Helping Firms Master Hybrid Work and the 4 Day Week

As offices in Australia begin to welcome staff back, many organisations are facing the challenge of adopting a new hybrid model of working, where workers split their time between home and the office.

Whilst there was originally trepidation amongst employers about remote work at the start of the pandemic, a recent PwC study found that 83% of employers now say remote work has been a success at their organization, and just one in five senior leaders expect to return to the physical workplace post-COVID, pointing to the widespread adoption of hybrid work models. The Chief Executive of Unilever, also recently said that his office workers will never return to their desks 5 days a week, in the latest indication that COVID-19 will total transform modern working life. 

For many managers, the current period could be the first time they have been expected to manage employees simultaneously working across two different modes like this, and major adjustments will no doubt need to be made, as managing a hybrid workforce requires very different management thinking, strategies and leadership skills, to the ones that worked before.  

To gain greater clarity on this subject, I decided to ask a number of global thought leaders from the flexible and remote work space to offer their thoughts and advice on this topic, by inviting them to answer the following question - “What one piece of advice would you give to somebody who is facing the challenge of managing a hybrid workforce for the first time?”

And here's what they said... 

Rowena Hennigan and Sandra Thompson, of RISE Emotional Intelligence

"One of the best ways to acknowledge this change and support workers individually is to provide clear statements on their current ‘hybrid’ status.  These statements are a set of words that describe how the individual works. It helps the people they work with to understand whether they are office based, home based, whether they are in the office on certain days, whether they work in co-located facilities and when they are available to respond. Once these individual worker statements are in place, they can also be used to advise remote work operational practices and norms. They can be added to Remote Team Communication Charters and team agreements. Also, they can be weaved into operations practically, to support improved communications." 

For example, if certain teams are in the physical office on particular days of the week, They could add a colour blocking or reminders on shared calendars to indicate "in the physical office", these can also be added to email response notifications, signature files etc. Visual fun can be had with this too - using emojis, symbols and gifs, and used in enterprise Instant Chat systems (such as Slack). 

Katy Fridman, Founder of Flexible Working People

"Managers should set clear expectations about good performance and be excessively clear about what is expected. What's critical is to give their employees the autonomy and ability to manage their own time, keep in regular personal touch and make sure that everyone on the team is heard and watching for signs that individuals might need feedback."

Bhagyashree Pancholy, Owner of All Remotely, has led hybrid and remote teams for 3 years, managing a team of 62 across 8 different time zones, and published India’s first remote work survey in 2018 

"I would say, manage the team as if it was an all remote team. And as a manager, to keep room for project and communication delays, as this happens a lot. Delays happen often, but will only reduce with time as the team evolves to adopt to the hybrid work, processes are refined, and communication is restored." 

Paul Holbrook, Creator of Diary Detox, and author of 'What are you doing? The uncomfortable truth about how you WASTE time at work.'  

"I think the one thing I would say is, 'Don't be fooled into thinking that the answer is to TRUST your people!'. Your role is not to trust them, it's to MANAGE them.   Be very clear about where it is that you want your people to go (what to achieve) and then monitor them as much as is required (and no more) to ensure they achieve it.  I am becoming more and more concerned by the advice managers are given when raising concerns about managing a remote workforce. All they seem to be hearing is, "You need to trust your people more." 

Sheila Nero of Nero Communications, Blogger, Speaker and Coach on Remote Work 

"I’d recommend that they see their team as a collection of individuals juggling different priorities. It’s a team, yes, but it’s a team whose portrait is a mosaic. Working at home some days will mean personal aspects emerge. While fairness, policies, and equity are important, discussions will vary when managing, for example, the parents of young children who want more flexible hours and Gen Z workers who may prefer their days in the office because they’re living with their parents. There can be no one-size-fits-all exactly, because personal situations differ, but there can be consistent expectations for all." 

Kate Lister,  President at Global Workplace Analytics

"Learn how to manage by results, rather than butts in seats. Managers who are new to remote work or unfamiliar with managing by results tend to micromanage. It's not about when or how people work that matters, it's about performance."

It will be interesting to see how organisations adapt to this new way of working, particularly after all COVID restrictions have been eased, and companies have freedom to choose what arrangements work best for them again without current external factors to consider. I would like to say a huge 'thank you' to everyone who contributed to this latest WorkFLEX blog post, for sharing their expert insights, and offering some invaluable advice to those who are starting out with managing a hybrid workforce. 

Cheers, 

John Hopkins (Chief Flexibility Officer, WorkFLEX)

#hybridworking #hybridworkforce #flexibleworking #remoteworking #teleworking #workfromhome #WFH #leadership #management #productivity #futureofwork #WorkFLEX #asktheexperts