When the pandemic first started in 2020, many businesses were forced to close their office doors and the era of remote work began. Since then, the restrictions on office work have been lifted, meaning businesses had to decide whether to go back to the office permanently or implement remote work instead. While these two options work for some businesses, others saw the benefit of having both and decided to introduce the hybrid work model. The hybrid work model dictates that employees split their time between remote and office, so they have a good balance of both. Hybrid work has proven to be a success, and studies have shown that more than half of UK workers would now consider quitting their jobs if they couldn’t work from home at some point. So, if your business is considering adopting hybrid working, then keep on reading to find out our tips on how to make it effective for your business.
Open Communication
One of the most important parts of ensuring hybrid work is effective for your business is having open communication with your workers. Of course, communication is super important in any workplace, but when you have employees that are working from home, you must ensure that everyone is able to communicate easily with one another. For most businesses, having some sort of instant messaging platform has been the best way to communicate as it means you can ask questions and get a response easily. Furthermore, a lot of the instant messaging platforms out there provide the option to have a variety of different channels, allowing you to split up the conversation into topics. This means that if you have certain people working on one project, you can group them all together, so they are not distracting for the rest of the team. Working from home can sometimes be a little isolating, so having open communication is an effective way to ensure no one is left out and that people have a place to vent if they need to. It could be a good idea to set up a channel that is solely for non-work chat, so everyone has the chance to socialise without worrying about being professional.
Ensure Everyone Has Access To The Same Resources
Another way to make hybrid work effective is to ensure that everyone has access to the same resources. When people were only working in the office, they did not have the worry of having to have the latest technology or software, as office management would deal with that. However, when people are working from home, a lot of employees will be relying on their own laptops or computers to keep them working, so you must ensure that everyone has updated laptops and access to online resources.
The good thing about online resources is that you do not necessarily have to spend lots of money on them, you just need to create a folder where people can access everything. Take the time to compile a list of handy tools that can make everyone’s jobs a bit easier. While, of course, people should work hard, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make things easier when given the chance. Giving your employees resources will not only be beneficial for them, but it will be beneficial for the company as well because employees will be more productive and will therefore get more work done.
Have Weekly Meetings
Having weekly meetings with your staff is another great way to ensure hybrid work is effective. As mentioned in the introduction, communication is a super important part of making hybrid work possible, so having weekly meetings is a great way to uphold that level of communication. To make things easier for everyone, it would be best to have the weekly meeting on the same day and time every week, so people can start getting into a routine. Additionally, because people will be working in a hybrid format, make sure that everyone knows they can attend the meeting either virtually, or in person. This eases a lot of the pressure on remote workers, as they know that they are not forced to go into the office. Having a weekly meeting can allow people to discuss what they have been working on during the week and it gives them a chance to air out any grievances. Open communication is always the best way to go, and weekly meetings allow this to happen.
Improve The Office Space
Another thing that could help to improve hybrid work for your business is to improve the office space. For most people, going back and working in an office wasn’t something they were looking forward to, which is why remote work has been so popular. So, to encourage workers to spend some time in the office, you could take the time to improve and update the office space. Prior to the pandemic, it was likely that the office was a little run down and out of date, so not is the perfect opportunity to give it a refresh. A good way to help you get started could be to talk to your employees and ask them what it is they would like from their office. Ask them what they did and didn’t like about the previous office and use that as inspiration. Even simple things like updated office chairs can really transform a space, so that is definitely something to consider. You should also take the time to update some of the technology in the office too, so your workers are not slowed down by outdated or broken technology.
Allow Flexibility With Working Hours
This may seem like an unnecessary point, as hybrid working is already pretty flexible, but a lot of business leaders try too hard to dictate their employees’ time, which ends up having a negative effect. Introducing hybrid work into your business is already a huge step, so make sure that you keep it working while allowing your staff some flexibility with their working hours. Working in the office on certain days may not always be the best thing for your employees, so give them the freedom to decide what works for them. Not only will this improve the productivity within your workplace, but it can also help to improve the trust you have with your employees. Showing your employees that you trust them to manage their own time can help to build a positive relationship, so this is definitely something to consider when introducing hybrid work into your business.
Summary
It seems as if remote work is here to stay, which means that businesses need to adapt to the new world of working. If your employees are not keen on the idea of permanent office or remote work, then the hybrid work model is the perfect solution. This working model has continued to prove that it is effective for many businesses, so it is likely that it will work for yours too. However, that isn’t to say that hybrid working is easy, you will still need to put in a lot of hard work to ensure that everyone is happy. Use this article as a guide and hopefully you can make it effective for your business.
