Thanks to the events of the past few years, there has been a major upheaval in how and where work is carried out. After work from home orders were lifted, many employers have been trialling hybrid work schedules. What are they, and how can they benefit you? Here’s everything that you need to know.
A Definition Of Hybrid Working
The very first thing you need to know is what a hybrid work schedule is, exactly. As the name implies, it’s a schedule that combines both remote and on site working. In theory, it allows employees to enjoy the benefits of both remote and traditional work models, and give them more flexibility.
There are several ways that hybrid work schedules can be set up too, so it can be adjusted to fit you or your employees. For example, you could use one of the following models:
Split team: The team you have is split between those that work on site and those that work remotely.
Shifts: All employees will have some days where they work on site, and others where they work from home.
Flexible: Employees have the choice of whether to come into the office or work remotely, depending on their needs at that time.
As you can see, there are plenty of different ways of implementing a hybrid schedule, so you can find a way that works for you.
Benefits Of A Hybrid Schedule
There are many businesses out there that have started using hybrid work schedules, and it’s not hard to see why. There are several benefits to the practice, including:
Widen your hiring pool: If you can offer both remote and on site working, that allows you to widen your pool of potential new hires. With more options comes the chance to hire the very best people for the job, and therefore improving your business.
Offer more flexibility: This is something that employees want, especially after the experience of having to work from home. “When there’s the option to work remotely, especially with the flexible model, that means that they can make plans around work and still complete their tasks easily,” says Linda Grange, a productivity blogger at Best Essay Writing Service.
Drawbacks Of A Hybrid Schedule
Of course, there are going to be some drawbacks to the model too, which you will need to keep in mind. These include:
Tech issues: As hybrid is a new concept, technology is still running to catch up with it. You’ll need to invest in the tech to be able to connect remote and on site teams together, and if you don’t already have that it can get expensive.
Coordination problems: When a team is either fully remote or fully on site, coordination is always going to be easier. You can find a way to make this work for you in a hybrid model, but it can take time.
A steep learning curve: As a manager, you’ll need to learn how to fully manage a team that’s working on a hybrid schedule. This has been a steep learning curve for some.
Should You Adopt A Hybrid Working Schedule?
With all this in mind, should you adopt a hybrid working schedule at your company? With the pandemic, all businesses had to rethink the way they worked, and that was something that brought up some of the benefits of remote and flexible working. Having the option of remote working makes teams more productive, as well as improving their overall engagement. It also has a cost benefit, as they’re cheaper to maintain.
Of course, depending on the nature of your work, you may not be able to have a full time remote team. As such, that’s where hybrid work comes in. If you want the benefits of remote work with the option of having the team on site at least some of the time, then it will be for you.
Hybrid Working As An Employee
If you’re an employee who’s now working on a hybrid schedule, it will take some getting used to. However, you can manage it quite easily if you use the following tips:
Segment your work: If you’re starting out on a hybrid schedule, you’ll need to work out how you can be the most productive, no matter where you’re working. A good way to do this is to segment your work out into work you can do at home, and work you need to be at the office to do. That way, you can get your best work done no matter where you are.
Set clear expectations: Before you start out, you’ll want to know exactly where you stand when it comes to hybrid work. Sit down with your leaders and work out when you’ll need to be in the office, how often you can work remotely, and so on.
Hybrid Working For Employers
As an employer, you’ll need to ensure you transition your team to a hybrid model smoothly. Here’s how you can do it:
Set expectations: Just as employees would have to, you need to be clear about what this move means to your team. Define your goals, let the team know when they need to be in the office, and help them schedule their work to get the most out of the arrangement.
Use a central platform: As all your team aren’t going to be in the same place at the same time, they’ll need a central platform that they can all communicate and work on. There are multiple tools out there that allow you to do this.
Keep an eye on employee workloads: It’s easy to lose track of your employee’s workloads if you’re not seeing them every day. Again, using a centralized platform will help you do this, so you can ensure no one is over or underworked.
There are lots of benefits to hybrid working, as you can reap both the rewards of remote and in person work. As such, you’ll want to look into how you can make it work in your business.
About the Author
Jenny Han is a business writer. She covers career tips and productivity hacks to get the most out of the working day.