A Practical Guide for Hybrid Teams, HR Professionals, Workplace Managers, and Business Leaders

This content is part of the ebook on "Guidelines and Policies for?Optimizing Your Hybrid Workplace" that we recently published. You can find the whole piece here.

The pandemic did not bring about the concept of the hybrid workplace. As we’ll see in a few paragraphs, that shift started years ago. What the? pandemic did was accelerate it.??

After some initial confusion, which was only natural, leadership and? employees alike discovered something: Everyone became as productive, if? not more productive than when they were in the office.

Mercer, an HR firm, surveyed 800 employers and found that more than 90%? say productivity has stayed the same or improved.

However, others also noticed some potentially dangerous side effects of? remote work. For example, Microsoft found that collaboration can take a? serious hit when employees work only remotely.

Hybrid work — a model where employees work partly from the office? and partly remotely.

While there's no "one size fits them all" model it's important to start with understanding the different types of work activities.

?Understanding?Work Activities

In general, work activities can be grouped into four categories:

1. Individual admin activities, in which the bulk of the work requires the ?processing of paperwork or other solo tasks. These activities (whether? planned or reactionary) typically lend themselves to a remote work? situation, since they aren’t dependent on collaboration with others.? Every company, big and small, has these types of positions, with? some management roles also falling into this category.
2. Deep work activities that require hours of uninterrupted alone?time. These can be things like writing copy, coding, designing?graphics or UIs, video editing, analyzing data — basically anything that requires you to sit down for a few hours, think, and?execute a task by yourself, without distractions. Depending on the workplace, these activities can be performed in the office. However, people with more seclusion and quiet spaces at home?typically prefer to do them away from the office due to the?constant distractions there.
3. Collaboration activities require more face-to-face time and teamwork. Think brainstorming, team meetings, and all other?projects that require you and a colleague (or colleagues) to work? simultaneously together.
4. Sales and other customer-facing activities can occupy a great deal of time whether online, on the phone, or in face-to-face meetings. This is then followed by a lot of record-keeping and??project planning (which are typically administration and deep??work activities, respectively).

Now, this is an oversimplification — there are plenty of activities that fall? outside of these four categories. Most roles also do a blend of these? activities during the week. However, grouping activities this way is a useful? starting point for determining when one needs to be in the office and when? remote work is a more feasible option.

Examples of Different ?Hybrid Schedules and? Workplace Models

The “Mandatory for all” Schedule Approach — Employees have regularly?scheduled days in the office and then days in which they work remotely. This?model is the easiest to implement from a company perspective, but the?least flexible for employees.?

The Team Approach — Employees’ hybrid schedules are organized by teams? or departments. The team decides, with input from management, when the? members are in the office and when they are working remotely.

The Individual or Self-Directed Approach — In this model, each employee is? responsible for when they are in the office. Employees still answer to their? teams, but they have the ability to dictate their own schedules, i.e., make? hybrid working truly flexible.

Guidelines for Creating and Managing? a Hybrid Workplace?and Workforce?

Before crafting specific hybrid work policies, it’s essential to have a? framework of guidelines and ideas for setting these policies. A few? suggestions:

1. Create a hybrid work policy with a remote-first mindset. This might ?be controversial to some, but everyone now knows that not all work?activities have to be done from the office. Establishing that??employees are not expected to be in the office unless they have an? activity that requires it is a great first step.?
2. Upgrade your office environment to accommodate people’s needs. ?There’s a common misconception that people don’t want to come?back to the office. A more appropriate assumption is that people? don’t want to come back to the same bland office that’s not catered? to their work. Before trying to get people back into the office, try to? create an environment suited to them. This can be accomplished by? creating office neighborhoods, for example.
3. Create a “Head of Hybrid”, “Head of Workplace”, or another similar ?role. This might be a full-time position in larger companies. In smaller?companies, the duties might be dispersed between HR managers,? workplace experience managers, and office managers, for instance.? What’s important is to have someone (or a group of people) oversee? the new workplace model, collect feedback, and funnel it to senior? management.
4. Write a handbook. For example, if you’ve hybrid workplace etiquette?implemented hot desking, you might want to make sure everyone? clears our personal belongings from their desks at the end of the day.? Putting such rules in writing and distributing them to employees is the? best way to ensure everyone’s on the same page.
5. Create a communication and training plan. Conduct a retreat for all?employees to discuss the new model and walk through policies and??changes. Take this time to answer any questions or address common?concerns. Also, consider implementing pulse surveys — short and?regular sets of questions — during the first few months after?transitioning to hybrid. These will help you if your new model is?working as expected.?
6. Identify and measure critical success factors. Establish objectives?and key results (OKRs), such as productivity levels. While not all?important factors are completely quantifiable, it’s good to measure?what you can to at least estimate if things are trending in the right?direction.?
7. Prepare for iterations. Some of your initial assumptions will be right,?while others won’t work out. That’s normal. We’ve never implemented?hybrid work at scale, so experimentation should be your primary?mode of operation for a while.?

In the full ebook, we've covered the important policies you can consider implementing when adopting hybrid work for your organization.

Download it here. (It's FREE!)