The traditional work model with lots of in-person interaction, physical paperwork, and in-office presence has gone through a significant evolution. Thanks to various digital remote work tools, we can now collaborate from anywhere in the world, access and analyze data in real time, and are no longer bound to office desks. They have made work more flexible, which is why remote and hybrid work models are gaining momentum and gradually replacing on-site work models. The recent research conducted by Gallup confirms this fact and shows that 64% of people will look for remote work vacancies elsewhere if their current company does not offer the ability to work remotely some or all of the time long term.
But what does this trend mean for businesses? Should we all abandon offices and go fully remote? Not necessarily. You can implement a hybrid work model that allows you to make the most out of remote and in-office work and still meet your business needs and your employees’ preferences.
What is a hybrid work model?
A hybrid work model, which is also commonly referred to as hybrid-remote or part-remote, is a combination of remote and in-office work organization models. It appeals to people who want to spend a few days working remotely without long and stressful work commutes and visit the office the rest of the week to meet face-to-face with colleagues.
Today, hybrid schedules are becoming more common than remote ones. According to the EY Future Workplace Index, 99% of surveyed US C-level business leaders said that their staff is already required or encouraged to work 2-3 days per week in the office. Adopting this model gives workers an opportunity to enjoy the advantages of working from home and still stay connected with their team in person, since 49% of employees believe the office to be a more social space.
Types of hybrid work schedules
As each team has different needs and schedules, there’s no universal way to organize hybrid work. That’s why such arrangements vary greatly from company to company.
Common types of hybrid schedules include:Office-first hybrid format
This model presupposes that employees should work on-site the majority of the time and on some occasions they can work remotely. It is efficient if the position requires the physical presence of the team most of the time, but they can still work from home with independent tasks.
Remote-first hybrid format
The remote-first hybrid schedule is completely opposite to the office-first. For the most part, employees are expected to work remotely. But they need to occasionally meet with their team in person for team buildings, training, and collaboration.
Fixed hybrid format
The company leaders decide when, how much time and days, and even the percentage of employees that can work in the office and/or at home.
Fixed hybrid work can be organized in the following ways:
- 3 days in the office / 2 days remote;
- 2 days in the office / 3 days remote;
- Half day in the office / half day remote;
- Alternating weeks (one full week in the office / one full week remote);
- Rotational schedule (weekly or monthly rotation of different teams between the in-office and remote work).
Flexible Hybrid format
This approach offers employees the flexibility to choose both work days and location within the predefined limits. Either individually or by the whole team (for collaborative projects), employees choose which days they want to work from home and which days to come to the office. This model allows people to adapt their working schedules to their needs and preferences, but it only works for companies with high levels of trust and accountability for their employees.
Job-role-specific hybrid format
This hybrid schedule is hugely dependent on the position requirements. Some roles may require more face-to-face interactions, use of office equipment, or supervision. Obviously, these employees should be physically present on-site for more days, just as other positions that need limited collaboration may have the ability to spend more time working remotely.
Task-based hybrid format
Somewhat similar to the job-role-specific format, the task-based hybrid work requires employees to visit the office based on their tasks. If the task needs team collaboration and in-person presence to be completed, employees have to be on site. Meanwhile, individual tasks usually will be done remotely to optimize productivity.
Flexitime / Core office hours
Businesses set a specific number of hours when employees should be available for meetings regardless of their location. For example, if core hours are between 11 am and 3 pm, the rest of the working time is “flexi time” and staff can choose when to work provided that they achieve total daily, weekly, and monthly working hours. Compared to the standard 9 am to 5 pm working day, it allows both to simplify meeting planning and accommodate the working schedules to individual needs.
How to choose a hybrid work format?
Now that you know different types of hybrid work schedules, you are likely to wonder how to determine the one that will suit best for your business. Choosing a hybrid work schedule involves considering a few factors:
- Type of work. Start by assessing what types of tasks can benefit from in-office presence and what tasks can be handled remotely. For example, when your team does a lot of brainstorming, more on-site time may improve your work processes.
- Current workflow and communication. Analyze how work gets done in your company. If you’re working with tasks that need on-site equipment or quick decisions, it can be better to lean towards more office days. If the work is more independent, more remote days can be a good practice.
- Team preferences. All people have different preferences. Some find it easier to focus on tasks in the office, while others may be more productive at home without any drop in productivity.You need to gather feedback from your staff and be open to adjusting schedules to their needs.
- Technology. To remain efficient, hybrid work needs a strong tech infrastructure. You’ll need to implement tools for video conferencing, collaboration, and project management to keep everyone connected regardless of the place where they work. We’ll cover in detail how the technology can help with hybrid approach organization later in this article.
