Engagement in Hybrid Project Teams A Comparative Case Study of Project Managers’ Experiences in Denmark and the US

– This study is intended to create new practitioner-focused knowledge on hybrid work in project teams to be consumed and applied by project management professionals and others who manage or work in virtual/hybrid teams. The study focused on the low levels of engagement among employees worldwide, particularly in Denmark and the U.S. The purpose of the qualitative comparative case study was to explore how project managers in Denmark and the U.S. perceive the impact of hybrid work on team member engagement and to understand the strategies used to enhance and sustain team member engagement in hybrid project teams. This research was framed according to Matthews et al.’s model of employee engagement in project-based organizations. Data were collected by interviewing 15 Danish project managers and nine U.S. project managers who participated in three focus groups. Thematic analysis and NVivo were used to code and analyze the data. The findings revealed that while Danish project managers were less enthusiastic about hybrid work than their American counterparts, their strategies for enhancing hybrid team member engagement were similar. This comparative case study produced a series of insights into project managers’ experiences with hybrid work and effective practices and strategies that help foster engagement in hybrid teams. More research is needed on why engagement levels are very low in different cultural contexts to clarify contributing factors and propose solutions.


Introduction
Although remote working is not a new phenomenon, many companies and office workers across the globe were forced to quickly adapt to virtual work when the Covid-19 pandemic prompted lockdowns in the spring of 2020.Few www.ijarbm.orghad a plan but managed to sustain work through a spirit of "you do what you have to do in this situation" (Jevnaker & Olaisen, 2022, p. 142).By the end of 2020, studies started to emerge on the benefits and challenges of working remotely.Research firms in Europe and the United States (U.S.) reported that a surprising benefit from widespread remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic was a perceived increase in productivity (KPMG, 2022;PwC, 2021).In addition, workers enjoyed the flexibility and control over their workday that working from home allowed (Ipsen et al., 2021;Morawski, 2022).Teleworking during the pandemic revealed that current communication and collaboration technologies, coupled with hastily put-together remote working policies, enabled a functional and green alternative to daily commuting (EEA, 2023).
Results from large-scale surveys administered during the pandemic also revealed challenges associated with virtual work, extending decades of research on the topic.A consistent finding across respondents in Europe and the U.S. was that managers found motivating and engaging remote employees difficult (Fuglsang Bach, 2022;Kirchner et al., 2021).Employees themselves expressed concerns about isolation, loss of collegial relations, and disengagement (CFL, 2022;Stich, 2020).
After the pandemic eased its grip on society, some companies demanded all employees return to the office (RTO), whereas many others accepted hybrid work realities as the new normal.Differing viewpoints on remote work has led some organizations such as Amazon and Google to issue RTO policies based on the idea that productivity is higher when employees work in the office, but many employees refuse to comply in order to retain the benefits of remote work (Mortensen, 2023).More than 90% of European companies and up to 80% of U.S. companies now accept and support hybrid work arrangements (Business World, 2022;DI, 2022;Harter, 2023;OWL Labs, 2022).Hybrid work is "a flexible working model where employees work partly in the physical workplace, and partly remotely -at home or from another workspace" (Qualtrics, 2022, para 2).Companies that organize work around projects with employees and collaborators in different locations are particularly suitable for hybrid working arrangements (Degerli, 2022;Foundry, 2022).For example, it is common to organize projects with a core group of team members in one or a few locations, with clusters of employees and stakeholders located elsewhere.
Per definition, projects exist only for a limited period and often involve staff dedicated only part time to project tasks.As a result, projects are prone to team member disengagement, which can be exacerbated by the fact that project managers often lack direct supervisory control of team members and the ability to reward employees for work contributions (Ahmed et al., 2022).With hybrid working arrangements becoming increasingly common, project managers face additional challenges to adopt effective strategies to ensure team members stay engaged and committed to project work and goals, regardless of their physical location and frequency of in-office meetings and in-person encounters.Engagement has been found to be a critical driver of project and organizational success (Henkel & Haley, 2020), and advice on how to keep employees engaged in hybrid teams is aplenty (e.g., Asp-Poulsen, 2022;Gratton, 2021;Knøss & Hansen, 2023;Rampton, 2022;Scharf & Weerda, 2022).
However, little empirical research exists on how project managers perceive the impact of hybrid work on team member engagement after the Covid-19 pandemic, and which strategies they use to enhance and sustain team member engagement in hybrid project teams.This study sought to answer the following research questions: 1.
How do project managers perceive the impact of hybrid work on team member engagement?

