Hushed Hybrid Workplace: Strategies for Success in a Blended Work Environment

There is a new HR buzzword on the street: hushed hybrid. In a nutshell, it’s when some are allowed to work from home and have more flexibility than others. Is it new? Is it a concerning trend? What are the implications? And what impact does it have on culture? Well, we’re glad you asked! Let’s dig in.

What is ‘Hushed Hybrid’?

Have you ever found that sometimes the rules in your department are different from what the company policy says? Yeah, me too. It’s pretty tricky to create rules that work in every situation, for every employee, in every department.?

Perhaps not surprisingly, when return-to-work policies were initiated (and iterated), a trend of ‘hushed hybrid’ emerged. Essentially, this means employees work from home more often than organizational policies allow due to the flexibility of the department leader.

In the midst of COVID, I remember speaking with individual contributors, middle managers, human resources and CEOs about the conundrum that return to work presented. I’m not surprised inconsistencies still lurk. It’s complicated!

Here’s the thing: this is one of many examples where there isn’t strict alignment with corporate policy, so let’s not overly inflate our reaction to this. And, let’s not assume it’s a “problem” we have to militantly get on top of. Why? For this simple reason:

Anywhere human beings exist, there are adaptations to the context they find themselves in.

How do we think about this in a way that allows for that understanding while ensuring some fairness, respect and other core values that are undoubtedly posted on your organizational walls?

Let’s examine this using a solution-focused lens. Let’s embrace both/and rather than but/or. This is not a binary issue.??

Fairness and Flexibility

We sometimes seek to ensure fairness by having one policy for all. However, if you run a municipality or county, for example, waste management professionals must work in the field, while a procurement team can work from home. Even within a team, there are differences; the staff recruiter might need to host a series of job fairs, speak face-to-face with potential candidates and go community by community, while the senior recruiter still does interviews on MS Teams. It is literally impossible to run an organization with blanket policies.?

That said, when there is favouritism and no perceived procedural justice – the belief that the processes used to make decisions are fair – we run into major problems.

If within a team, Sam can work from home, and their cubicle neighbour Luis has to be in the office Monday, Wednesday and Fridays as outlined in the policy; that’s when issues arise. If Sam is home due to a work accommodation, you don’t need to share it with the team, but perhaps have an open conversation about this very issue so that there is always a balance between following policies and respecting individuals’ needs.?

The takeaway: Make any issue that’s causing tension, confusion, or uncertainty transparent.

You don’t need to share private information to have an open and respectful conversation about the ongoing flexibility required for the department to function while also ensuring everyone is set up for success.?

Empathy and Energy

If you are lucky enough to have a department that can benefit from hybrid work, and other departments, customers, or suppliers can’t, this is a powerful place to stretch the empathy muscles, bolstered with a shot of gratitude.

It’s easy to get insular—well, Sam works from home every day, but Luis is here three days. However, what about a division of 100 people who support your team in doing their work, who work on-site every day and need to ensure there is someone working or at least covering 24/7?

This is something I will never forget; having worked in healthcare, most recently as a senior leader, even though I had to keep my phone with me 24/7, I could have planned holidays with my family, weekends away from the office, I could plan parties, holidays and more. Nurses, doctors, medical devices reprocessing, food services, switchboard and dozens of other departments and roles always had someone at work or on call actively receiving SOS calls. This helped me to not get resentful of my Blackberry (sidenote: if you’re under 30 that isn’t just a fruit); it was helpful to remember someone was literally always working.

The takeaway: We need to keep our situation in context for empathy to abound.

Gratitude for flexible work can enable us not only to be happier, it can also lead to us reaching out to others and expressing appreciation for their dedication and coverage.?

Perseverance and Patience

We may have hoped that our “return to work” policies would be polished and perfected by now because, after all, the return has happened (past tense), right? However, have all HR policies – pay equity, absenteeism management, succession planning – that have been started, and possibly even mandated, been completed? Are they all working perfectly? Is the HR cycle set to rinse and repeat? Probably not. (If it has, what is your secret? Do tell!)

We need to be patient as organizations work through the kinks of policies and procedures and?provide feedback along the way. Working around the system and never providing feedback does not help?to make them more realistic, workable, and relevant.

The takeaway: Be patient while the bugs are worked out, and keep iterating with feedback and co-creation.?

Give issues time to surface, welcome them as expected parts of establishing a system, and assume that the iterations will continue.?

What To Do If There’s ‘Hushed Hybrid’ Happening?

The solution may not be simple, but the answer to what to do if a ‘hushed hybrid’ happens is straightforward: talk about it. What is contributing to it? How much of an issue is it causing? What is expected and can be understood as a reality of the work and organization? What is creating unhealthy tension, is not reasonable, and is leading to issues unnecessarily?

In other words, it shifts from being problem-labelling to solution-curious.

We teach four powerful solution-focused questions in our session “Solution Focused Greatness, ” and in fact, I do a live coaching demo when I deliver this session.

That’s how much I know it works, as I do it live on stage with a perfect stranger in front of hundreds of people! The questions you wonder? Well glad you asked!

1. What do you most want?
2. What is already working?
3. What is possible?
4. What resources and knowledge are already available?

Instead of putting in more rules, correcting (rather than connecting) on this issue, and writing a scathing memo about the problem, get curious. Curiosity might be your secret weapon in mining for solutions to any issue. I have yet to experience any personal or professional situation where curiosity isn’t helpful.

Are you ready to take a more solution-focused approach to dealing with this and other complicated organizational challenges? We should talk! Just reply to this message and let me – Sarah – know how I can help or what’s on your mind.?

Take a peek at these delicious posts that can help you better navigate the hybrid workplace:

• Bridging the Divide: Creating Connection in Our Workplaces Today
• How One Company Rocks In-Person, Hybrid & Virtual Recognition
• Nudge Toward Greatness: Keeping Recognition Going In Virtual, Hybrid and Shift Work Workplaces

Disclaimer/Humble Brag Moment: 100% of this content was human-generated (by us folks here at Greatness Magnified). We are committed to authorship integrity and will inform you what percent, if any, is AI-generated.