I'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to design digital workplaces or “offices in the cloud.” These environments enable companies to allow flexible and remote working for their teams. I also teach the digital literacy, fluency, communication and collaboration skills needed to work in these modern technology-rich workplaces.

If a hybrid team does not solve the problem articulated here, this workplace will ultimately fail, as it creates a two-tier workplace with remote workers becoming secondclass employees.

If you are not ready to cut the physical office umbilical cord and insist on a hybrid scenario this issue is solvable with one simple policy:

If one person is on screen, everyone is on screen”

Meaning, if you are going to have a meeting where even just one person is remote, then everyone who is co-located must also be on screen.

This ensures that everyone has an equal seat at the table.