The world of work has evolved incredibly quickly over the past two years. Among the key changes that many business owners have noticed is the increased focus on remote working. Remote working was essential during the pandemic, when non-essential businesses had to close their workplaces, and essential ones had to reduce staff contact where possible.
As the world reopens and the threat of the virus recedes due to the vaccine rollout, many businesses are continuing to embrace remote work. However, some still require or prefer for staff to work from the office, which has led to the rise in ‘hybrid working’. Hybrid working is an approach that involves staff working remotely for part of the working week but coming into the office for part of the time. Many major corporations are embracing hybrid working, so it’s clear that this approach to work is here to stay.
For many businesses, hybrid working can offer many benefits, including reducing the costs of running an office, improving internal cultures, and more. That being said, changing your business model from office-based to hybrid working might take time and effort. If you do it wrong, then you could make costly mistakes. Also, the hybrid model might not be the best solution for some businesses, particularly those who welcome customers into their workplaces.
However, for many organizations, particularly those that don’t interact with clients face-to-face, hybrid working is an innovative approach to traditional workforce management practices. It’s hard to know where to begin and what you need to know, which is why we’ve put together this article. This handy guide for business leaders discusses the factors that you need to think about when adapting your workplace to the hybrid working trend.
The Cost Of Adapting Your Office
As your in-office workforce will shrink now that your business is operating on a hybrid working basis, you need to consider reducing the size of your workspace and optimizing it for productive work for those who do come in. Your new, smaller office will save you money in the long run, but there might be an initial cost, as you’ll have to get out of your existing lease and then find a smaller space. You’ll also have to re-design your workplace, so that small breakout groups can conduct meetings and so that staff can easily find a place to work. If you want to know the cost of an office re-design, then industry experts Amos Beech have a useful calculator that can help.
How To Schedule Meetings And In-Office Work?
Once you have your office space established and know how much space you have, you need to think about how you’re going to schedule your meetings and arrange for staff to communicate when they can come into the office. Consider using a virtual schedule or calendar tool to ensure that everyone knows where they are supposed to be and when. If you have a large workforce, then this can be particularly useful, as it will mean that your team will be organized and you can provide updated information in real-time. It will also mean that there will always be space in your office for everyone who needs it. If employees don’t tell you if they are coming into the office, then it could become overcrowded and unproductive. So, you need to make sure that you figure out an effective way to schedule in-office meetings and know where everyone will be working throughout the week.
The Best Secure Digital Technology To Invest In
Creating a hybrid workspace might mean that you have to upgrade your business technology and start exploring digital collaboration tools. That’s because the remote staff has different needs to team members who are working in your offices. Also, if staff need to travel to and from the office and hot desk, then laptop computers might be more efficient than desktop monitors. As such, you need to make sure that you have the hardware your team needs. Additionally, you also need to think about cyber security. Remote workers face unique digital safety issues, particularly if they work on unsecured public networks, such as those offered for free in internet cafes and pubs. Therefore, it might be useful to consider investing in high-quality anti-virus solutions and creating a company IT policy. This approach will ensure that your team remains safe wherever they’re working.
How To Manage Your Hybrid Team?
Dealing with a hybrid team is different from supporting a group of in-house employees. When you’re dealing with remote team members, you need to make sure that they still get the support and personal development assistance that they need to flourish in their roles. As such, you need to make sure that you learn how to manage a remote team and offer them the support they need when they need it. Consider hosting virtual meetings, as well as scheduling in-office catch-ups so that everyone has the opportunity to collaborate. Also, it would help if you offered your team more one-on-one support so that each team member feels like they have access to the help they need. This approach will also ensure that remote team members who work from home most of the time have the opportunity to speak directly to their supervisor when required, even when they’re not in the office.
Conclusion
Overall, hybrid working is clearly a workplace trend that is here to stay. It offers many benefits for both employers and employees, but only if you do it right. Business leaders need to be proactive and work hard to create a flexible hybrid working system and a workspace where teams can operate productively. This new approach is a significant change for many managers and team members, so you need to have clear processes set up from the beginning. It might take time and some experiments to get things right, but the effort will be worth it when your team is able to function effectively while working from home and in the office. Use these tips to start your journey towards a successful hybrid workplace.