Navigating a New Way of Working in A Hybrid First Workplace

Cast your mind back to quarter one of 2020, when suddenly working remotely became necessary rather than something good to do when you needed thinking time away from the office. 

Fast forward to quarter one a year later, and working from home is the next “new norm“. 

The conversation has continued as we have adapted to social distancing, travel bans, virtual meeting fatigue, and extensive periods away from family, friends, and work colleagues. 

The fascinating thing is that now we are on the edge of one of the biggest changes in the way we work that any of us have experienced. 

Let us explore this in more depth. 

I remember many moons ago, one of my first science teachers explaining how equilibrium and steady-state worked together. When you perturb an equilibrium and then remove the outside influence that was changing things, the system returns to its old steady state.  

So, if you push a swing or a pendulum just once, it will wave back and forth for a while and then eventually settle to hanging straight down as before.  

However, some things have more than one outside influence. The original form never returns; I think it is fair to say the pandemic, the capability of A.I. and people’s emotional well-being will contribute to the biggest shift in the way we work since the internet arrived over thirty years ago. 

I want to review the current conversation considerations and planning we need to have in place to move into our new norm in today’s post. 

The True Definition of Hybrid Working? 

Earlier this month, the BBC News website reported that almost all of fifty of the U.K.‘s biggest employers have said they do not plan to bring staff back to the office full-time. 

Over forty of the organisations interviewed said they would embrace a mix of home and office working, with staff encouraged to work from home two to three days a week. 

All this sounds feasible; however, the hybrid model works at multiple levels, as highlighted by a recent Hbr article from Lynda Gratton, a Professor of Management Practice at London Business School. 

Hybrid working is not just about being in or out of the office; it must be viewed in context along two axes: in other words, place and time. 

Imagine two axes demonstrating constrained and unconstrained working mapped over place and time. At the bottom left, we have the classic 9-5 in the office, and at the top right, the ability to work anywhere, anytime – the entrepreneurial worker’s traditional activity. 

Something many of us has experienced recently. 

Over the last year, the team at Zestfor has been working with organisations across the globe. It has been interesting to observe how different leaders encouraged their versions of going hybrid – often out of necessity. 

One leader I spoke to was working from home with two fourteen-year-olds who needed home-schooling. She had worked out a rota with her husband, which flipped each week. 

One week she was home–schooling from 9 am until two, starting at 6 am for an hour on specific tasks, and then her husband took over, and she worked through until 8 pm. 

I had conversations with various team leaders who experienced something similar during the first half of 2020 – a case of needs must. 

How will this work as a permanent arrangement when colleagues working from home might not understand why Jane or Adrian have yet to complete their part of the workflow? 

If you are running an organisation with thousands of employees, how will you make hybrid and remote working happen in a way that works for both employers and employees? 

Randstad’s latest report might not have the answers though it does alert us to why planning a new way of working needs to be considered from every angle. 

What Does Our Workforce Want? 

Though working from home has many upsides, what do our team members want? Randstad, the global recruitment partner, produces their work monitor report every year, which is well worth reading. 

Their most recent survey was published last month and was based on a survey of 27,000 workers in 34 markets, and you can read the full report here. 

A summary highlights that employees want to go back to the workplace at least some of the time if they and their fellow workers are vaccinated. 

For those working from home, the feelings of isolation, the inability to strike a healthy work-life balance and the longing for personal connections with colleagues are still concerns for many. 

Working from home was cited as challenging because of a lack of interaction with colleagues and feelings of isolation and loneliness. 

No wonder social media memberships and visits have gone through the roof. 

As some level of normality returns, what does flexible working now need to consider? This will be sector-driven, I am sure. However, let me share a few more nuggets from Lynda Gratton to give you a broader perspective. 

Viewing Our New Working Day from Multiple Angles 

 As leaders, we constantly have to balance getting the job done versus being aware that we are working with human beings and their overall need to have a work–life balance. 

Lynda suggests viewing this from four different perspectives: 

Roles, tasks and deliverables, employee preferences, projects and workflow and critically inclusion and fairness. 

Some roles are ideal for home working, whereas others need the input of multiple ideas – a challenge that has to be considered. How can you optimise the benefits while understanding the trade-offs? 

Where does tenure appear, and individuals‘ circumstances become a factor to consider? Then, of course, a workflow has to be handled. Luckily the A.I. capabilities we have access to now make decisions easier. Then finally, fairness and inclusion.  

A lot to consider and something that will be a work in progress, I am sure. The last year has given us a taste of what might be possible; all we have to do is navigate the process with a thought–through strategy. 

Next Steps? 

Creating success in your remote team is critical in our current climate. 

If you want help managing a remote team and would like extra support, head to our blog, where you will find a range of leadership articles, or click here to learn more about the leadership programmes we lead. 

Until next time, 

Julia  

About Julia Carter

Julia Carter is the MD of Zestfor Ltd and specialises in working with leaders and managers of virtual teams to improve team effectiveness.