2.
What project management strategies can help increase and sustain team member engagement in hybrid projects?
As the researchers represent two different cultural traditions and locations, we designed the inquiry as a comparative case study to seek project management practitioner input from both Scandinavia and the U.S.This approach allowed for the discovery of global best practices, while considering different cultural norms and traditions that may qualify experiences about hybrid worker engagement.Participants from Denmark and the U.S. were project managers with project management experience from before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic.The comparative case study allowed the discovery of insights into effective project management strategies and evidenced the adoption of effective hybrid project management approaches for keeping team members engaged.
This paper begins with a presentation of the conceptual framework that guided the inquiry, followed by a summary of recently published literature on engaging hybrid employees.For context, a brief overview of project management practices in the U.S. and Scandinavia is included.The results emerging from the study are then presented and discussed, followed by conclusions and recommendations.

Literature Review
This literature review covers articles published since the end of the pandemic to capture and synthesize the most current knowledge of hybrid project work and employee engagement from 2022 and onwards.Slightly older articles on relevant cultural project management norms and practices in Scandinavia, and literature on employee engagement frameworks were also included.

Project Engagement Framework
To capture project managers' experiences with engaging hybrid work teams, we selected Matthews et al. (2018)'s model of employee engagement in project-based organizations as our conceptual framework.Henceforth, we define engagement as "the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral manifestations of an employee's consistent level of effort, commitment, and connection to their job" (Matthews et al, 2018, p. 2).This definition encompasses the

Engagement Driver Definition Project manager behaviors
Perceived efforts of the project manager in terms of providing recognition, motivation, support, displaying trust, and fostering teamwork virtually and in person.

Team culture
Perceived strength of team culture in terms of values and norms, shared identity and goals, opportunities for sparring with colleagues, quality of informal and formal meetings in-office and virtually.

Work quality
Perceived challenge of work tasks, opportunities for learning and growth, providing a sense of accomplishment, using team member's strengths.
Physical environment Perceived quality of workspaces, both in-office and remotely, in terms of space for collaboration and facilitating concentration.
The above engagement drivers informed the literature review and were used to structure participant interviews and focus group dittos.In addition, the above framework informed the data analysis for RQ2 and enabled a meaningful comparison of results from the U.S. and Danish cases.

Employee Engagement in Hybrid Work Settings
Employee engagement was first conceptualized by William Kahn who defined engagement as "the harnessing of organization members' selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances" (Khan, 1990, p. 694).After decades of research on the topic, scholars continue to document positive correlations between high engagement levels and job satisfaction (Henkel & Haley, 2020;Prentice, 2022;Susanto et al., 2023a;Yandi & Havidz, 2022), well-being (Boccoli et al., 2023;Sagar, 2022), motivation (Nehra, 2023: Pincus, 2022;Pura, 2022;Susanto et al, 2023b), retention (Hakro et al., 2022;Tyagi et al., 2022), performance and productivity (Boccoli et al., 2023;Henkel & Haley, 2020;Niati et al., 2022;Kustiawan et al, 2022), and innovation (Artusi & Bellini, 2022;Cherif, 2022;Gratton, 2021).Despite much research on the many positive effects of having an engaged workforce, only a low percentage of employees worldwide report feeling engaged in their work."Feeling uninspired" is the fourth most cited obstacle to employee productivity, according to Microsoft's 2023 Work Trend Index which covers survey responses from 31,000 people in 31 countries.According to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report, which synthesizes opinions from more than 122.000 employees worldwide, only 23% of the world's employees are thriving at work and feel engaged, whereas 59% are "not engaged and quietly quitting."The remaining 18% are "actively disengaged and loudly quitting" (Gallup, 2023, p. 4).The percentage of engaged employees in Denmark and the U.S. is 20% and 34%, respectively, indicating significant regional differences andperhapssurprisingly low engagement numbers (ranging from 14-21%) for all Scandinavian countries, which are known for participatory management, selfdirected employees (Battistella et al., 2023) and labor-friendly policies (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2021).
Another interesting outcome of the Gallup survey was that "engagement has 3.8 times as much influence on employee stress as work location".In other words, "what people experience in their everyday worktheir feelings of involvement and enthusiasmmatters more in reducing stress than where they are sitting" (p.8).It can be inferred that project managers should improve practices and methods under their direct control to increase employee engagement.Common post-pandemic engagement-enhancing project practices uncovered by recent research on hybrid teams are shown in Table 2.

