,” Johnson said. “Companies that ignore these dynamics risk creating permanently divided teams where information, opportunities and relationships develop unequally between in-office and remote colleagues.
“For hybrid work to succeed, leaders must recognize that workspace isn’t just physical — it’s social.”
Co-authors of the study are Lisa Handke of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Patrícia Costa of ISCTE Business School, and María Ximena Hincapié of Universidad de los Andes.
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