It has been five months since COVID-19 drove workers out of the office and into their homes. While many employers considered remote working a temporary inconvenience at first, it appears that even as states begin to reopen, many workers prefer to stay remote.
At the same time, we are seeing a gradual return to the office for those who have their own vehicles and seek a release from home working. Many of these workers are opting to come in for only one, two, or three days a week. As a result, emptier offices are enabling social distancing.
However, as this hybrid workplace model comes into its own, many employers feel concerned about its potentially disruptive impact on productivity and culture. That concern is particularly valid for traditional sectors such as manufacturing or retail where the physical workplace is the only option.
Even outside of these sectors, some employers will still promote a return to the office. Why? Because such businesses likely lack the cultural mindset and digital capabilities to properly support a hybrid model.
In reality, employers can maintain productivity, continuity, and connectedness in a hybrid work environment — that is, if they were already delivering against those objectives pre-pandemic. That meant, and still means:
Businesses are social institutions that have traditionally depended on in-person interaction among employees to reinforce company identity, connectedness, and culture. Our work lives, remote or otherwise, are as much about collaboration with peers as they are about the work. While many organizations have the processes to manage the task-based aspects of working in hybrid teams, they often fall short in dealing with the social, motivational, and expressive areas of work. They can foster such behaviors by:
Embracing an overall culture mindset that is committed to making hybrid collaboration work well reduces the need for a fixed physical location to maintain motivation and performance.
In times of uncertainty, the importance of providing reassurance around the underlying requisites in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs like safety and belonging are paramount. While managers may prefer to convey critical one-to-one messages such as “you are safe,” “you have a future here,” and “we are a team” when both parties are physically present, managers of remote and hybrid workers need to leverage technology, regular communications, and purposeful check-ins to achieve the same motivational and performance results.
Success for the hybrid model requires managers, teams, and organizations to adapt to a more natural and holistic check-in process covering tasks, performance, clarifications, feedback, tactical and strategic updates, and wellbeing.
This situation offers managers a unique moment in time to practice flexibility, empathy, and the more human aspects of their management style. Managers should remind themselves of their vital role as “connectors” for remote workers, as well as recognize the productivity benefits of remote working for both current and future talent.
Conversely, what if the manager is remote and supervising in-office teams? As long as remote managers establish solid working practices, they can be just as effective as those who are physically present. Managers should embed regular team check-ins into their schedules. Check-ins drive open communication within the team and allow managers to share knowledge, connect with their people, and address issues as quickly as possible. Sometimes the distance from the physical workplace can provide added benefits as remote managers are more likely to see problems holistically than managers who are physically entangled in the challenge.
When determining the frequency of check-ins, the location of either the manager or the employee should not be a factor. Both parties need to understand that they may start with a single check-in per week, but the cadence can be altered as they find their comfort level. More importantly, managers and workers can request and schedule ad hoc check-ins, rather than strictly adhere to mandated timeframes. Managers must also observe which employees need additional check-ins and ensure that employees are comfortable initiating meetings.
Crucially, a check-in should never be perceived as a check-up!
The workplace environment is overflowing with data and information. Yet many organizations keep data siloed in different backend systems that make it complicated for employees to locate and access the information they need quickly and easily. While many solutions are available to address the problem, companies frequently have difficulty in deciding which platform is best for them. Below are some key attributes to consider when assessing the long-term value of data platforms.
Beyond these considerations, overall satisfaction requires the organization to ensure alignment on the business pains they are trying to solve and the targeted business impact of the platform. Once the pain and impact metrics are established, it becomes much easier to define what an ideal solution looks like and which providers to source and evaluate.
Some of the most successful “survivor” businesses today are those that are rewarding the goodwill of their workers by enhancing their remote work experience. It’s a new day in the world of work. And organizations that facilitate collaboration, relationships and check-ins, and easy access to information can more seamlessly address concerns around hybrid workplace productivity and culture.