How to make hybrid work work

Back in early 2020, a friend, exasperated by the daily commute, told me that she thought she could do her job effectively from home; two, or even three, days a week. I scoffed at the suggestion — not because I doubted her ability to be productive outside the office — but because it seemed such a radical idea. So radical, we both laughed it off as wishful thinking. Little did we know that the workplace was on the verge of a major shift that would result in my friend’s very idea becoming reality in this post-covid world. And the name of this new radical reality; hybrid work.

Before the pandemic, working from home (or ‘WFH’) was permitted in many organisations, but generally no more than on a one day per week basis (and at that, it was often limited to more senior personnel). We lived mostly by the unspoken rule that you couldn’t trust people to work unless they remained within a 20-metre vicinity of their desks at all times. But then, in March 2020, covid struck. Knowledge workers across the globe were sent home with their laptops (and other spare hardware if they were lucky), to work without supervision. There was no other option, if organisations wanted to avoid going under, and necessity really is the mother of invention, or in this case, innovation.

Given this taste of relative freedom from commuting and other inconveniences of office life (like having to be dressed from the waist down), it is unsurprising that people haven’t exactly been clambering back to their offices since restrictions lifted. Work is clearly not going back to where it was before. But where is it going? Like many, I believe the future is hybrid. But hybrid is not a well-established concept. How it will work — and if it is sustainable in the long-term — remains to be seen.

Like social distancing, mask mandates, viral shedding and zoom fatigue, the term ‘hybrid working’ is one of those phrases that didn’t really feature in popular lexicon before 2020. For this reason, defining ‘hybrid working’ is a bit a la carte. There is limited data on it in management literature as it really isn’t a phenomenon that has been researched in any great detail — that is, until now. Whether or not such an ill-defined concept can ultimately be successful therefore, requires a bit of experimentation by employers. That is the first of my five top tips.

· Experiment — Having a clear policy on hybrid work is critical (for those who need their boundaries!) However, until we have real evidence on the precise ratio of home to office work that is optimal, organisations will need to remain flexible in terms of implementing hybrid policies. It seems most are opting for variables of two or three days in the office per week. But this assumes some level of office presence every week, which is arguably less convenient for people who no longer live and work in the same place. If an employer requires 50% attendance for example, could one week on, one week off be effective? Could employees choose to work one month fully remotely and the next onsite? Especially during the summer months, it would seem, employees could be very attracted to models that allow them to spend substantial chunks of time working remotely, even if that means making up time onsite at other times of the year. HR policies on hybrid may be subject to ‘emotional’ reactions to what might seem like unconventional models of attendance, but that is not to say they couldn’t work. The only way to find out what works for each organisation is through trial and error.

· Listen to feedback — Employee feedback is essential to organisations when it comes to planning and implementing their hybrid work policies; if the goal is to bring employees ‘along with you.’ It is critical for employees to feel their voices are heard during phases of significant organisational change. However, a balance needs to be struck between asking staff for their views and giving them the impression that their preferences will automatically be observed. Organisations need to look at various factors in determining what hybrid model works best for them, taking into account the nature of the work, the level of in-person collaboration required, whether onsite facilities are required etc.

Asking staff for their views can also result in feedback being somewhat skewed toward the most vocal individuals (in the hybrid discussion, it may be the ones most intent on preserving home working who shout the loudest). Many staff, particularly younger ones and people living closer to the office, will tend not to feel as strongly about whether they are required to return and to what degree. The feedback organisations receive from those on different ends of the spectrum will differ wildly depending on the stage of life different employees are at and their priorities. Embedding hybrid work practices in an organisation requires some renegotiation of the psychological contract between employers and employees and so, it is vital that this reflects as broad a range of employee views and circumstances as possible.

· Levelling the playing field — Bleak as it was during the various lockdowns, at least we were all in the same boat; trying to conduct meetings on a fully virtual basis and contending with somebody’s dodgy WiFi or audio delay. But our tolerance for these technical issues waned as some people started to return to the office, and hybrid meetings proved an even trickier technical challenge to overcome. Martine Haas, writing in the Harvard Business Review, warns that “faultlines can easily emerge between those who work together in person and those who work remotely.” In a hybrid working environment, there is a risk that informal interactions at the water cooler or coffee station (and dare I say in the pub after work) don’t get cascaded to the wider team. This could result in fault-lines creeping in, the consequences of which we are arguably too nascent in the hybrid experiment to understand. But experts are already suggesting that an inevitable inequity will emerge between those who attend the office on a more regular basis and those whose attendance is minimal.

