Hybrid working may have become a habit for many employees. But it is still an unusual way of working which requires time to adapt for others.
One of the problems is isolation, even for people like me, who spent over a decade working from home as a freelancer.
Before the pandemic, my professional life was interspersed with traveling for interviews with real people. I would go to prestigious corporate offices and speak one-on-one with CIOs, or I would go to an event and chat with some of the speakers. From time to time, I had a telephone interview.
But there’s one thing I’ve never done: video chats. All that changed, of course, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone to shelter at home. Videoconferencing tools, such as Zoom and Teams, then experienced real growth.
Now, three years later, video chats have become the norm. Certainly, the growth of these video platforms has slowed considerably, but that is to be expected after the pandemic. However, regular trips to head offices for one-on-one meetings have not returned, at least in my professional life. Just send a video link and the interview is done online.
I know this is also the case for professionals in other sectors. An executive told me the other day that working from home — even after the rise of hybrid work — still involved sitting alone in a room for hours. Isolation and boredom are only intermittently broken by a video call. And people far from headquarters always feel left out.
Some companies are fed up with the challenges of managing the vast work-from-home experience — and they want their employees back in the office, at least for a large portion of their work week. However, some pioneering companies are implementing a successful hybrid work strategy. How do they reap the benefits? Four business leaders give us their best advice.
1. Find the right balance
River Island CIO Adam Warne explains that working remotely in a quiet environment can be a great way to ensure productivity. But working hard to achieve your own goals is not the only reason to be employed by a company.
“We are all human beings and we work with each other,” he explains. “For hybrid working to be effective, there has to be an element of interaction. There has to be connectivity, both with the business and with the team.
According to Mr Warne, balance is key; we must therefore find the right reasons to bring people together in the office. “At River Island, it’s about making sure people are there for a reason and not just presenteeism, and making sure people who need to work together are able to do so.” , he explains. “If you work with a colleague, it’s essential that you don’t find yourself in a situation where one of you comes to the office and the other works from home.”
Mr. Warne explains that his team does not have mandatory days in the office. Rather, his organization’s hybrid work strategy is focused on collaboration. “We adopted the principle of team first and individual second,” he explains. “So if I personally want to be at home, but the rest of my team needs to be there, I will come into the office.”
2. Try a radical approach
Carter Cousineau, vice president at Thomson Reuters, leads a global team whose members have always worked from home, even before the pandemic. However, hybrid working has made it possible to achieve an even higher level of flexibility in its organization – and the key to success has been constant communication.
Ms. Cousineau continues to listen to her team’s comments. One staff member suggested that hybrid whole-team meetings created a large divide between those who were present and those who were not. “Since our team is international, the different teams are always on screen, while others were in the conference room,” she explains. “People on the screens felt like they were missing the walk to the meeting room and missing some of the dialogue that was happening in the office.”
Ms. Cousineau’s solution was radical: “Our meetings with the entire team are now always done through the screen,” she says. “No one comes together in the conference room. This approach brings people together because they are all in the same situation.”
3. Set the rules of the game
Jeff Singman, vice president at Arkos Health, believes a successful hybrid approach starts with a good track record. Arkos relies on a mix of in-office and remote working. Jeff Singman estimates that 80% of IT work is done from home. According to him, the ability to work from home is an asset when it comes to attracting talent. Working from home also has other advantages: it is more efficient.
“Productivity is higher,” he explains. “But when you have a remote workforce, you need to establish rules of conduct.
Mr. Singman sets the example of responsiveness and clarity in emails. Meeting guidelines are also important. “You shouldn’t invite everyone you can think of,” he explains. “Instead, we record meetings and participants can view them at a time that suits them best and continue to be productive.
4. Develop an integrated strategy
Adobe CIO Cynthia Stoddard wants to make sure her company doesn’t lose what it gained during the pandemic-enforced remote working period.
It highlights the ease with which people use video conferencing tools and their ability to use these technologies to support more flexible working practices. One of the main elements of support is now the employee experience group, which brings together the elements of a traditional IT organization – such as office support, collaboration tools or telephony – and ensures that everything new system meets the needs of professional users.
Since the pandemic, Adobe HR IT has been part of the employee experience group and Stoddard has worked to ensure there is a close relationship with the facilities function. The goal of this integrated approach is to ensure Adobe is thinking about all elements of its hybrid workplace strategy, including where people sit and how they interact when they are. in the office.
“Post-COVID, a lot of redevelopment work has been undertaken to accommodate people who come to the office half the time. How can we open offices and equip people with the right tools? We have also invested a lot in content and content taxonomy so people can find what they need to do their jobs, which is a problem in many companies.”
Source: “ZDNet.com”