Since the Coronavirus pandemic, new work arrangements like the hybrid work model have become increasingly popular. It ushered in increased productivity and flexibility – a win-win for both employers and employees. As a result, most companies, including giant enterprises like Microsoft, continue with these flexible work models. If you’re looking to implement a hybrid work model and want to know if the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, you’ve come to the right place.
The leap to remote work happened nearly overnight with the pandemic, and it’s clear that hybrid work and digital dexterity is the way of the future. As a result of this shift in the way we work, companies have invested in new technologies to adapt to the growing remote world, with 69% of companies planning to increase their investment in digital tools even more in 2022. Additionally, over 90% of businesses strive to implement hybrid work environments.
Hybrid work is an ecosystem where employees can work from their home office, in a physical office, and in coworking workspaces. It’s a work model that follows a people-first approach to managing the workforce. Hybrid work is said to increase employee productivity while addressing the challenges of remote work like isolation and lack of community. However, hybrid work can take many forms and needs to be optimized to achieve maximum productivity.
The Covid-19 pandemic saw employees enjoy the flexibility of remote work, with many reluctant to return to full-time on-site work modes. However, not all work can be done remotely. Fortunately, you can have the best of both with hybrid work schedules! A hybrid work schedule combines on-site and remote work modes. It lowers infrastructural costs, reduces absenteeism, and increases employee engagement — ultimately boosting your company’s productivity.
Hybrid collaboration is complex. It’s not just about “in the office” or “not in the office” — it’s also about leadership, connection, creativity, and the technology that enables your teams to adapt. Over 77% of companies have adopted a hybrid work model, but how can executive leadership optimize it for their teams? Here’s some of the lessons we’ve learned to help leaders cultivate hybrid collaboration.
To meet the challenges of the future, businesses have to stay agile. Perhaps it’s unsurprising, then, that in 2020—one of the most challenging years on record—businesses with agile practices outperformed non-agile teams on almost every dimension that matters. Agile organizations saw greater customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and operational performance than their competitors.
As we shift into a new world of hybrid work another glaring trend is emerging: the workforce is more divided than ever. Today, people work in silos, ideas get lost in separate tools, and isolated teams lead to disengagement, work waste, and slowed progress. Among employees who self-identify as disengaged, 75% are actively looking for new work. The reality is, we have a digital economy, which requires a new way of working that is digital first, multi-team and multi-location.
Asynchronous work has become increasingly popular recently, as it offers several benefits for employees and employers. For employees, asynchronous work improves work/life balance and allows greater flexibility in when and where work is performed. For employers, asynchronous work can help to reduce costs and increase productivity. As a result, many businesses are now offering hybrid working arrangements, allowing employees to work remotely and in the office.
