Hybrid work: what the data says about remote collaboration
On hybrid work, each side quotes a study. It is more useful to separate what experiments establish, what large-scale observation shows, and what remains managerial extrapolation.
What experiments establish
Nicholas Bloom, James Liang, John Roberts and Zhichun Jenny Ying (2015, Quarterly Journal of Economics) ran a randomised trial in a Chinese firm: remote work was associated with maintained performance and a clear reduction in attrition. A more recent randomised trial by Bloom, Ruobing Han and James Liang (2023, Nature) on a hybrid schedule points the same way on retention, with no measured performance loss.
What large-scale observation adds
Longqi Yang and colleagues (2022, Nature Human Behaviour) analysed collaboration data from a large firm that moved to fully remote work: the network tightened around existing strong ties, at the expense of bridges between groups. The finding is not about individual productivity but about the structure of exchanges — precisely what complex decisions depend on.
The most common inference error
These studies do not contradict each other: they measure different things. A gain in individual performance and an erosion of cross-group ties can coexist. Concluding that remote work either works or harms generalises a result beyond its object and its context. (our executive and employee training programmes)
Why this matters in complex organisations
In a matrix organisation, the value of being on site is not supervision but the frequency of weak contacts — the ones through which you learn that another unit is already handling the problem. That function, not the number of on-site hours, is what deserves to be decided.
A practical implication, verifiable in-house
A check requiring no instrumentation: over the last quarter, list the three most costly cross-functional decisions and identify the moment when the missing information could have travelled. The channel matters more than the location. This is the exercise we run with Zurich leadership teams before setting any attendance rule. To go further: explore the Complex Management training in Zurich, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.
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