Benefits of the hybrid work
Mixed work formats are on the rise for a reason. If implemented correctly, they can have a positive impact on a business
Cost savings
Some hybrid work formats can help to save money both for employers and staff. In IWG’s View From the Top survey, 89% of CEOs said that hybrid models helped them to reduce operational costs for office space, utilities, and supplies. In fact, this work arrangement can save companies up to $11,000 per employee per year. From the staff’s perspective, the hybrid office model reduces commuting costs and contributes to their overall job satisfaction.
Improved employee retention
Recruiting, onboarding, and training a new hire after losing an employee takes a lot of time and costs. High turnover rates slow down workflows, lead to missed deadlines, and increase the workload on remaining employees. According to Stanford research, hybrid work can lower quit rates by 33%. In addition, offering hybrid schedules can help attract top talent who value flexibility since 64% of employees consider leaving a company if they had to return to work in the office full-time and one in four US employees would rather get a root canal treatment than spend 5 days a week in the office.
Higher employee satisfaction
The balanced nature of hybrid work contributes to employee satisfaction a lot. Workers can fit work around their personal lives. People feel more in control of their time because they don’t have to commute every day. Studies by Mortar Research show that 76% of hybrid workers are more motivated to complete their tasks, 85% of them are more satisfied with their jobs and in general more likely to recommend their company as a workplace to others.
Better staff productivity
Happy employees are usually more productive as well. Despite concerns about employees becoming unproductive when working at home, the hybrid approach actually proves to be the opposite: 74% of people believe that they can do more at home. Flexible working hours and change of environment increase staff’s concentration, allow them to plan their day more effectively, and balance workloads. For example, employees can complete individual tasks at home to stay more focused on their work and attend the office to communicate and brainstorm ideas for team projects.
Stronger mental health and employee well-being
Working full-time remotely or in the office means that employees must adapt to some environment and conditions regardless if they suit everyone’s working preferences or style. It can cause a lot of stress for people who will continuously try to adapt to their surroundings, which will further result in reduced productivity, job satisfaction, and burnout. In a hybrid work model, employees are not tied to one location, they can choose the workspace that best suits their needs for comfort and efficiency. Gallup’s study reveals that 62% of people prefer a hybrid approach for the freedom to work when and where they want and 58% experience less burnout and fatigue from such work process arrangements.
Best practices for developing a hybrid work strategy
A hybrid office model can improve your team’s productivity only if it’s well-organized. Otherwise, it will lead to challenges that drop performance. Here, we gathered several important steps to focus on to ensure that your team remains productive both at home and in the office.
Stay connected to your co-workers
The lack of communication is one of the main issues remote workers face. A mixed work format resolves this problem as employees get the chance to collaborate face-to-face in the office. But to remain efficient, it is important to establish clear communication channels when working remotely as well. CRM platforms can help you with that. Most solutions provide tools that allow team members to communicate without leaving the software, share updates, and schedule meetings and calls with other team members.
Create transparent guidelines
For a hybrid schedule to succeed, everyone needs to understand how it is organized. Creating guidelines and policies can set a clear start for adopting a hybrid strategy. Clear expectations on when and where work should be done, communication protocols, and team collaboration practices can help everyone stay connected and avoid misunderstandings. To achieve it, you can set up working time calendars in your CRM that will define the time slots during which your teams should be completing their tasks.
Use technology to support hybrid work
Hybrid work cannot function smoothly without the right tools in place. You need a solution that will keep your employees informed about all the updates and provide access to crucial data regardless of location. Although virtual meetings or email communication can be used to share information and ideas, they will be definitely insufficient for coordinating several projects. Tools like CRM software with project management features can store all project-related information in one place, track tasks, milestones and deadlines, and keep everyone informed about the project’s progress and responsibilities.
Set up analytics
Analytics can help you to measure whether the hybrid model remains effective and meets the needs of both your business and employees. If you’re using a CRM for hybrid work management, it is likely to already contain reporting tools and a lot of data that can be processed to objectively evaluate the impact of the hybrid schedule on your workflows.
With its help, you can track:
- Employee productivity: number of completed tasks, sent emails, calls, or closed deals;
- Employee engagement: participation in team buildings and virtual meetings;
- Collaboration effectiveness: frequency of team and employee interactions (calls, meetings, emails, etc.);
- Work-life balance: sick leaves, vacation time usage.
Ensure data security
Since employees work from different locations and use different devices, data security is a very important factor to consider during hybrid strategy implementation. To keep sensitive data private, you need to create data privacy policies that will be used by employees for handling customer data and using devices securely. Also, you can use your CRM to set up 2-factor authentication and Security Roles. It will help you to protect customer information from unauthorized access and grant your employee access only to the data and functionality that are relevant to their position.