The world seems to have learned to live with the pandemic for quite some time now. This is the right time to blend the best features and experiences of a physical workspace and remote working to create what has come to be known as the hybrid workplace.

A hybrid workplace is a plan that incorporates a mixture of in-office and remote work in an employee’s schedule. While some may prefer a return to in-person socializing of the physical office, many have become accustomed to the flexibility that comes with virtual work. Practically no commute time, more time with family and a stronger work-life balance are the perks people have come to enjoy. If business leaders want people to return to the physical work environment, they will have to ensure a better experience and better perks in order to retain and attract talent.

TYPES OF HYBRID WORK SOLUTIONS

There is no one-size-fits all hybrid working model. Each company can develop one based on their needs.

There will be Remote-first models where the working model will be closely akin to fully remote-working with only a few employees working from office. This model favors employees who work across various time zones and need to collaborate online.

There is then the Occasional office model where a Company has not transitioned all the way to full remote-working and continues to have some of the employees come into the physical office a few times a week.

Lastly, there is the Office- preferred, remote-allowed workplace where the physical office is the primary workplace and remote working is permitted in specific need-based cases.

PROS AND CONS OF HYBRID WORKING

Understanding and appreciating the three primary drawbacks and benefits of hybrid workplace culture will help in successfully implementing successful models.

ADVANTAGES:

1. Reduced operations cost from real estate capital expenditure, reducing office footprint and spend on business travel.
2. Increased productivity is a bonus as 82% of leaders of companies across Europe indicated that their companies are at least equally productive as before.
3. Increased job satisfaction was reported by 65% of the employees who could work from home and office at-will.

DISADVANTAGES:

1. Remote training issues are a challenge and need to be addressed by developing right training solutions for both virtual and in-person needs.
2. Potential employee burnout is a real issue as remote employees tend to overcompensate and hence corporates need to de-emphasize simply being logged on and measure and offer feedback on actual work output.
3. Managing the hybrid workplace culture is relatively new to most leaders and 30% of leaders have expressed concern over this when physical- office and remote- working co-exist.

HOW EMPLOYERS CAN MAKE IT WORK

In working towards achieving an optimally functional and productive hybrid workplace, employers need to focus on a few key parameters:

1. The physical and digital experiences must be seamlessly intertwined to ensure equity, engagement and ease. Designing for employee engagement in digital -to-physical space means thinking like a movie director- lights, camera, audio, content must all be considered as functional contributors. Research tells that more people will connect to a meeting on their individual devices as well as the technology in the room.

• Enclosed spaces must be open. Meetings will happen more often in open spaces with movable boundaries and individual focus work will happen in enclosed spaces like pods or small enclosures. Open collaboration spaces can be adapted and changed as new work patterns emerge.

• Real estate must be optimized by drawing a balance between permanent and flexible space. e.g. an open area that supports hybrid meetings in the morning becomes the café at lunch, hosts a community meeting hall in the afternoon and can be rented out for an evening/night event.

• Employees must be able to easily move between “we’’ and ‘’me’’ time without having to relocate physically. Gensler Research Institute shows a 37% drop in average collaboration time for full time remote working employees. Hence leaders have rightfully focused on workplace team building to achieve corporate goals. However, collaboration is not just about group work, it actually requires solitude too. Effective collaboration happens when people come together as a team and then move apart to focus individually, process their ideas and follow up on assigned tasks. Too much together time without individual focus time can result in group think. So it is important that workplaces are designed by not putting too much emphasis on the “we” spaces and balance it by factoring in the need for “me” spaces.

• It is important for leaders in hybrid workplaces to be largely driven by data based decisions and have effective measurement tools for workplace satisfaction. 49% employees rated clarity and transparency in flexible remote working policies important when seeking a new job.

• Employees need to be constantly supported by interacting, sharing, and conducting exercises to foster mutual trust, care and respect for one another. Leaders must motivate and connect employees to larger corporate goals in order to maintain engagement and productivity.

• Training and development is always going to be a key and critical area. More so because traditional training methods are now passe and the solution to the hybrid workforce training challenges lie in self-paced learning which can be accessed by employees at their convenient time and speed. A Digital Adoption Platform enables self-paced learning.

At Aligned Studios, we have found amazing success with the remote working model. At the same time, we have been able to blend seamlessly into our client organizations who have adopted different working models to suit their cultures and business objectives. The strength of our team lies in understanding operating modes of our clients and integrating that with our team structures.

Let’s discuss how you can make the hybrid working model work for your company!