Project Management Practices in Scandinavia
Denmark is a small Scandinavian country of 5.8 million people with a rich history and professional traditions.Project management work has been recognized in Denmark since the mid-1970s, when the first National Project Management Association was founded (Wagner, 2018).Danish project managers lead large-scale projects in construction, green energy, IT, healthcare, and many other industries that require domain expertise, planning and execution skills, and international workforce and stakeholder management competencies.Most Danish project managers possess vocational training or an academic degree and attain project manager responsibilities after some years working in their original profession.They are often certified in one the most common international certification frameworks, including PRINCE2, IPMA, PMI and Scaled Agile (VIA, 2023).In addition, many seek continued education diplomas or project management degrees from accredited Danish higher ed institutions at some point in their career.
Recent published research on project management in Scandinavia largely focuses on agile project methods but fails to connect this approach to team member engagement or related aspects, such as motivation, job satisfaction, and wellbeing.Agile project management involves dividing the project process into small development and implementation cycles, which allows quick responses to change in the environment (Rusanova & Zubkova, 2019).Agile approaches are particularly useful in complex contexts, where experimentation and ongoing learning and development is needed (Rosenmeyer, 2023).It is possible that agile project methods have become popular in Scandinavian organizations and in the research community because they are suitable for exploration and innovation, which is a core goal of many companies in that region (Koch-Ørvad et al., 2019).One of the main principles behind the agile manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org) is "Individuals and interaction over processes and tools", indicating a focus on employee collaboration and wellbeing, www.ijarbm.orgwhich is a contributing factor to engagement (Matthews et al., 2018).Critics of the agile method, however, have pointed out that many employees experience the agile methodology as stressful and as causing burnout and disengagement (Bjørn, 2019).
The consulting company Mannaz (2023) surveyed 590 project managers across several industries, resulting in a comprehensive report on current project management topics in Denmark.Agile methods were extensively covered, and the report also covered trends and challenges in distributed projects, where team members work from various locations.Two thirds of respondents said they have worked in distributed or hybrid projects since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, compared to only 17% before lockdowns were instituted in the spring of 2020.This indicates a major shift in Danish project teams within a relatively short timeframe and suggests project managers have had to quickly adapt to virtual and hybrid work.Findings from the report suggest project managers are still adjusting to hybrid work as they report struggling with engagement of team members, building trust, and maintaining a connection to the project.These reported challenges support the need for further research on project management methods and tools for sustaining project member engagement.
Research has highlighted the cultural factors that contribute to both project management and employee engagement in Scandinavia, including a strong focus on collaboration, open communication, and flat hierarchical organizational structures.According to the Hofstede Insights culture model, Denmark scores very low on the power distance dimension, reflecting the fact that "Danes do not lead, they coach, and employee autonomy is required" (Hofstede Insights, 2023).Denmark also scores high on the individualism dimension, indicating a general preference for loosely knit social networks and selfdirected work (Battistella et al., 2023).Not surprisingly, there is a strong tradition in Denmark of trust-based leadership, a high degree of employee involvement and self-efficacy, which support the basic premises of hybrid work arrangements.However, both the Mannaz report ( 2023) and research by Harboe (2023) suggest Danish project managers do strive to maintain social ties, building trust, and keeping team members engaged, although more knowledge on best practices is needed on how those goals can be accomplished in hybrid teams.

Project Management Practices in the United States
Project management practices in the U.S. have evolved to embrace a mix of traditional methodologies and agile approaches (Giachetti et al., 2022;Lalmi et al., 2022).Many organizations have adopted project management standards and frameworks, such as the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and Agile methodologies like Scrum and Kanban (Breyter, 2022;Yousfi & Wood, 2023).Certifications such as the Project Management Professional (PMP) from PMI and Certified Scrum Master (CSM) from Scrum Alliance, are highly valued and widely recognized by human resource experts in the U.S. job market (Ameer et al., 2022).Many project managers pursue these certifications to enhance their skills and credibility (Gomes Silva et at., 2022).Other key aspects of current project management practices in the U.S. include project management software, communication management, continuous improvement, and hybrid model approaches.
The use of project management software has become ubiquitous with tools like Microsoft Project, Asana, Trello, Jira, and others widely used for planning, tracking, and managing projects efficiently (Milojević et al., 2023).Through the use of such tools, U.S. organizations increasingly rely on data analytics and project management metrics to make informed decisions and track key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to assess project progress and identify areas for improvement (Kerzner, 2022).Additionally, communication management throughout the project life cycle is paramount for project success, and U.S. organizations emphasize maintaining clear and transparent communication channels among team members, stakeholders, and project managers (Unegbu, et al., 2022).
Agile adoption in project management has gained significant traction across various industries in the U.S. due to its focus on adaptability and customercentricity (Marnada et al., 2022).Organizations embracing agile methodologies, such as Scrum or Kanban, are experiencing improved collaboration and faster product delivery through iterative development cycles and enables project teams to respond quickly to changing requirements, mitigating risks, and improving overall project outcomes (Milojević et al., 2023).According to Crnogaj et al. (2022), the shift towards agile practices requires a cultural change, empowering teams to be self-organizing and fostering a continuous learning mindset to optimize project performance.However, it is unclear if and how agile project methods affect hybrid team member engagement.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work, including remote project management (Ferreira et al., 2022) and virtual collaboration tools and platforms became essential for managing projects with geographically dispersed teams (Wu, 2022).Post pandemic, many organizations shifted towards hybrid project management approaches that combine elements of traditional waterfall methods and agile methodologies (Ciric et al., 2022;Hussein et al., 2023).This allowed them to benefit from the structure and predictability of traditional methods while also fostering adaptability and collaboration through agile practices (Ciric et al., 2022;Guo & Zhang, 2022).Nonetheless, with the emergence of numerous hybrid methodologies over time, comprehending the distinctions or similarities between these methodologies, along with the overall pros and cons of adopting a hybrid approach, has become quite challenging (Reiff & Schlegel, 2022).

