Hybrid work didn’t just change where we work. It changed teams at a fundamental, human level and many organisations are still discovering what that really means.

We didn’t simply transition from office desks to Zoom screens. We moved into a world where relationships feel thinner, emotional cues feel harder to read, and everyday trust-building now requires conscious effort rather than casual corridor conversations.

The truth is:

Teams didn’t come back the same. But hybrid work didn’t break teams – it simply revealed what was already fragile.

This blog explores what has shifted in team dynamics, why hybrid work demands more intentional connection, and how personality insight helps rebuild the cohesion teams lost without even realising it.

The Silent Shift: Teams Returned as Different Versions of Themselves

We tend to think of the post-pandemic workplace in terms of changed logistics; hybrid schedules, flexible hours, remote onboarding. But the deeper change happened in people themselves.

After years of uncertainty, isolation and constant adaptation, people returned to work with:

  • New habits
  • Different energy levels
  • Altered stress patterns
  • Changed expectations for autonomy
  • A sharper awareness of work–life balance
  • A stronger preference for personalised working environments
In many ways, people came back as different versions of themselves.
Some became more direct.
Some became more cautious.
Some became more assertive.
Some became more withdrawn.
Some developed new sensitivities.
Some leaned more heavily on autonomy.
The team they thought they were returning to. . . wasn’t quite the same.

Hybrid Work Exposed Hidden Fragilities

When people don’t fully see each other, they naturally fill in the gaps. And the brain tends to choose the least generous interpretation – particularly under stress or ambiguity.
In hybrid environments, this creates predictable challenges:
  • “Why didn’t they reply?” becomes “Are they avoiding me?”
  • “That message felt short” becomes “Are they frustrated?”
  • “They turned off their camera” becomes “Are they disengaged?”
  • “They missed the meeting” becomes “Are they committed?”
Hybrid work does not create misunderstanding, it simply multiplies the opportunities for it.
Because when cues disappear assumptions can take over. And assumptions silently weaken the connective tissue of a team.


Hybrid Work Requires More Human Skills, Not More Digital Tools

Many organisations tried to fix hybrid challenges with:
  • More meetings
  • More updates
  • More apps
  • More dashboards
  • More technology
But what hybrid work truly requires is more humanity, not more software.
Teams now need:
  • Psychological safety
  • Clear expectations
  • Shared behavioural norms
  • Comfort with honest conversations
  • Visibility into personality differences
  • Intentional reconnection moments
  • Hybrid rhythms that support wellbeing
  • Awareness of cognitive and emotional load
These are not technical solutions. They’re human ones.

Hybrid Work Amplifies Personality Differences

One of the most important insights from the Facet5 community is this:
Hybrid environments amplify natural tendencies.

For example:

High Will
Could become more independent, more self-directed, more pace-driven.

High Affection
Could feel disconnected sooner, misses emotional cues, may retreat into silence.

High Energy
Could feel starved of stimulation and overcompensates with intensity on calls.

High Control
Could struggle with ambiguity and wants clearer structure, planning and timelines.

High Emotionality
Could feel uncertainty more deeply and may interpret messages more personally.

These aren’t problems, they’re patterns. Once a team understands the patterns, they can work with them intentionally.


The Loss of Side-Conversations Hurt More Than We Realised

Before hybrid work, teams built trust almost accidentally:

quick check-ins
shared lifts
coffee chats
after-meeting debriefs
small peer moments
casual humour
observing tone and body language
reading energy in the room
These micro-moments created the emotional scaffolding of team cohesion. Hybrid work removed most of them. And because they were invisible, the impact was easy to underestimate.
  • What looks like low engagement is sometimes simply low connection.
  • What looks like conflict avoidance is sometimes fear of misunderstanding.
  • What looks like disengagement is sometimes exhaustion from decoding tone through a screen.

Humans thrive on relational micro-data and hybrid work reduced that bandwidth dramatically.

Why In-Person Time Still Matters (But Not Like Before)

There was a moment in the 2025 Facet5 Connect Conference where someone said:

“Technology connects us. In-person time restores us.”

That line struck a chord with the entire room.

Teams don’t need endless offsites or full-time office mandates. But they do need meaningful, intentional, well-designed face-to-face time. When teams come together physically, even infrequently, they:
  • Repair micro-fractures
  • Rebuild trust
  • Reignite psychological safety
  • Reconnect emotionally
  • Reset expectations
  • Communicate with greater ease
  • Rediscover the humanity behind the job titles
One day together can change six months of hybrid work. The key is purposeful connection – not performative presence.


Hybrid Work Makes Inclusion Even More Essential

The rise of hybrid work has also coincided with the rise of something else: neurodiversity awareness.

Many adults received ADHD, ASD, or related diagnoses for the first time during or after the pandemic. Others recognised traits in themselves that had always been there but never understood.

Hybrid work can be either a sanctuary or a stressor for neurodivergent individuals:
  • Some thrive in the quiet of home.
  • Some rely on movement and flexibility.
  • Some struggle with video call intensity.
  • Some need more processing time or asynchronous options.
  • Some need clearer, more predictable structures.
Personality insight doesn’t replace neurodiversity support but it enhances it. It gives teams a shared language for understanding need, preference and impact. And that makes hybrid collaboration more inclusive, more equitable and more human.


Rebuilding Team Connection Requires New Rituals

To thrive in hybrid environments, teams must consciously rebuild the rituals that used to happen naturally.

Examples include:

Weekly “What I Need” team check-ins
A short moment for everyone to express what would help them do their best work that week.

Monthly energy pulse
A way to track how the team is feeling, coping and connecting.

Decision-making clarity moments
Quickly aligning on who decides what to avoid hybrid ambiguity.

Feedback Fridays
Normalising small, frequent feedback loops.

Hybrid meeting agreements
A shared set of behavioural norms around cameras, inclusivity, chat use, pacing and contribution.

These rituals become the glue holding hybrid teams together.


Hybrid Work Isn’t Less Human – It’s More Human

We often hear people say hybrid work makes teams feel disconnected. But the truth is, hybrid work makes teams feel more human, not less, because hybrid work forces us to:
  • make needs visible
  • make boundaries explicit
  • be clearer about communication
  • be more intentional about trust
  • be more thoughtful about inclusion
  • pay attention to wellbeing
  • express empathy consciously
  • understand each other more deeply
The teams that will thrive are the ones who recognise that hybrid work is not a logistical challenge but a relational one. And relational challenges require relational solutions.


The Future of Hybrid Teams Is Clear

The best hybrid teams will:
  • Personalise collaboration
  • Build psychological safety with intention
  • Match work rhythm to personality
  • Keep reconnecting meaningfully
  • Maintain honest conversations
  • Understand emotional load
  • Use personality insight as a shared map
  • Create fairness through flexibility and clarity
  • See each other through the lens of humanity
Hybrid work didn’t damage teams. It revealed where teams needed to grow. And with the right understanding, hybrid work doesn’t become a compromise but a catalyst for building stronger, more compassionate and more connected teams.

Blog categories

Discover more blog posts >>
Discover more blog posts >>