The hybrid work significantly differs from the conventional work model. But what is hybrid work, and how to make use of it?
Hybrid work has changed our perspective about work. Due to the impact of Covid 19, employees worldwide have made use of hybrid work, so that business can get by in the crisis. However, despite being popular in many companies worldwide, hybrid work is not the perfect solution in all circumstances. Instead, it exists in many formats among various enterprises. In this article, GCT Solution will describe what hybrid working is, advantages and disadvantages of hybrid working, hybrid work best practices, and tools for hybrid working.
What is Hybrid Working?
Hybrid work is a flexible strategy that combines working from home and working in an office. A variety of different work schedules can be accommodated via flexible hybrid work. Employees have freedom to choose how and where they work, and they are also allowed to organize their own working time in a way that satisfies both business policies and their individual demands.
Employers who adopt a hybrid work to business management can offer greater work-life balance to their personnel. As a result, productivity and employee engagement rise, leading to improvements in the efficiency of businesses.
Advantages Of Hybrid Working
Utilizing developing technologies, a hybrid workplace that prioritizes the employee experience with adaptability, agility, and productivity. Only 36% of workers at typical organizations with traditional 40 office hours per week were top performers (Gartner, 2020). 55% of employees performed better when firms changed from this atmosphere to hybrid working, where individuals had choice over where and when they worked (Gartner, 2020). Until April 2022, 77% of companies have adopted a hybrid working model, with an “at-will” hybrid policy being the most popular (Envoy, 2022).
Here are some significant advantages of hybrid work:
1. Increased productivity of employees
With hybrid work, there are a number of factors that contribute to higher productivity of employees. Here are a few example:
- Increased freedom to choose work hours and location
- Fewer interruptions/ disruption at home than in the office
- Reduction in commuting time
- Requirement to go to office when in-person collaboration is needed
2. Reduced overhead costs
Businesses are examining their real estate plans and chances to downsize their office space or relocate to smaller towns, all of which can minimize expenses. Otherwise, they always keep an eye on office costs (namely water and electricity fees, stationery and try to minimize these expenses. Hybrid employees tend to work from home most of the time, leading to reduced overhead costs.
3. Better work-life balance
Greater flexibility and autonomy increases job satisfaction and happiness, which enhances both employee wellbeing and performance at work. A successful hybrid working is facilitated by an integrated focus on work-life balance.
4. Talent acquisition worldwide
Do you want to broaden the scope of your talent? Using hybrid work, your company can hire employees worldwide. Having access to a wider talent pool, it is much easier to hire people with specific knowledge, skills and majors. Hybrid working can provide your company a competitive opportunity for you to expand into new markets, and ensure high-quality output.
Disadvantages Of Hybrid Working
1. Harder collaboration with remote employees
Hybrid work allows people to go to the office at different times of the week. It means that people will sometimes disconnect with each other and not enjoy or share interesting moments of life together. Human disconnection may make working days bothering and burdened.
2. Requirements for oversight and maintenance to keep it working
Hybrid work needs a lot of time and effort to get right. If you want to allow freedoms and flexibility for your employees at work, it often means balancing that with appropriate oversight, policies, and maintenance too. For example, leaders should require their teams to be on-site on a certain day of the week, aiming to boost team connection and collaboration. This might conflict with flexibility and autonomy, but it is necessary to get people together, so they can better enjoy other freedoms, such as working from home on other days of their week.
The ability to adapt is essential for continuing hybrid work. You might discover that altering in-office days occasionally is vital for the team's general contentment because people's requirements fluctuate.
3. Unsuitability in all industries
Hybrid work structures may not be advantageous for all sectors. Others require physical presence, such as those in the healthcare, education, or manufacturing industries, which some businesses opt to run totally remotely. As a result, employees choose their careers based on the level of flexibility provided by various companies.
Challenges Of Building Hybrid Working
In order for a hybrid work model to be successful, each firm will have to overcome some unique obstacles. Here are some of the difficulties hybrid team leaders currently face:
1. Choosing the right hybrid model
Each organization must create and construct a hybrid workplace model that is unique to their needs because there are so few such models already in place. As various combinations and technologies are tried and tested to discover the best match for a particular situation and culture of each company, this strategy can also need to be iterated.
2. Facing security risks
Security will remain a risk and a worry when businesses adopt hybrid models. Human resources and information technology departments must concentrate on end-user education and security as a result of employees working from home on their own networks and possibly using their own devices.
3. Managing people effectively
Managers must take care in a hybrid workforce to give both on-site and remote employees the same chances and exposure, including assessments that are based on work result rather than work procedure. It is crucial to make sure that remote team members don't feel alone or unnoticed, and that they are held to the same standards of conduct and accountability as their coworkers in the office.
4. Isolation and disconnection among employees
When employees may work from any location at any time, businesses must concentrate on maintaining a sense of community among their team. The key to creating a productive hybrid work environment is to create opportunities and other possibilities for workers to communicate and connect virtually. It will also be possible to employ technology to gauge the state of the workforce and make necessary course corrections.
4. Ineffective connectivity
Businesses must create barrier-free connections that enable hybrid teams to interact effectively in order to prevent discrepancies, silos, and knowledge loss. In a hybrid working environment, maintaining a flourishing business culture must be a deliberate objective.
Hybrid Work Best Practices
1. Survey your employees and leaders to find out what they need
If you want to develop a hybrid business model that works for your company, start by speaking with your employees to understand their needs. Because hybrid work must be successful for everyone, consulting with employees and leaders will yield illuminating and diverse perspectives. Make careful to find out how each group currently uses the workplace as well as the kind of working environment in which they would thrive. By consulting a wide range of people, you may create a work model that gets staff members ready for change and keeps them motivated to deliver their best work.
