Groaning your way back into the new work year? It's an occupational hazard after the holiday break, of course, but these days there is the consolation (for some) of hybrid working.

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For jobs that allow it, hybrid work is the new normal, allowing employees to work both remotely, usually from home, and in the office.

But hybrid work is also creating cultural shifts, and workers and managers must navigate ways to keep people connected, social and happy in the blended workplace.

How to do that? Video calls can't replicate real-world interactions, and the kinds of activities companies organise to build culture and morale can fall flat in a virtual format.

This is particularly relevant to me because my research interests cover the social aspects of work life, with a specific focus on workplace fun, humour and happiness.

So, to explore how we're all adapting, I immersed myself in two local companies to experience how they maintained a fun culture when some workers were online and others worked in the office.

This allowed me to observe behaviour, talk to workers, interview people from all levels of the business and interact with people online. I also interviewed others from a variety of different workplaces. The research grew into my recently released book Hybrid Happiness: Fun and Freedom in Flexible Work.

What I found were fun, lively, vibrant cultures that the companies were proud of and keen to maintain and develop.

But fun is subjective, too, and forcing it in a hybrid setting has its own pitfalls.

Workers were unanimous in wanting to retain hybrid work. They claimed it made them happier due to........

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