How do you make hybrid work…work? Tech Bullion has published an article about the top four biggest challenges and their corresponding solutions. While it isn’t easy to ensure hybrid and remote workers are productive, it can certainly be done.
- Communication
Communicating effectively across different locations and time zones is tricky. This can be exacerbated by the fact that some people are not comfortable speaking in front of monitors.
Empowering employees to make their working environment as pleasant as possible with home office allowances, for example, can help counter this. Employees who feel comfortable in their home settings are more likely to feel at ease in Zoom’s spotlight. Fostering a culture of respect in the workplace so that all staff, regardless of seniority, feel comfortable speaking also makes a big difference.
- Collaboration
Remote workers are sometimes left out of the interactions and decisions made by people who are working together physically in an office. This is mainly due to the additional effort needed to collaborate with distant counterparts. Clearly not ideal at any level, this habit can get more serious over time with some stakeholders being shut out of critical discussions entirely.
Ensuring all workers have high-speed internet is essential as video conferencing and instant messaging offer a practical solution to this problem. It’s also helpful, though not always realistic, to designate certain days for in-office work to focus on collaborative work, and others for working from home to concentrate on independent work.
- Office space
Depending on how you mix in-office and remote work, maintaining a devoted office with all of its amenities can be expensive. If not properly managed, you may end up wasting valuable resource on empty desks.
Renting only enough space for the workers who’ll be present physically on any given day reduces costs and wastage dramatically. This necessitates careful planning, potentially offering employees the opportunity to book desk space. Co-working spaces can offer a good solution for businesses’ evolving office space needs.
- Expenses
Managing employee expenses for remote and hybrid workers is more complicated than it is with full-time staff. They should be paid for using their own internet and electricity but, when a remote employee lists Nespresso capsules on their expense form, have things gone a little too far?
Having a clear policy on what constitutes a genuine work expense is essential. Detail the equipment, services and supplies you’re happy to pay for – computers, office furniture, internet access, pens and paper, plus gas, electricity and internet charges. And set a cap on what constitutes a reasonable amount to avoid disappointing the happy new owner of the latest iPhone 13.
While the above points offer a good starting point to address the challenges of hybrid working, there are other bigger picture matters at play here. Building team spirit and communicating brand values, particularly for new recruits, can be especially challenging, and deserving of their own dedicated articles. Watch this space!
If, in the meantime, you’d like to share how you have made hybrid working successful at your company, we would love to hear from you. And if you need any help with the recruitment element of your job, we are here to help. With a vast pool of talented, active job seekers on our books and over 30 years’ experience in the field, we will find the perfect people for all your open vacancies.
