Hybrid Work – The Future of Remote Work

Time and money saved on commuting while dealing with the global COVID-19 pandemic can’t compensate for what’s lost in team collaboration, social interactions, and better work setup.

It’s without a doubt that remote work works and most people get used to the flexibility of working from home. However, a report by Boston Consulting Group showed that 76% of employees experienced working from home burnout, including depression, anxiety, loneliness, distractions at home, and inadequate informal contact with coworkers.

Hybrid working models that combine remote work with traditional office work, if done right, will allow organizations to attract talents and create values for their employees.

“We firmly believe that in-person, being-together, having a sense of community is super important, when you have to solve hard problems and create something new, so we don’t see that changing. But we do think we need to create more flexibility and more hybrid models,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO Google.

Time Flexibility

The hybrid working model monopolizes on an ongoing rotation of employees between remote and in-office work according to their tasks for the day. It uses a harmony between both flexible and remote working to create a workflow that is exponentially based on efficiency and convenience.

With the post-COVID economy left sparse and hurting, decentralized working will be crucial to rebuilding the workforce and leveling unemployment rates. For the employer, this leaves the potential for worldwide employee selection and access to global talents, while for workers, this provides a vast pool of potential job opportunities.

Because hybrid workplaces call for such a fluid integration of staff coming and going, organizations will need to focus on securing the advanced technological resources to support collaboration and communication across time and place.

Space Flexibility

As much as many employees enjoy working from their desks at home, the physical office will still have its place. The office is a dedicated work environment without any distractions that has a better work set up for employees in terms of ergonomics and collaboration.

To ensure the safety of staff members returning to the office during the COVID-19 pandemic, here is what organizations can consider.

1. Privacy and Focus

Small meeting rooms and specialized areas, like call booths, will need to be available for employees to make private, personal, or focused calls. Not everyone can work well in open offices with background noise, and the option of a phone booth caters to just that.

2. Spaces for collaboration and face-to-face interactions

Breakout spaces, café areas, and booth seating that ensure social distancing between people are a fun way to increase the creativity and livelihood of your workplace culture.

Use bright colors and unique pieces to make common areas inviting, and exciting to employees to use after being locked in the house for a long time. This is a great way to fully use your space, while encouraging employees to come in and try out different work areas in the office.

3. Traditional office with a twist

Systems like flex desking will be a great tool in managing workstations for employees who choose to come in. By booking desks the day before, employees can house workstations for the day that are complete with necessary technology like computer monitors, keyboards, and a mouse. Likewise, a system like reverse hotelling, where in-house employees offer their desks as bookable stations while on vacation, can also be a great opportunity to fully utilize your space. If you as a company can provide storage solutions and lockers, all your employees will need is their laptop, making the process of fluid movement between home and the office easy.

Hybrid Working is a modern-day solution to combating underused spaces in your office. The intention of this model is to realize convenience and space occupancy in a way that works together to skyrocket productivity.

For a complimentary assessment of your space and opportunities to transition your office into a hybrid workplace, give us a call at 888-230-2280 to book a consultation with our specialists.