Research Methodology
This study was designed as a qualitative inquiry with two cases: Denmark and the U.S. A qualitative methodology was selected because of the exploratory nature of the study combined with lack of insights into the challenges of managing hybrid projects, which made it difficult to establish testable hypotheses (Mfinanga et al., 2019).A case study with two cases was selected as an appropriate design because of 1) the researchers' respective locations and www.ijarbm.orgfirst-hand cultural knowledge of Denmark and the U.S., and 2) the prevalent adoption of hybrid work after the Covid-19 pandemic in both countries and implied knowledgeable project manager participants.Data collection and analysis took place for each case in parallel, and results were then compared and analyzed for similarities and differences based on the conceptual framework model of employee engagement in project-based organizations by Matthews et al. ( 2018) outlined above.

Data Collection Procedures
Each case was handled as a separate research project and approved by the researchers' respective Institutional Review Boards prior to data collection to ensure anonymity of participants and their employers, as well as adherence to applicable human subject research protocols.
Participants for each case were recruited based on the same set of eligibility criteria, which were: • currently works as project manager in a private sector company, and • currently manages at least one project team whose members work remotely at least half of their time, and • has worked as project manager virtually or in a hybrid manner since the beginning of, or before, the Covid-19 pandemic, and • at least 18 years of age.
For the Denmark case, participants were recruited via emails sent to current and former students enrolled in continuing education project management courses between 2020-2023.A total of 15 project managers representing different employers were interviewed in person (via Zoom or Teams) between March and May 2023.Interviews lasted between 25-35 minutes and followed a semi-structured interview protocol.
For the U.S. case, participants were solicited for a focus group discussion via a recruitment flyer posted in three LinkedIn project management groups.A total of nine project managers representing eight different employers participated in one of three focus groups held in Zoom between March and May 2023.Focus groups lasted 45 minutes to one hour and followed a semi-structured focus group protocol.Each focus group was comprised of the following number of participants: Focus group one, two participants; focus group two, three participants, focus group three, four participants.

Data Analysis
Data from interviews and focus groups were transcribed and subjected to both inductive coding and subjected to thematic analysis per Braun and Clarke's (2012) 6-step process.Emerging themes were subsequently crossreferenced with Matthew et al's.(2018) employee engagement categories for RQ2 to allow for meaningful comparison of results across the two cases.

Results
Results from data analysis are presented by case below.

Study Participants
The Danish case involved 15 interview participants whose profiles are shown below, including industry, company size, current team size (counting both full and part-time team members), and whether the interviewed project manager reported having team members in other countries.See Table 3.The U.S. case involved three focus groups with a total of nine participants whose profiles are shown below, including industry, company size, current team size (counting both full and part-time team members), and whether the interviewed project manager reported having team members in other countries.See Table 4.

RQ1. How do project managers perceive the impact of hybrid work on team member engagement?
There were two major themes uncovered for RQ1, unfavorable and favorable effects of hybrid work on engagement.

RQ 1 Theme 1: Unfavorable effects of hybrid work on engagement
Danish project managers expressed sadness of the emergence of hybrid work and longed for the pre-pandemic days when most teamwork happened in an office.Although many of the participants worked with stakeholders and team members in other countries before the pandemic, they expressed a sense of loss of the close collegial relations they enjoyed with their Danish team members.They also felt that communicating mainly online resulted in lower engagement levels, for a variety of reasons.U.S. focus group participants described unfavorable effects the transition to hybrid work had on engagement in remote teams.They mentioned challenges in the areas of communication, culture, adapting to the virtual environment, a desire for in-person communication, and expectations of team member availability and presence.Table 5 summarizes unfavorable effects of hybrid work on engagement as expressed by participants in both the Denmark and the U.S. case.Quotes from Danish participants were translated to English.