2. Build the system infrastructure supporting flexibility
When hybrid work is done well, onsite and remote teams can collaborate without any issues. Investing in office technology, such as hardware for video conferencing and remote communication tools, can make this possible. See if you can utilize the tools you currently have or if you need to buy new ones.
Establish best practices for communication across the entire organization, and encourage team leads to be upfront with their staff about expectations. For instance, you might switch to an asynchronous mode of communication to accommodate staff members who work in various time zones.
To control workplace traffic and give employees freedom, create office timetables. There are several ways to go about this. For instance, your hybrid work model might include an at-will policy that allows employees to pick the day(s) they come into the office. You might also opt for a hybrid manager-scheduling strategy, in which managers decide which day(s) their employees report to work and set their own timetables.
3. Invest in company cultures
The culture of your company is its beating heart. It can be a huge competitive advantage and a key factor in the success of your hybrid work model. Be deliberate while developing your corporate culture to support distributed and hybrid workforces.
It's crucial to design hybrid workplace experiences around the basic values of your business. If your company promotes teamwork, for instance, you might set up a physical or online team-building activity. Using the Donut Slack interface, Envoy encourages staff members to connect with members of other teams for virtual coffee dates or peer learning exchanges.
4. Create a great workplace experience
The key component to making your hybrid work model successful is workplace experience. Even though they might not work on-site every day, it is crucial to make sure that every day is meaningful and with a purpose. For those who are there to meet and collaborate in person, the more individuals present, the better the experience.
Three factors must be prioritized in order to create a wonderful office experience: people, technology, and space. Your hybrid work model will be improved if you consider how each element interacts with the others. For instance, providing employees with more options for seating in your office will enhance their experience working there. That could be locations designated as quiet spaces, meeting pods, work spaces, or common areas. Your hybrid work approach will be supported by fostering a diverse workforce.
Check out our comprehensive guide to enhancing the workplace experience if you need advice on how to design a place of business that people want to visit.
5. Gather continuous feedback
Remember to get employee feedback as you try to create the ideal hybrid workplace for your business. Make sure there are multiple channels for staff to express their opinions. For instance, you might have a Slack channel that is "always on" and is used for employee feedback. You might also send your staff quarterly feedback surveys in addition to this.
Gathering this feedback will enable you to make adjustments along the way and create a hybrid workplace that benefits everyone. For more suggestions on how to obtain genuine, unfiltered employee feedback, see our blog post.
Technologies for hybrid working
This ultimate guide has provided you with everything you need to know to implement hybrid work successfully in your organization. Now, it’s time to run over the hybrid work software that will power your working model and help transform your workplace. Here are 4 tools that will help upgrade your hybrid work adaptation.
1. Cloud Computing
If you haven't invested in cloud computing, you've already fallen behind your competition. The utilization of the cloud computing boosts security and provides users with access to a distant virtual workspace.
Here are some other benefits offered by cloud computing:
- Cost-effective: Your IT personnel will be less stressed because you won't need to spend money on equipment or infrastructure requirements.
- Scalable: As necessary, you can add or remove services.
- Convenient: Remote workers can easily access information, and using the cloud for collaboration and file sharing is simple.
Because they can utilize a single sign-in from anywhere on any device, remote employees appreciate the cloud for its ability to deliver a seamless and secure experience.
2. Business Apps
Once you're operating in the cloud, cloud-based business software like those for project management and communication can help you collaborate even better. These provide remote workers with the same level of access as your on-site colleagues.
The benefits and payoffs are worth the effort and thinking that go into integrating apps for remote workers.
3. Mobile Tools
A lot of remote employees use their laptops and mobile devices, and they frequently work from several different locations. Your workflow strategy will be more adaptable and efficient if mobile is a key element.
For example, to make it easier for your personnel to use mobile devices, offer mobile-based apps or grant them remote VPN access. In order for staff to stay connected wherever they are, you may also give them portable WiFi devices.
4. Unified Communications
You can link related communication channels with unified communications to make access easier. The advantages of using virtual communication technologies are numerous:
- Ability to enhance collaboration.
- Capacity to improve communication options.
- Significantly increase productivity.
The best part is that you can make all of this happen instantly, increasing both ease and efficiency. For real-time idea exchange and collaboration, consider using apps like Skype, Slack, and Google Suite.
5. Project Management Tools
Project management solutions enable distributed teams of workers to connect and work together both synchronously and asynchronously (using chat tools) to complete tasks. There are tools for general project management, such as Asana and Trello, as well as ones that are focused on particular industries, namely GitHub and Jira for software development projects. You can find a project management tool for any kind of remote team you are working with.
6. Video Conferencing
Solutions for phone conferencing are outdated. Today, video is preferred when holding meetings with distant personnel. Video conferencing has emerged as one of the "useful technologies" that both onsite and remote employees find to be most beneficial because these employees frequently cannot attend in-person meetings. Remote workers can experience being in the conference room with their coworkers in-office thanks to smart video conferencing cameras like the Zoom and Google Meet.
From any location where they are working, people can communicate in real time. Giving your team members high-quality face-to-face interactions requires modernizing your workspace with a decent video conferencing solution. Take a look at the effect this has on teamwork and production.
Final thoughts
Hybrid working is no longer a substitute for other work practices. Thanks to the evolution of digital technology, it is possible that hybrid work will be a trend in 2023. However, like any working model, there are advantages and disadvantages. You can use our guide as a reference to introduce hybrid working within your company. Keep in mind that giving your employees some flexibility and freedom will boost their output and benefit your company.
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