Distributed Teams: What the Data Tells Us About Remote Work

When the pandemic forced so many of us out of the office and into our homes, working from our studies, spare rooms and sofas was hailed as a blessing in disguise.

Employees have pushed for more remote and hybrid work for a long time; finally, they have a chance to show sceptical managers that the benefits to their well-being may not come at the expense of productivity, accountability and team cohesion.

Looking back over the last four years, they did just that.

But distributed teams didn’t become the new normal because of the pandemic. Employees settled into hybrid and remote work because the evidence appears to show that it made them happier, more energised each day and, crucially, more productive, rather than less.

Remote Work: What Changed?

Why are employers and policymakers starting to reevaluate our relationship with remote and hybrid working?

In this report, our intention is not to diagnose whether remote work is ultimately good or bad – frankly, there are enough blogs, podcasts and LinkedIn posts already doing that already. We will provide an overview of the data: what does it really tell us?

Are distributed teams really working — and what kinds of tools and strategies can we implement to help turn around burnout and disengagement?

Why Are We Rethinking Remote Work Now?

In short, our view of remote work is changing because the picture of distributed teams is changing too. In their 2024 State of the Global Workforce report, Gallup found that employee engagement had stagnated in the last year, while employee wellbeing had been in a clear decline.

Gallup measures wellbeing by looking at metrics like life evaluation, daily negative emotions, burnout, and an employee’s belief that their organisation cares about their wellbeing. While their research found that 34% of global employees were scored as “thriving in life”, that number had dropped from 2022 to 2023. Meanwhile, 58% were said to be struggling.

It’s worth noting that many companies are reevaluating their remote work policies due to pressures from the real estate industry. But others point to concerns about the impact on human connection.

We Can’t Overlook the Benefits of the Office

Professor Scott Galloway notes that one in three romantic relationships begin at work. If employees spend most of their time at home — especially younger workers at the start of their careers — where are they going to meet their friends and partners?

There is also the perceived impact on career progression to consider. Many business leaders advocate for in-office working to help early and mid-career professionals advance in their chosen field. But remote work also enables people who can’t afford a move to a larger city — or simply don’t want to — the opportunity to work for a global company and earn a larger salary.

Does Remote Work Really Work?

It’s worth noting that some people have always struggled with hybrid models. In the study How Hybrid Working From Home Works Out, Nicholas Bloom highlights the differences between the employee and manager experience of hybrid work. Although hybrid work led overall attrition rates to fall by a third, manager attrition rose by 55%.

You could surmise that managers haven’t enjoyed managing people remotely, but as the same study shows, pre-hybrid trials, managers were more likely to predict hybrid would lead to a negative outcome: they expected hybrid to fail.

The reality is it’s easy to be reactive. And it’s easy to not let time educate us. Natalia Emanuel said as much in The Atlantic’s Good On Paper podcast:

Emanuel ends the discussion by indicating that while remote and hybrid work has many benefits, we haven’t created a perfect system by any means.

Hybrid Working Evolved in Difficult Circumstances

The reality is, this hybrid working trial hasn’t happened in ideal test conditions – between economic uncertainty, political upheaval and mounting conflicts, we’ve certainly had no shortage of stressors since 2020. So we probably shouldn’t draw any surefire conclusions from the way the last few years have been.

That said, we still need to pay close attention to how remote work impacts distributed teams, so we can make the most of the good and mitigate the bad. So let’s look a little closer at where hybrid working can go askew.

Loneliness, Stress and Burnout: the Triple Threat for Distributed Teams

When you look at the research around distributed teams, three themes keep rearing their heads: loneliness, burnout and feedback.

Loneliness

In their State of the Global Workforce report, Gallup found that 20% of the world’s employees experience loneliness every day. When you look specifically into employees who work from home, this is more acute. The findings say 46% of remote workers either always or sometimes experience loneliness in their work.

One of the common casualties when employees go remote is friendships in the workplace. It’s not just that disparate teams aren’t in the same building to engage in small talk. It’s also that so many of their interactions when they’re remote are transactional or task-related.

Burnout

On the surface, burnout might seem like a strange problem to lie at the feet of remote and hybrid working. After all, for employees who argue for more opportunities to go remote, one of the key reasons is a better work/life balance – less time commuting to and from the office means more time for family, friends and hobbies.

For managers and leaders who argue against it, a key objection is the concern that they’ll never know if their employees are working hard or slacking off. Neither scenario sounds like it should be contributing to burnout.

However, a 2021 Remote Work Report by GitLab found that 42% of remote workers surveyed felt that it was harder for them to maintain boundaries when they weren’t in the office. Whether it’s working through when you’d normally take a break for lunch or logging back on in the evening to answer an instant message from your boss, it’s tough to keep strict business hours when your office is also your home.

Lack of Feedback

Does remote work impact productivity? A 2023 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research looked at teams of software engineers and the feedback they got on their work. Half of the engineers in the study worked in teams that were grouped in the same physical office, while the other half were in distributed teams working across multiple buildings on their company’s campus.

The report found that engineers who worked in a different building from the rest of their teammates received 22% less feedback than engineers whose teams shared a workspace. It also found that junior engineers in particular both received and asked for less feedback when they worked remotely.

If employees in distributed teams are missing out on crucial feedback, it also means they’re missing out on opportunities to be mentored and develop new skills to help advance their careers. And if they feel like they’re not getting those opportunities, they’re more likely to become chronically disengaged.

What Can We Do to Improve Remote Work?

As we said, we’re not out to call for an end to a distributed workforce. Even if remote working can have its weaknesses, it’s much better to find solutions to address them rather than call the whole thing off as a failed experiment.

Part of the solution will be a cultural shift. The more flexible working becomes a norm in the workplace, the more leaders and managers need to invest in social and team-building opportunities for remote employees, and the more they need to encourage and enforce clear boundaries so that team members have time to rest and recharge outside of work.

Another part will be what tech tools are in play. Distributed teams already have great solutions for project management, video conferencing and internal communication, but to combat loneliness and burnout they’ll also need ways and means of interacting as people, not just as coworkers checking in on projects.

Use Feedback Loops to Optimise Remote Work

And when it comes to feedback, so much will hinge on what channels your employees have to receive comments, and whether their mentors and managers can build a habit of using those channels. If feedback once depended on a mentor passing by someone’s desk, have they found a way to replace that now that the team is remote?

Whether you’re using existing tools like Slack or dedicated employee recognition software, the more you can turn employee feedback into a habit and ritual, the more employee contributions will be seen and valued, wherever their desks are.

Burnout in Remote Teams is Avoidable

If you’re seeing signs of burnout and disengagement in your distributed teams and looking for ways to help turn things around, take a look at our blog on how to turn employee engagement insights into actionable strategies. And while you’re here, take a look at one of our case studies to see how we’ve helped other companies thrive.

Mo helped Quark achieve a cohesive company culture across different time zones for their US, UK and Indian-based teams by leveraging our employee engagement software. We helped them encourage positive behaviours across their workforce, such as peer-to-peer recognition, and build a greater sense of accountability and belonging.

Mo is the Answer to Low Engagement in Distributed Teams

Mo is a culture and engagement platform that uses data insights to drive real improvement in engagement scores while reducing staff turnover. We strategically help people teams create great places to work through continuous, positive action.

If you’re looking for ways to take action on measuring employee engagement, learn more about how to shift the dial at the manager level and transform insights into action. To find out if you’re eligible for our money-back guarantee, book a demo with our team.