One aspect of remote/hybrid work that is of concern to a number of companies and/or their managers is "how do I know my teams are doing their work"? This is more of an emotional question than it is a quantitative question. The work is the same, the people on the team are the same, the objectives are the same. Evaluation of work -- while perhaps requiring use of different skills and methods -- remains the same whether in the office, remote on a desert island, or a hybrid of home and office.
Evaluation is composed of two parts -- commitment and results. A commitment is something that is agreed to by all parties. One party CAN state what the end result, and time frame, should be but, without agreement by all parties, no reasonable evaluation can be made. (Perhaps, within this type of situation, the evaluation can only be made about the person, or team, mandating the commitment.)
Once upon a time, I was given a project to do, with time frame, for something that had not been done before. After three weeks of research, it was obvious that the work could not be done in the original time frame. I reported this fact to my manager who was terrified to tell his manager (this person had most of the laboratory terrified -- whether they reported to them or not). I got the project done well and on time according to my revised estimates. My evaluation was not good. It was not a reasonable evaluation. A good way to destroy morale and effectiveness within an organization.
One vital part of the commitment, to which ALL parties agree to, are the set of acceptance criteria. This is used to evaluate results. If the results satisfy the set of acceptance criteria then it was done well. If they do not, then deficits need to be evaluated to determine what the team could have done better or could do better in the future knowing such information. In this part, communication is key. Delays can be worked with -- but only if all parties are aware of the delay. Technical problems can be worked on with adequate communication and allocation of resources. With proper communication, there is no one "to blame" but it is possible to determine how well teams, and individuals, did within the process.
Note that, within the above description, location of people and teams does not arise. That is because the location is not important. Nor is the process important -- waterfall, agile, lean six sigma, ... Communication is important. Honest evaluation and discussion is important. Location is not important.
This applies to known current projects. What about future projects? Brainstorming? And, within current projects, how is communication facilitated, to keep the various people and teams working well with one another. That is another topic.
