Let's review each of the five major team structures in some more detail. If you'd like to go on a deeper dive, please see the linked resources for even more information. As a baseline, let's look at a fully co-located team. This is an organization that doesn't allow any remote work. This may be determined by the industry, by the type of work being performed, by the obstacles and cost preventing remote work or by simple preference. For example, the nature of some work is that it must be done in person or for industries such as banking, the work could be done remotely, if not for the risk and cost of updating Infrastructure and security that was not designed for remote access to sensitive information. In some cases, leadership may assess the possibility of remote work and decide it's not right for their team. In other cases, the transition to remote can simply be too challenging to undertake. In early 2020, many workplaces faced an unprecedented challenge in the form of a global pandemic, which cause most people who were able to avoid in person office work to do so. For no remote companies, this was a much greater challenge than for organizations that were already remote friendly. Excluding remote work also excludes some people making it more challenging to create an inclusive and diverse workplace. It can also lead to a difficult decision for people who live further from the office or who can't fit a long commute into their day. For people who do choose to commute, that choice can lead to dissatisfaction. However, there are many benefits to co-located work. The primary benefit is that there's a wealth of experience, tradition, and education you can draw on to run your company. This also translates into shared expectations. New hires usually have a good idea of what to expect in your workplace. It's also easier to communicate both formally and informally in an in-person environment. Likewise, it's easier to keep an eye on your team members attendance and activities. All of this adds up to a stronger culture that's much more easy to build and reinforce. Now let's look at the next team structure. Remote allowed is a very common model throughout the world and across many industries. It's quite simple. The organization maintains office-based for all team members, but permits them to work remotely sometimes. Most people spend most of their time in the office with remote work as an exception to the rule. Remote allowed teams typically treat it as a benefit, as a perk or as a compromise for employees requesting schedule flexibility. Leadership recognizes that the ability to work outside the office can sometimes help people sink their professional and personal needs raising satisfaction and retention. The main challenge is in implementing a remote allowed model are around equity and security. Do all team members have the same flexibility? Does everyone have adequate equipment or workspace to be able to take advantage of the opportunity? Or are people transporting their work computers, which may raise security risks. Then there's the challenge of scheduling meetings to account for everyone's telework days which are often rotating. However, many employers successfully overcome these challenges and receive the benefits of a happier workforce, fewer working hours lost to errands and a recruiting perk to attract new team members. In the hybrid remote model, most team members work together in a physical office while some people are remote, some or all of the time. Hybrid remote is quickly becoming one of the most popular team models, particularly for organizations who are transitioning back to the office following global shutdowns. Many organizations were working this way before COVID 19, and many will continue to use hybrid remote models. As we will discuss throughout this course, despite its widespread popularity, hybrid remote is the most challenging structure to execute well. There are many reasons to adopt a hybrid remote structure. For example, you may be expanding your coverage to be available across more hours, more time zones or more geographical areas. Companies may send an advance team to a new region or may establish a long-term remote presence for a limited set of tasks. In other models, companies have a core headquarters, but support an extended network of resellers, distributors, or salespeople who live in the same areas as their customer bases. Increasingly, employers offer this as a benefit to certain employees who negotiate for the opportunity to choose their location. Overall, this is the team structure with the most challenges to overcome. The greatest challenges center around providing an equitable experience for remote and co-located team members. Remote team members may struggle to access information they need, as well as career and personal development opportunities. They may feel disconnected and under appreciated if they sense they're being left out of experiences that happen in the office. They may not have managers that understand and support the needs of remote professionals. Meanwhile, in office, team members may feel inferior in different ways. They may see others being allowed to work remotely and wonder why it isn't an option for them. They may wonder why it's their responsibility to lobby for the ability to work remotely. If they do gain remote work privileges, they may worry about needing to demonstrate that there's still just as productive or risk being made an example of. For more on the challenges of a hybrid remote structure, please see the linked resources. All that said, many organizations will still attempt a hybrid remote structure. That's because it looks great on paper. The potential benefits include the significant cost savings from not needing to open satellite offices or relocate team members and for companies based in areas with a high cost of living, there are also savings from paying comparable salaries balanced for less costly areas. It's certainly beneficial to many organizations to have team members distributed across time zones and regions. If hybrid remote is done well, it can raise employee happiness. That covers the three types of team structures that work office first. In the next video, we'll look at team structures where the office is minimized or doesn't exist at all.
