Is Hybrid Working The Answer For Your Business?

During lockdown, many businesses discovered that homeworking was good for both them and their employees. However, after a few months contemplating the practicalities of making this a permanent arrangement, most have now concluded that a mixture of remote and office-based working is the best solution ...

• collaboration - at this early stage, many people who have been working remotely know their team members well. However, for new employees, joining a remote team could be challenging.
• communication - mis-communication can happen easily enough in face-to-face encounters at work. When meetings and planning sessions take place remotely, or with some people on-site and others joining via videoconferencing, some new skills will be needed to keep everything running smoothly.
• physical workspace - surroundings might need to be redesigned to suit a hybrid working model, with fewer permanent desks, more collaboration spaces, and more sophisticated technology and security.
• contact - some rigorous HR practices will be needed to make sure that employees continue to feel part of a collaborative team and that any concerns or issues are properly addressed.

PROS:

• space requirements - with fewer people on-site at any one time, you could down-size and reduce your costs.
• flexibility - with a new flexible mindset and recognition of the importance of the home-work balance you could attract new talent, improve job satisfaction, and employee retention.
• productivity - when your employees have more autonomy their confidence to make decisions independently will increase and they will become more productive.