What does hybrid work mean in practical terms and how can companies adapt their offices and technology for this?

There is no doubt the pandemic accelerated the proliferation of remote work. Over this time, employees have come to like added flexibility and now expect companies to allow them to work remotely or in the office, to the point where it has become a key factor in either staying or changing companies. From a company perspective there are benefits in implementing a hybrid work model as it allows them to review how offices can be redesigned from a space management and technology perspective for maximum productivity taking into consideration both physical and virtual interaction.

"Work is not a place you go to, it's what you do." Francine Katsoudas, EVP and Chief People, Policy and Purpose Officer , Cisco

Hybrid work is where a company provides different options for employees for where they work from. Once implemented, how does hybrid work look like in a live company environment? This video should help to visualize the reality of a hybrid work office environment based on the example of the Cisco Singapore office set-up.

A company providing guidance for its employees for hybrid work is an outcome in a longer planning process based on, ideally, teamwork between HR, Facilities and IT which previously requires collecting feedback from employees, developing different hybrid work and office scenarios considering employee inclusivity/wellbeing/productivity, and company cost. Space optimization has a direct impact on energy and the cost of real estate, but more importantly on employees’ productivity and wellbeing. Looking at the physical office redesign strategy, there are many factors to consider:

1. Office space distribution and design - how many meeting rooms, huddle spaces, open work/play areas should there be and how many of these areas need to be enabled with videoconferencing systems? Are the meeting rooms or huddle spaces creating an inclusive environment where employees have an equal voice whether they work from home or the office?
2. Office environment and employee well-being - Did you know there is one meeting system which provides various types of sensors ensuring a safe and productive workspace? Office managers are able to monitor different metrics such as air quality, temperature, humidity and noise levels through one simple interface. One way for employees to avoid being on too many videoconference calls is by using Personal Insights which allow employees to privately view their usage stats and manage time spent on videoconferences to maintain work-life balance.
3. Office location - is it easy for employees to commute there using different public or private transport modalities?
4. Nature of work carried out in the office - What kind of work is being carried out at this particular office location eg is it a sales office, an R&D hub or a mix of different functions?

So is this enough to enable a productive hybrid work environment? It's a good starting point but there's more to it. A major factor will be the choice of technology to enable effective meetings. Making the wrong choice could have the opposite effect. For example, an ex-colleague of mine told me the other day that they were using a mix of different systems and this had led to, when in a live meeting, people working remotely not being heard by the people in the office. The concern here was that there were few people physically in the office and many more trying to interact from other locations. Reaching an important decision without being able to have feedback from remote workers made the whole meeting much less productive than having an all-inclusive meeting where everyone in the meeting has an equal opportunity to participate.

Things to consider when choosing the appropriate meeting videoconferencing platform are:

1. Scalability - being able to choose from a wide range of video device options for different meeting room sizes for home or office
2. Security - does the system have encryption embedded to avoid unwanted interference especially for important strategic and confidential meetings?
3. Seamless office/remote work experience - are you able to simply pair your devices whether you are remote or in the office?
4. Does the system enable inclusivity so everyone in a meeting, remote and in the office, has an equal chance to be seen and heard? For example, Here are some examples of Webex features which can make hybrid-based meetings more inclusive.
5. Continuous workflow which allows for synchronous (real time) and asychronous (any time) collaboration, especially for geographically dispersed teams - make sure you select a solution that supports not just the DURING the meeting but also the BEFORE (eg work on agenda, look up details on attendees) as well as the AFTER (sharing of recording & transcript, working on action items & other follow-ups).

Hopefully I have helped in clarifying what hybrid work is and provide some practical steps and examples to frame how to go about implementing a hybrid work strategy by looking specifically at office elements to consider and the technology to enable effective and inclusive hybrid work. For more information on how Webex enables this vision of Hybrid Work today, please check this link: https://futureofwork.webex.com/about/