Those who are keen to assert their ‘right’ to work from home may need to acknowledge the drawbacks of being in their spare bedroom while the physical eco-system of the office has begun to thrive again in their absence. Reduced visibility in the workplace is inevitably going to disadvantage workers; and may even impact on their prospects for promotion and advancement more generally in the organisation. For these reasons, home working enthusiasts may wish to see a policy implemented where all employees work from home the same amount — in order to avoid these inequities arising. However, there will always be some who prefer to attend the office (or simply don’t have the appropriate space to work from home) and should be entitled to be onsite. My own view is that rather than pretend the playing field can be completely levelled, employers need to be candid and open with staff who wish to work from home more about the inevitable drawbacks. This will serve to mitigate discontentment down the line where colleagues opting to work from home more will possibly start to feel disconnected. Haas advises employers to be cognisant of the five C challenges; communication, coordination, connection, creativity and culture). A successful hybrid working model is one in which these five key factors can continue to thrive.

· Anchors — It might seem somewhat contradictory to my suggestion that we remain flexible when it comes to the perfect office to home ratio. But part of what some people object to when it comes to hybrid working is that it can lack boundaries. And some people really fricking love — and need — boundaries. In an ideal world, employees could be relied upon to manage their own time and approach hybrid working in an open-minded, adult way. In reality, there will be some who can’t cope with the imprecision of being told they have to attend the office 40% or 60% of the time. Therefore, it may be useful to set some basic parameters. This could be a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly ‘team day’ or ‘project day,’ where groups that work on similar matters know to attend on the same day for meetings and other types of in-person collaboration. The anchor day/s could even be built around a social event, such as a team lunch or after-work drinks. It can also be helpful to support workers in choosing the same two or three days per week on which they always attend the office. This takes the uncertainty out of it and helps with building new routines. That, and structuring office attendance around a team/project will likely serve to make it more ‘meaningful’ to staff, bearing in mind that what is meaningful will differ from person to person. I find getting coffee from my favourite café the mornings I attend my office meaningful, but that might not suffice for others.

In the absence of any real academic guidance on what hybrid should look like, I believe it is crucial that some parameters exist. It may not matter exactly what those parameters look like; i.e. in terms of how often office attendance is required and on what days, as long as staff are very clear about what is expected; which in turn will help to get buy-in.

· Be prepared to change course — Hybrid work is one of the greatest experiments the workplace has undertaken in recent times. And we’re all part of it. All experiments require an open mind and agile approach, such that if at a certain point, we realise we have gone in the wrong direction, we’re not afraid to review and alter the course. Organisations might find it useful to have a dedicated teams / staff in place to review and monitor the implementation of hybrid policies and to continually tweak them as necessary. This should be informed by various sources, including emerging management literature on the topic, staff feedback, feedback from industry, government policy and guidance and available statistics. Finally, reminding staff about the experimental or what is often termed, ‘test and learn’ nature of the hybrid implementation is crucial, to ensure that they too, understand their role in achieving the appropriate balance of home and office work.

I recently reminded my friend about her outlandish suggestion she could work three days a week at home and how ironic it was that her prediction had come to pass. Funnily enough, my retelling of that story served to give her some perspective — she had been complaining about the need to attend onsite for work 50% of the time; the very reality she had dreamed of less than three years earlier. This brings me neatly to my ultimate conclusion about what we need to make hybrid work successful; a healthy dose of perspective. Perspective should serve to remind us that before the pandemic most of us worked onsite 100% of the time. It should also remind us that only a mere 40% of the total workforce has the ability to work from home; in other words, the majority of people will never have the opportunity to work on a hybrid basis. This makes hybrid work a privilege. Perspective could also assist those who don’t wish to return onsite because WFH suits their life circumstances better. Again, that is a very privileged position to be in. We should all collectively welcome the opportunities that hybrid working can afford us, and be patient on the journey toward making hybrid work work — for everyone.