Table 5: Unfavorable effects of hybrid work on engagement RQ 1 Theme 2: Favorable effects of hybrid work on engagement
Despite many unfavorable aspects of hybrid work in terms of engagement, Danish project managers also brought up the positives.By far, the most cited benefit of hybrid work from an engagement perspective was flexibility to plan one's own workday.Participants also cited the ability to focus when working from home as an engagement factor.Lastly, some participants mentioned that flexibility is a must to attract and engage younger employees.Most of the U.S. focus group participants agreed the transition to hybrid work had favorable aspects.They noted that teams became more conscious of and implemented improved strategies to engage and collaborate with hybrid team members.Effective communication and collaboration required enhancing meeting structures and organizational practices in the context of hybrid work.Despite facing challenges and exhaustion from pandemic-related crises, the participants conveyed a positive, unified, and collaborative culture prevailing within their hybrid teams.Table 6 summarizes favorable effects of hybrid work on engagement as expressed by participants in both the Denmark and the U.S. case.This paper is available online at www.ijarbm.org

Table 6: Favorable effects of hybrid work on engagement RQ 2. Results
A summary of results from thematic analysis of project manager responses related to research question 2 are shown in Tables 7-10.The analysis was first done inductively to uncover themes, and then organized according to the conceptual framework, indicating specific kind of engagement drivers (Matthews et al., 2018).Below, identified strategies are reported with supporting quotes for each case.Quotes from Danish participants were translated to English.

RQ 2 Engagement Driver: Project Manager Behaviors
Danish project managers talked about their own practices in terms of building strong personal relationships with team members and practicing trustbased leadership.They also talked about the need for clear communication and making themselves available for information conversations and questions.Many U.S. focus group participants mentioned the importance of scheduling time to connect with team members on a personal level, especially in the absence of face-to-face interactions.Strategies to improve communication included adopting more open and visible communication channels, and encouraging everyone to participate, and provide input.Table 7 shows engagement drivers related to project manager behaviors for both cases.

RQ 2 Engagement Driver: Team Culture
There were several strategies related to project team culture in hybrid teams.Danish project managers mostly talked about meetings as ways of building team culture and discussed how to prioritize social activities in both virtual and in/person meetings.U.S. project manager participants described the use of collaborative tools, maintaining a team-first culture, and developing good relationships among team members as ways of building team culture.
Table 8: Themes for RQ 2 Engagement Driver: Team Culture.

RQ 2 Engagement Driver: Work Quality
Strategies uncovered reflected project management practices that enhanced the work quality for project members in hybrid teams.Danish www.ijarbm.orgparticipants largely reported work quality drivers of engagement in the context of online meetings.In addition, some Danish participants talked about keeping team members engaged by prioritizing their learning and growth.Given the limitations on face-to-face interactions, project manager participants in U.S. hybrid teams also relied heavily on technology-based communication tools to accomplish work.Video conferencing, messaging, and online collaboration platforms played a pivotal role in facilitating regular interactions among team members.As virtual communication became the standard, teams adjusted by adopting fresh strategies to preserve collaboration and strengthen personal connections.Strategies uncovered also reflected project management practices related to the physical workspace, although not to the same extent as other drivers.Some Danish project managers talked about the company office environment, although the initiatives taken to keep the office attractive to hybrid workers were not something they controlled themselves.A variety of approaches to create opportunities for meeting in-person were revealed by U. S. project managers related to the physical environment.Some mentioned celebrating occasions, sharing food, and attending events.

