“Should I have my whole team in … or my whole team out? In, out, in, out …”
Shake it all about! We all know traditional working practices have changed. People have been flipping between being in and out of the office for over 2 years now. Something which has undoubtedly shaken many companies.
Lots of office workers have now been instructed to return for at least some of the week. But the situation that greets them varies hugely between organisations, internal teams and even pay grades.
How does it feel if your CEO has said you have to be in the office everyday, but you’ve not seen them up close and personal for weeks?
Or how about if some teams in the business are in, but others are entirely home-based?
The aftermath of the pandemic has left a huge swathe of organisations with fragile, fractured or ‘not quite figured out yet’ working environments. Some organisations moved quickly to new working policies whereas others have muddled along without formalising new ways of working.
C-suite executives expect 87% of work to be done via some form of hybrid working
According to research by McKinsey, most organisations don’t yet have a detailed vision in place for hybrid working, with as few as 3 out of 10 organisations having both prepared for and communicated their vision for the post-pandemic world. Despite this, executives expect most work to be done via some form of hybrid work in future. Perhaps many of us are still in ‘reaction mode’ and the case for hybrid working is still unclear?
Why could a hybrid working model be good for my business?
If you’re considering it, it’s probably because you’re already doing it in some way. Hybrid working became a necessity in the pandemic.
Some organisations only did it because they had to, and for some companies, being at work in person will always be the best model for them.
You may have never considered it as an option pre-covid but perhaps now you’ve seen some benefits in productivity, staff wellbeing, retention or recruitment. A hybrid mix brings many positives:
Hybrid working is no longer a ‘nice to have’, it’s a ‘must have’ for most workers
Benefits of Working at Home
Focused periods of concentration on tasks that are best done uninterpreted.
A place to do virtual calls.
Good for those who need adjustments to their working environment, such as people with a disability.
More useable time in the day for those who have a lengthy commute.
A better work/life balance.
Benefits of Being in The Workplace*
Informal learning of technical knowledge … being in earshot of colleagues.
Learning good leadership skills by listening to and ‘soaking up’ the actions of positive role models.
More chance to naturally include less confident colleagues, in meetings that are in-person.
Space for creative conversations between colleagues.
More opportunities for new starters to absorb company culture.
*None of the ‘benefits’ of working in the workplace are effective if leaders, and relevant colleagues are not there … AT THE SAME TIME!
Absorbing and contributing to company culture is virtually impossible at home
How do I lead a fully hybrid team?
Hybrid working is not new. Tech companies like Google have been doing it across teams successfully for many years.
The reason they and others adopted it in the first place was because it was better for productivity.
For hybrid working to work, leaders need to be clear and visible and employees need to understand how their work fits into big picture company objectives.
Agree the ground rules for hybrid working, including what leaders need to do
Five practical steps to successful hybrid working
There are some specific steps that every leader can take to make hybrid working work for you, your team and most importantly, your customers. One word of warning before you start…don’t be the CEO that says everyone has to work in a certain way, except you. That’s a sure-fire way to make sure hybrid working doesn’t work.
Step 1 – Make an Agreement (Formal or Informal)
If people have become used to the flexibility of 100% home working they need time to put a new routine in place.
Remember, people will be factoring in the cost of commuting, cost of living and childcare responsibilities.
You may be perfectly entitled to have them back in the office but do it with compassion.
Top Tip: an informal or formal agreement can help get people back into the office, particularly if different parts of your business need different levels of on-site and remote working.
Step 2 – Lead by Example
You may have always worked from home as a leader, but for hybrid working to be successful, days in the office have to be really meaningful.
You need to model this way of working to make sure that engagement with company culture and productivity stays high.
Not sure your company culture is strong enough? Here are 10 proactive things you can do as a leader to improve your culture.
Step 3 – Make Office Dates Matter
Understand which tasks work better at home and which benefit from face-to-face communication and plan around this.
There is no point in scheduling lots of virtual calls on a day when everyone’s in the office. It’s pointless. (Ever travelled to work, done a day of Teams or Zoom calls from the office, then travelled home when you could have been anywhere? Ergh.)
Also try to schedule company-wide office dates so that people are able to ‘drop in’ on useful colleagues.
Step 4 – Plan Unstructured Collaboration Time
Scheduling unstructured collaboration time will invigorate your team, encourage creative thinking and help people feel positive about coming into work.
A Deloitte survey of over 3,500 workers showed that people are up to 20% more satisfied with their workplace culture when they have access to collaboration tools that enable them to work in teams, and 34% happier with their workplace when collaboration and innovation are encouraged.
We also know that productivity, revenue, and profitability are all positively impacted by engagement at work – collaboration with colleagues is just one way to keep your team engaged.
Step 5 – More Office Time For New Starters & Their Managers
Your organisation is a complex web of different traits, habits, actions … ways of communicating.
All of these are compromised if newbies aren’t properly integrated into the organisation.
Plan extra time in the office for people joining your organisation and their managers.
Top Tip: set an expectation that managers are on-site with new colleagues for their induction, you can share the responsibility amongst a pool of managers so new starters kick-start their internal networking.
Ringfence your time at the office for collaboration and engaging with your team
Why can’t I get my team to come back to the office?
Lots of people like working from home but it’s not without challenges, subsequently a sensible hybrid model is a pretty logical way of working for most people.
So, if you’re really struggling to get people to come back, it’s likely that your office was not a welcoming, inclusive and flexible environment in the first place!
If you’re a leader that would like a conversation about how to create and manage a hybrid working model, get in touch. We’ll show you how to enhance every professional relationship across your entire business.
A welcoming, inclusive and flexible workspace is essential for hybrid working
Don’t know where to start?
I know that making changes to your workplace and culture can be daunting – most people don’t know where to start.
I love working with Exec Teams to improve performance and unleash the potential of their organisations. Who knows what you might achieve?
Give me a call if you want to explore the options for hybrid working in your team.
Image credits
Images sourced from Canva Pro and are photographers are not individually credited. If you see one of your photos above, please let us know so we can credit you here. Photo of Andrew Knight by Nick Morrish from Nick Morrish Photography
References
Digital collaboration. Delivering innovation, productivity and happiness. Deloitte (2013)
What executives are saying about the future of hybrid work. McKinsey & Company (2021)