The workplace is evolving. Traditionally, businesses have followed one of two work models: in-office, where everyone is at the office every day, or remote, where workers work from off-site locations wherever they are.
On the other hand, recent global developments have pushed companies to reconsider how and where they operate. With recent technological advancements, several businesses are contemplating a hybrid work paradigm in which workers may work in the office, remotely using a vartual conference platform or a combination of both.
Hybrid Work’s Advantages & Disadvantages
A hybrid work style may provide a variety of advantages to businesses, including:
- Employees have greater freedom: Since they can work from anywhere, including the workplace, at home, or even while lounging poolside!
- Better work-life balance: Allowing workers to select when (or if) they wish to come into the office allows them to better organize their personal lives and lowering stress.
- Improved access to talent: Employers that use a hybrid work style have access to a larger pool of applicants who reside outside their state or nation.
However, if a hybrid work paradigm isn’t adopted and managed correctly, it may cause problems across the company. These are some of them:
- Inequity between workers: Remote workers may feel excluded during virtual meetings if they aren’t given the same chances to engage as their in-office colleagues. Because the in-person connection is potentially more powerful than the digital connection.
- Challenges for team building: Organizations have traditionally built team cohesiveness by organizing team-building activities such as happy hours or sports excursions. When work-from-anywhere workers cannot join in person, however, it may be tough to create that cohesion.
- Increased dependence on technology: As your teams grow more scattered, they will become more reliant on technology to communicate, and if workers aren’t adequately educated on how to utilize such solutions, it may create significant communication hurdles.
Hybrid Work Best Practices
To establish a thriving hybrid work environment, organizations and their workers must collaborate closely. For companies seeking to adopt a hybrid work paradigm, here are some recommended practices to consider:
#1. Maintain constant communication & collaboration with your teams.
Working with dispersed teams necessitates constant communication and collaboration. So use effective solutions like a workplace messaging app or a business phone system to ensure you are always in touch with your remote coworkers. Hosting virtual team-building activities also helps team members establish connections, even if they have never met in person!
#2. Make a comprehensive resource library.
Provide enough resources to assist your scattered teams in navigating their responsibilities by training them on utilizing your workplace technology and solutions. Employees will have access to the knowledge and resources they need to succeed if a library of recorded training materials and sessions is created.
#3. Ensure that your workplace solutions are consistent.
Using disparate applications and programs makes it difficult for your hybrid workforce to know which solution to use in various circumstances. Your workers will have a seamless experience with a unified communications solution. Because their phone, chat, webinar, and the best video conference conversations will all be on the same platform.
#4. Create an infrastructure for business-wide communication.
In an emergency or to communicate corporate news, being able to contact your hybrid workforce and stakeholders all at once is critical. Use an efficient video communications system that can grow to handle big events and gatherings. It makes it simple to hold all-hands meetings and deliver more customized and direct organization-wide messages.
#5. Provide solutions that enable all workers to do the same tasks.
You should offer your workers the tools they need to build an enterprise-grade communications experience. You can guarantee that your teams are productive and successful no matter where they work by offering such solutions. It’ll enable them to communicate digitally, provide a distraction-free workplace, and have the same capabilities as in-office employees.