Discussion
In general, Danish project managers were less enthusiastic about hybrid work compared to their American counterparts.Although they accepted the new realities of balancing remote and in-person communication and collaboration and tried to make the best of the situation, they also mourned "the good old office days."Danish participants cited more unfavorable aspects of hybrid work and reported more issues with maintaining engagement among their project team members.U.S project managers were more comfortable and had more experience with remote work arrangements.One explanation may be that remote working teams were not common in Denmark before the Covid-19 pandemic, although many projects involved some collaboration with international partners.Thus, the transition to working from home felt like a major disruption to work practices and project managers are still adapting to having fewer in-person interactions with team members.By contrast, many U.S. project managers were already used to remote or distributed work -in some cases because of larger geographical distances between team members compared to Denmark -and may thus have had more tools and strategies immediately available to them when lockdowns happened.
Danish and U.S. project managers largely agreed on the most significant engagement challenges in hybrid teams.Hybrid work negatively impacts team culture due to having fewer opportunities for informal interactions and relationship-building.This finding is consistent with the literature on the difficulties of maintaining strong team cultures, when members are not physically co-located most of the time (CFL, 2022;Pullan, 2022;Trevor & Holweg, 2022).A strong team culture reflects a shared sense of purpose, collaboration, and a positive spirit, all of which contributes to an environment where team members feel valued, committed to their work, and engaged with the organization (Abduraimi et al., 2023;Kumari & Yelkar, 2022;Miranda-Wolff, 2022).
There were also differences in Danish and U.S. project managers' perceptions about barriers to effective hybrid work.Danish project managers brought up problem solving, conflict resolution, boring online meetings, and information sharing as unfavorable engagement aspects, whereas U.S. project managers discussed the suspicion that has arisen around being present and available when working from a remote location.Cultural differences may explain some of these findings.Danish employees tend to be direct in their communication (Gertsen & Søderberg, 2011), but seemingly harsh words are often softened by body language, humor, or irony.Such moderators are easier to miss when employees communicate mostly through writing and in online meetings.Hence, problems and conflicts can be harder to solve, and messages may be interpreted differently than they were intended.In Denmark, managers typically practice trust-based leadership, which means that there is little pressure to demonstrate an online or at-work presence in hybrid teams.By contrast, U. S. project managers may be more inclined to monitor employees for signs of activity.This finding is supported by a large survey administered by Gitlab and Qatalog (2022), where more than half of U. S. remote or hybrid knowledge workers said they felt pressure to show an online presence, resulting in spending an additional 67 minutes online per day on unnecessary "busywork", suggesting a significant decrease in productivity.This conclusion was, however, not supported by our study findings.
When it came to identifying favorable aspects of hybrid work, U.S. project managers were more enthusiastic than their Denmark counterparts.Both Danish and U.S. project managers agreed that team members enjoyed the flexibility and autonomy of hybrid work.This finding aligns with research by Sokolic (2022) and Gorjifard and Crawford (2021) who found employees desire greater flexibility in balancing their work and personal responsbilities.The need for flexibility and autonomy through hybrid work also supported the engagement driver portion of the framework by Matthews et al. (2018) in permitting flexible work schedules, while safeguarding work-life balance.Danish participants also noted there were fewer interruptions when working from home that allowed for greater focus and completion of tasks.
Worthy of mention is that several of the U.S. project managers who participated in this study noted the pandemic sparked greater engagement and creativity that continued post-pandemic in the hybrid format.This finding is consistent with research by Summerfield (2022) who found combining a hybrid work model with a clearly conveyed human approach resulted in a positive impact on creativity.By contrast, none of the Danish project managers felt that hybrid work has affected creativity in a position manner.This difference may be attributable to pre-pandemic remote work experience by U.S. project managers.Because of prior remote work experience, the transition to hybrid work did not have as great an impact on U.S. project managers as compared to Danish project managers, who experienced hybrid work as a major barrier to creativity and, to some extent, engagement.
Both Danish and U.S. project managers prioritized building personal relationships with team members through open and frequent communication, showing empathy, and providing opportunities for everyone to be heard.Given the limited face-to-face interaction in hybrid teams, communication in a www.ijarbm.orgproject-based work environment is paramount for team success (Swart et al., 2023) and establishes the basis for building trust (Cardon et al., 2022;Sokolic, 2022;Wiatr & Skowron-Mielnik, 2023).However, some differences were discovered related to communication between U.S. and Danish project managers.U.S. project managers explained that ways of communication changed during the pandemic and continued post-pandemic.The frequency of one-onone meetings increased, and new tools were introduced to track conversations and goals.During and after the pandemic, the use of video calls also increased.These differences may be ascribed to cultural differences as previously noted.Since Denmark managers practice trust-based leadership, team members feel little pressure to show online presence.Conversely, in the U.S., project managers may be more likely to monitor team members' online presence.
Additional differences found between U.S. and Denmark project managers related to expecting certain skills of team members including self-management and being available and present.This is consistent with the project manager behaviors component of Matthews et al.'s (2018) model of employee engagement in project-based organizations.A manager's actions or behaviors such as providing guidance, encouraging collaboration, and building trust play a vital role in optimizing the human factors that lead to project success (Matthews et al., 2018).Although U.S. project managers did not make comments related to these practices, it is possible they simply overlooked these areas.One explanation could be the cultural differences previously discussed as related to trust-based leadership generally practiced by Denmark project managers as compared to a more closely directed leadership style by U.S. managers.
According to Matthews et al. (2018), maintaining a positive and strong team culture is key to engagement, which was confirmed by our study.Both Danish and U.S. project managers were focused on fostering a team spirit and strong social ties among their project members.Recent research confirms the importance of promoting social activities in hybrid teams (e.g., Dobrow, 2023;Krajcík et al., 2023;Wang et al., 2023), which again helps create a sense of belonging and shared goals (Abduraimi, 2023;CFL, 2023;Farque, 2023).If such engagement driving activities are not prioritized, projects can be experienced as impersonal, results-driven work, where individuals mainly focus on getting things done.U.S project managers in this study discussed making teamwork come first, which aligns with the generally accepted statement in U.S. work culture that "there is no I in teamwork."Danish project culture also reflects a team approach, but project managers may be more focused on creating "hygge."The concept of hygge reflects a sense of cozy togetherness that fosters wellbeing in social contexts (Vejlgaard, 2023), which may explain why Danish project managers talked extensively about prioritizing social activities and small talk during online meetings.The need for hygge creates a dilemma for teams that meet mostly online, as hygge is an attribute of a physical space and atmosphere that is almost impossible to simulate virtually.
