Workplace in flux: The practicalities of going hybrid

The world of work continues to change. While companies across industries were initially pushed into remote work with plans to move back into the office as soon as it was safe, everything done up to this point since March 2020 was designed to be temporary. Now, given worker preferences, a worker shortage requiring flexibility, and new safety concerns around COVID variants, companies are considering how to shift their business models to a permanent hybrid model.

We know hybrid work is not possible for every industry or every person. But it is overwhelmingly prevalent. According to 2021 data published by McKinsey, the majority of executives expect that employees will be on-site between 21% and 80% of the time, yet 68% have no detailed plan in place to support that model—and more, their employees.

The tips here support building a plan that can be personalized to a business’s function. The framework is one of guidelines rather than hard lines to allow room for flexibility at the department and individual level and to preserve culture and community in a distributed environment.

Design work around critical functions.

Every business has its core functions. When making an official hybrid work plan, leaders should first create an inventory of the various functions that are involved in getting necessary work done.

Each function should be reviewed for key restrictions that may dictate where work needs to be performed.

• Does the role require direct access to consumers? Or direct access to machines?
• Is the work environment regulated or are there unique security concerns?
• Is work dependent upon a serial series of actions that require a team to work together?

Next, determine when each of these functions needs to get done.

• Does work have to be done at a certain time of day or day of week?
• Is this a function that can be broken up into shifts?

Now, take your inventory and categorize functions into two buckets: onsite essential and remote possible.

Answering these questions will provide insight into what a worker needs to be successful, like fundamental prerequisites to do the work—internet, quiet space, security, a vehicle etc.

Just because one function or task needs to be done in the office does not mean that an employee needs to do everything there. Or just because one role may occasionally need to be present in the office does not mean that all roles must.

Use data to help.

Management roles underwent perhaps the biggest change when teams went remote. In a remote world being a task manager is no longer enough. Employees have countless outside stressors in their lives, and every employee’s struggles are unique. Managers have to have the tools to identify when a problem is occurring.

Role-based Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, can be helpful for identifying how individuals and teams are performing. For instance, in telecommunications, it’s common to track average call times. Unusual patterns can help identify employees that need additional support and training, or whether there’s an issue with the software that needs to be addressed. But there are non-role based KPIs that can indicate an issue, such as unplanned absences signaling a problem at home. Or scheduled hours versus worked hours, which could be an early indicator of burnout. Managers should build a set of baseline KPIs to help them understand how the team is performing and to help identify when an individual needs help.

Invest in emotional intelligence.

When we embrace data to find problems early, managers can build unique coaching approaches to help their teammates succeed. But managers will likely need some new tools.

A successful manager will meet their employees where they are and help them navigate to where the team and company is going. Soft skill training, such as active listening, communication and time management build emotional intelligence. And emotional intelligence makes work more human and helps build the connection between employees and the company, especially in a time when more people are feeling disconnected from their jobs.

Keep teams small.

We’ve all had days that have come and gone with nothing but meetings. By limiting the number of participants in the meeting to three, meetings can feel more purposeful. Ask invitees to determine if they are a key decision-maker in that meeting, and if they are not, they can decline the meeting. Empower participants to recommend and make decisions.

By reducing team sizes, individuals become more accountable to each other and their tasks. Smaller teams are also more effective at adapting. The result is that employees feel more invested in the work’s outcome and inspired by the role that they play in driving outcomes. Additionally, there is more time in the day to work on execution.

Iterate, iterate, iterate.

A McKinsey study shows iterative work or “sprints” have a near-term effect on employee engagement and satisfaction, and sprints create more time and flexibility to execute complex initiatives. As companies are faced with ongoing changes, having a sprint-based mentality will ensure you can adapt to the planned and unplanned turns along your journey.

Similarly, short-term sprints work best among smaller teams who all play a role and can allow for more schedule flexibility both in and out of the office. Flexibility is, ultimately, what hybrid work is about.

Hybrid is the present and future. As business leaders, we need to accept that and make the necessary adjustments to support it.

For companies still unsettled by the idea of not having their sights on employees all day, it’s important to note that 45% of professionals say they regularly work more hours during the week than they did before, and numerous studies have indicated productivity has increased when working from home because there is no commute, fewer employee conversations and more are getting exercise.

And work from home is seen as a benefit by employees. A recent survey showed that 65% of workers were willing to take a 5-25% pay cut to work from home.

By being flexible with when and where work occurs, you can design work to meet both company and employee needs.

Kate Winkler is the CEO of Ruby.com. She has been in the technology sector for over 25 years, wearing just about every C-level hat. Kate believes the best organizations are built on a clear vision, with a holistic sense of pride and ownership driving company-wide collaboration.