Although business leaders may view remote or hybrid workplace tools as an added expense, the reality is that many teams already worked across locations well before the pandemic—and distributed arrangements have allowed companies to make full use of their technology investments.
In the sixth episode of the “Remotely Possible” podcast, I spoke with Aaron Mackey, VP and Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Sonata Therapeutics, to discuss how hybrid collaboration tools enable his data-driven startup to thrive. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation, including how to balance the need for in-person collaboration with remote flexibility.
Introducing Aaron and His Hybrid Startup Team
Sonata Therapeutics is an early-stage startup with approximately 60 employees. Most of its scientific staff work from its laboratory office space in Watertown, MA, and Aaron’s data team consists of 8 people (and growing!).
Implementing a hybrid model was an easy transition for Aaron’s team, enabling them to focus on in-person connection when they go into the office.
“Because so much of our work is cloud-based now, that former necessity of being on-prem so you could go over and push the power button on the server to reboot the darn thing; those days are over. And it’s really freed us,” Aaron said. “You can be on-prem because you have a sort of human-human interface relationship to manage. But if it’s spent managing code and data and infrastructure, well, that’s all off in the cloud anyway. So you can really do that from just about anywhere.”
Hybrid Models Maximize The Value of Workplace Tech Investments
Aaron reflects that his team has always been distributed, even before the pandemic, given that teams and clients across locations would collaborate regularly.
“It wasn’t distributed in the sense that people were working from home; it was working for different corporations that had offices in Boston and Princeton and San Diego,” he said. “Everyone was in an office, but we were still having meetings that involved remote connectivity. There was still collaboration that required conference calls and shared resources.”
Because companies already invested in video conferencing tools and remote collaboration solutions, Aaron feels the pandemic helped them gain the most value from those investments.
“The transition in COVID was not very hard for us, and it [allowed us to] make use of a lot of the investments that companies have made in that teleconferencing equipment and to continue to have those investments pay off in terms of employee productivity and well-being and overall job satisfaction,” Aaron said.
Having the right tools alone isn’t enough, however. Establish clear communication guidelines and explain to hybrid workers how to use each tool effectively. The process requires flexibility based on individual preferences to ensure everyone feels supported in this hybrid work arrangement.
“Whether it’s email or a chat, everyone has their preferred modes and their boundaries of how important or relevant it is,” Aaron explained. “Every team and every organization has to navigate to what extent does chat become almost a distraction versus email becomes the sort of wasteland.”
Managers should allow team members to engage and interact in spontaneous ways and discuss matters that aren’t work-related.
“When you’re remote, and you don’t have the spontaneous face time that happens—the watercooler/coffee-cart interactions—you have to more actively manage those face-to-face relationships,” Aaron said. “Sometimes they’re going to be scheduled. Sometimes they’re the weekly team meeting or the daily stand-up. But you also have to carve out room and intention to have more spontaneous chats.”
Aaron shares three things that hybrid teams need to thrive:
“You need tools, you need people who know how to use the tools, and then you need a process that people understand how to follow and that the tool actually supports.”
For more of Aaron’s insights into leading an effective hybrid team culture and his tips for interviewing candidates for hybrid or remote positions, listen to the Remotely Possible Podcast, episode 6. Interested in sharing your distributed work experience with our listeners? Apply to be my guest for a future episode.