The many social and collaborative aspects of working together online were discussed by both Danish and U.S. project managers, in the context of creating engagement through perceived quality of work.According to Matthews et al. (2018), work quality as an engagement driver reflects team members' perceived challenge of work tasks, opportunities for learning and growth, providing a sense of accomplishment, and using the strengths of everyone.What mattered the most to participants in both the U.S and in Denmark were how the shift to online meetings had caused them to think about which communication and collaboration tools and methods worked best.When most work happened in a shared office, much communication and collaboration may have emerged more naturally and without much consideration for effectiveness or work quality (Yang et al., 2022).When meetings take place online, process facilitation and focus on engagement and participation become an added responsibility of project managers.They must think about how to plan and run the meeting, using digital collaboration tools.It appears from our data that Danish project managers were more consciously thinking about promoting work quality through effective and engaging online meetings compared to their U.S. counterparts, which may be explained by the relatively newness of hybrid work in Denmark.Recent Danish research on hybrid work also indicates that most managers are still adapting to the complexity introduced by hybrid work arrangements (Rasmussen, 2023).Danish project managers may feel the shift to online meeting practices and as radical change to work, compared to American project managers who were already used to remote and hybrid work arrangements when the pandemic hit.Danish project managers were also concerned with how they could support team members' professional learning opportunities while working on hybrid project teams, which was not brought up by any U. S. participants, likely because they felt this was an implied responsibility that had not changed due to hybrid work.
The final engagement driver discussed in this research was physical environment that reflects perceived quality of workspaces, both in-office and remotely, in terms of space for collaboration and facilitating concentration (Matthews et al., 2018).According to O'Halloran (2023), companies that allow hybrid work should view people's homes as an extension of the office space and ensure employees have the necessary tools and technology to do their work effectively.Participants in our research did not discuss their at-home office setup, possibly because they already had dedicated workspaces and equipment provided by their employers, allowing them to communicate and collaborate virtually in an effective way.Both Danish and U.S. project managers did, however, discuss company offices.Surveys show organizations that cater to flexible work arrangements are among the most attractive to professionals seeking new opportunities (Cooper, 2023;McKendrick, 2022).Office spaces should be designed to allow for collaboration and social gatherings, as well as spaces for individuals to concentrate and attend meetings without disturbing others.Our research supported such findings, as both Danish and U.S. project managers mentioned flexible and inviting spaces where team members can gather to work and socialize as an engagement driver.It may be tempting to downplay the importance of the office when people work hybrid schedules but for project teams, it is still essential to connect in person regularly to maintain a connection to the team and to ensure team members stay engaged.
This comparative case study produced a series of insights into project managers' experiences with hybrid work and effective practices and strategies that help foster engagement in hybrid teams.Overall, Danish project managers who participated in this study were less enthusiastic about hybrid work than their U.S. counterparts, cited more unfavorable aspects, and expressed sadness for the loss of the in-office collaboration that happened prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.In contrast to the U.S., remote work was not widespread in Scandinavia prior to pandemic lockdowns and hence, hybrid work arrangements are a relatively new phenomenon in Denmark.As such, hybrid work is considered a major change to how work gets done and a change that influences many project management practices.American project managers seem to have benefitted from decades of experience and research on how to engage remote teams, and the transition to hybrid work arrangement is thus less of a disruption, compared to Denmark.U.S. project managers are further along on the hybrid work adoption curve and have more positive attitudes and experiences with how to effectively collaborate and communicate virtually.
Cultural differences between Denmark and the U.S. help explain many of our study's findings, although not all.In Scandinavia, trust-based leadership and participatory management is the norm, as is low power distance between management and employees.In general, Scandinavian employees are welleducated critical thinkers, who demonstrate a high degree of self-efficacy.Traditionally, managers mainly act as coaches who focus on negotiating the basic conditions of work as well as communicating with stakeholders.Hybrid work has changed these basic conditions and communication methods and the Danish project managers we interviewed felt that they had to play a more active role in getting work done.New skills are required to manage hybrid project teams, such as facilitating effective online meetings, planning social activities, and creating opportunities for informal communication.Many Danish project managers are not used to taking an active role in such activities, because they happened naturally when team members worked from the same office.They are not trained in these skills either, which may help explain why they expressed many challenges with managing hybrid teams and why they talked about the pre-pandemic days in nostalgic terms.By contrast, U.S. project managers operate in work environments with greater power distances and hence, may be more used to taking charge and expecting team member cooperation and acceptance of online tools and methods of collaboration.As a result, they may perceive hybrid work as just another way of getting work done, as their project management practices have not changed significantly since the beginning of the pandemic.
Cultural differences do not explain, however, why engagement levels are very low in Denmark and quite low in the U.S. As mentioned above, a recent survey by Gallup indicates only 20% of employees in Denmark feel engaged, as opposed to 34% in the U.S. Hybrid work provides an opportunity for employees to enjoy flexible schedules and work from home whenever convenient, which should help foster engagement, so other engagement factors beyond what is reported in this study must play a role.We can speculate that the engagement dimension of work quality proposed by Matthews et al. (2018) plays a larger role than the framework suggests.Perhaps project work in 2023 is not perceived as meaningful or employees feel they waste time on unnecessary tasks.More research on why engagement levels are very low in different cultural contexts is needed to clarify contributing factors and propose solutions.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that despite widespread adoption of agile project methods in both Denmark and the U.S., none of the participants from either case mentioned agile methods as having an impact on engagement in hybrid teams.A characterizing feature of pre-pandemic agile project management was co-location, which enhances collaboration and engagement among team members (Rosenmeyer, 2023: Hussein et al., 2023).It was confirmed by our research that most meetings take place online in hybrid teams, indicating that more research is needed to understand if agile project methods play a role in keeping members of hybrid teams engaged and how this can be achieved.

