3 Hybrid Working Best Practices Managers Need to Adopt

The massive remote working experiment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic allowed both managers and workers to see firsthand that working from home (or anywhere for that matter) did not disrupt workplace productivity. In fact, one study found that, on average, remote workers are idle for just 27 minutes a day — 10 minutes less than office workers.

While the threat of COVID-19 continues to loom over the workplace, organizations worldwide have begun a return to the office. To appease employees who now prefer remote working, many managers have transitioned to hybrid work setups — a location-flexible arrangement where workers split their time between the office and remote work. This is a setup preferred by four in every five workers, according to a Rada Business survey.

There’s more to hybrid working than meets the eye

If you're planning a return to the office and want to transition to a hybrid working arrangement, you should consider a few things to get your setup right. As with any major workplace adjustment, adopting hybrid work requires overcoming a learning curve for managers and employees alike.

Here are a few best practices to consider to ensure a smooth transition to hybrid working.

1. Consider what hybrid model to use

That’s right — there are different ways to implement hybrid working. Take a moment to decide what hybrid work model works best for your team:

• Office-centric hybrid model: This setup means workers spend most of their time in the office but have one or two days of remote work and/or flexibility in setting their hours.
• Fully-flexible hybrid model: This model allows employees maximum flexibility over when to come to the office and when to work remotely. However, the potential drawback of this arrangement is the lack of predictability, which makes it challenging to coordinate when workers should be in the office.
• Remote-friendly hybrid model: This arrangement involves placing various controls around hybrid working. For example, it can mean that only certain employees (e.g. regular employees) can work remotely or that certain days, like Mondays and Fridays, are in-office days.
• Hybrid remote-office model: In this model, workers get to choose from a list of predetermined flexible working options. This could mean anything from working in the office on Wednesdays and Friday to working fully in-office during the first and third weeks of the month. These options make it easier to predict workplace capacity and schedule catch-ups and meetings.

2. Provide sufficient training

During the shift to remote work in the early days of the pandemic, 40% of managers reported low levels of self-confidence over their ability to successfully lead remote teams. This is hardly surprising: many managers and their teams had zero experience with remote working.

Image Source: Harvard Business Review

Today, managers and workers are in a much better position to be methodical in their approach to hybrid work. Companies should take this as an opportunity to invest in proper training to ensure that workers know how to operate in their new hybrid environment, what tools are at their disposal and what guidelines they’re required to follow.

This brings us to our next point.

3. Establish a clear hybrid working policy

A hybrid-working policy is a document outlining your organization’s approach to hybrid working and typically includes guidelines for where, when, and how employees can work as they alternate between in-office and remote work.

Think of it as a handbook that helps set expectations and mitigate potential issues affecting your hybrid workforce. While every policy is unique to its organization, we recommend you cover the following areas in your document:

• Standard operating procedures
• Legal implications of hybrid working
• Communication guidelines
• Training and development
• Technology and equipment
• Employee wellbeing
• Performance management
• Inclusion and equality
• Employee lifecycle

Organizations should take their time and establish performance metrics, workflows, communication guidelines and reporting guidelines — helping team members maximize their productivity in a hybrid setting.