How to transform an organization into a hybrid company
In light of the current pandemic, business leaders must be prepared to make significant changes. Many experts hold the view that we are in an entirely new economic paradigm. Even so, with pandemic easing, many organizations are still delving into a unique organizational blend between remote and on-site working. This piece will deal with the question, How to transform an organization into a hybrid company?
Based on 2,500 employed U.S. residents, a Stanford University study showed almost 60% respondents preferring some blend of remote work and on-site. A hybrid virtual organizational model is the future of work. The new hybrid model promises increased productivity for individuals, greater access to talent, small teams, improved employee experiences, lower costs, and more individual flexibility.
To be on the receiving end of all the financial benefits, you must stay vigilant and pursue a hybrid working model that best fits your corporate culture. Depending on your situation, you may choose a fully virtual model or an entirely on-premises model. The blog below will explain some key factors that can make it or break it for your organization’s future as a hybrid company.
Factors to Consider While transforming into a Hybrid Company
Effective Hybrid Work Schedule
The future is unpredictable is the only certainty right now! Setting clear priorities so that everyone on your team knows what’s most important is the best way to prepare.
Having an effective work schedule for your hybrid workplace is key to high productivity. You can create a schedule that divides your organization by letter group and department. For example, an employee is assigned to their letter group (i.e. Group B) and a department (i.e., Sales). Using combinations of the letter groups and department, you can create a rotating hybrid work schedule. Team members can get BOTH 50% work-from-home (WFH) flexibility and face time. To give a better explanation, your in-office schedule for a week can look like as listed below:
- Monday: Groups A and B
- Tuesday: Depts. Sales and Customer
- Wednesday: Groups C and D
- Thursday: Depts. Sales and All Other
- Friday: Group A (one group only)
Following the rotational hybrid work schedule, your company will benefit from a smaller real estate footprint and a collaborative and happier workforce.
Effective Hybrid Employee engagement
Employee productivity and loyalty depend on people being treated equitably. That’s why it’s essential to design structures and activities to engage employees who work in an all-remote or hybrid world. The proper focus will ensure that employees don’t feel underutilized or overutilized.
Research at Dale Carnegie has shown that teams who share positive emotions are stronger and more resilient. Specific emotions and feelings were identified as promoting engagement and resilience, including connection, value, and empowerment. These shared emotions have been observed to occur much more naturally when teams are working together in person.
To foster this shared environment in a hybrid workplace, leadership must create opportunities for teams to build up interpersonal skills and share experiences, especially those that evoke positive emotions. In addition to the team-building activities discussed earlier, this can also be accomplished during regular all-company meetings or smaller breakout sessions between teams.
Effective Collaboration in a hybrid team/organization
It’s essential to keep a hold on effective collaboration tactics. Focusing on how employees will plan and structure their work hours will be a good start. People out of the office may want the freedom to rework their hours, flexibility, and the people in the office may also wish to more structure. Sometimes it will be necessary for you to create well-thought-out compromises. Your objective as a mixed group should be to enforce and build a new culture by figuring out what makes for the best way to work in the unpredictable future environment.
Here are some practices you can use to manage and collaborate with your employees:
- Use collaboration software and train employees to work better in team settings.
- Make an effort to make clear and actionable clarifications on group video conferences.
- For a Slack message or email, outline an appropriate response time.
- Sync your employee’s availability status with your company’s scheduling calendar if possible. Train your employees on managing an effective availability status (working, at lunch, in a meeting, on vacation).
- Set up a time for an IT rep to help speed up the internet for those with slow internet. To accommodate differences in internet quality, you may have to stagger schedules.
Focus on the Well-being of Employees
In light of COVID-19, employee’s well-being has taken on a new level of significance. Managers make themselves available for employees to come to them with any concerns and schedule more frequent check-ins. It occurs due to their inability to monitor team members in person.
Based on individual fears, drivers, and requirements, Wellness training program can help business leaders deliver comprehensive support. They need insights into recognizing signs of poor mental health, encouraging positive practices, and offering guidance. For the elimination of the stigma surrounding this topic, organization-wide mental health training is also critical. If they are struggling, businesses may consider assigning mentors to give employees an additional point of contact during flux work routines.
Many companies have introduced new self-care practices during lockdowns, such as mindfulness training and regular yoga sessions. You should also follow these initiatives where possible, perhaps streaming them for remote employees and carrying them out in person. To maintain a healthier, happier, and more productive workforce, business needs to incorporate these exercises into daily practice.
Conclusion
We’ll close by saying you don’t have to make all the decisions in advance and upfront. If you approach a hybrid virtual model in the right way, it will help you lower costs. It will also make your organization’s performance culture even better than before while making the most talent wherever it resides.