Authors
Dr. Eva Lundahl is an associate professor at VIA University College in Denmark.Her research interests include hybrid and remote work, as well as sustainable practices in leadership and project management.She also serves in a part-time capacity as senior faculty at National University's School of Business and Economics in the U.S. where she mentors doctoral students and teaches qualitative research method courses.Eva is the author of two books and many published articles.
Dr. Melody Rawlings is the Director of the Center for the Advancement of Virtual Organizations, and a Dissertation Chair in the School of Business and Economics at National University.She has over 10 years of remote and hybrid team experience and has authored peer-reviewed publications on topics such as leadership development, remote teamwork, emotional intelligence, and eService learning.Melody co-authored the 2022 Routledge book, Determining Leadership Potential: Powerful Insights to Winning at the Talent Game.Dr. Randee L. Sanders is the Associate Dean of Faculty, Full Professor, and Dissertation Chair in the School of Business and Economics at National University.Her research interests include developing highly functional teams, organization effectiveness, leadership development, and organizational culture.She has 20 plus years of experience in leadership development and organizational engagement.She utilizes strength-based approaches to engage individuals and organizations to innovate and get results.She is the founder of RL Sanders & Associates and through her Design Not Default Academy, she consults with women to advance into leadership roles.culture on employee engagement.Business: Theory and Practice, 24(1), 109-122.https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2023.17241Ahmed, M., Abdulhamid, A. B., Wahab, S. A., Pervaiz, A. N., & Imtiaz, M. (2022).Direct and indirect influence of project managers' contingent reward leadership and empowering leadership on project success.International Jour-/:doi.org/10.1177/18479790211073443Albrychiewicz-Słocińska, A. (2022).Remote work and knowledge exchange strategies in the opinions of Generation Z. Proceedings of the Eurodoi.org/10.34190/eckm.23.1.622Ameer, A., Naz, F., Gul Taj, B., & Ameer, I. (2022).The impact of manager's personality traits on project success through affective professional commitment: the moderating role of organizational project management maturity

Table 2 :
Project practices emerging from recent literature on hybrid worker engagement.

Table 3 :
Project manager participants from Denmark

Table 4 :
Project manager participants from the U.S.

Table 7 :
Engagement driver: Project manager behaviors

Table 10 :
Engagement Driver: Physical Environment