Informal communication in hybrid working life: a blind spot in internal communication
Mats Heide, Charlotte SimonssonPurpose
This article advances understanding of internal communication in hybrid organizations by examining how informal communication practices are reconfigured across digital and physical contexts. It addresses two research questions: (1) how managers and coworkers experience informal communication in hybrid settings and changes in its conditions and (2) what new forms of informal communication emerge.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on qualitative data from three public organizations, based on eight group interviews with 26 lower-level managers and seven group interviews with 21 coworkers, conducted as part of a broader three-year project on leadership, coworkership and communication in hybrid work.
Findings
The study shows that although informal communication is clearly challenged, it does not disappear. Rather, it is transformed, with new forms of digital informal communication emerging. New digital practices emerge as managers and coworkers actively experiment with ways of maintaining interaction. Chat groups, for example, often function as substitutes for hallway conversations. While peer-to-peer communication is relatively easy to sustain digitally, it is more difficult across hierarchical levels and organizational units. Reduced physical co-presence is partly compensated for by deliberately scheduling informal interactions, further blurring boundaries between formal and informal communication.
Practical implications
As chat-based interactions increasingly replace face-to-face encounters, shared norms are crucial for preventing overload and maintaining effectiveness. At the same time, low-threshold interactions, such as brief messages, emojis and quick check-ins, should be supported, as they foster relational cohesion and facilitate collaboration.
Originality/value
The study shows how hybrid, digitally mediated work reshapes the temporal, spatial and relational foundations of informal communication.