Introduction

To master anything requires practice. Whether you want to excel at a sport, become a better manager, or perfect an art form, there’s almost always a learning curve. The same is true for adopting a hybrid work model. This flexible model of work has many benefits—improved employee productivity, real estate cost savings, and workplace satisfaction to name a few. 

But if you’re not careful, like any major organizational change, adopting hybrid work can lead to a decline in workplace experience, retention, and productivity. To reap the benefits of this flexible model of work, you need to make the workplace a space employees want to spend their time. 

In this blog post, we’ll go over 3 hybrid work best practices you should follow to help your company and its employees get the most out of this model of work.

#1. Gather employee feedback on a regular basis 

Listening to your employees is critical to making hybrid work a success. Be sure to keep an open line of communication with your people as you’re thinking through changes to the workplace that may impact them. Ideally, the changes you make will be a win for your organization and its employees. 

For example, when developing workplace schedules, you should be sure to get your employees’ points of view. One of the biggest benefits of adopting a hybrid work model from their perspective is having more flexibility in how and where they work. However, if their schedules don’t suit their needs then what could have been a benefit may instead be a drawback. 

#2. Communicate with your people 

To succeed with a hybrid work model, communication is key. Yet, most companies don’t have a long-term internal communications strategy. This could be why many companies found it difficult to switch from a traditional work model to remote work during the pandemic.

Adopting a hybrid work model will no doubt require decision-making that will impact some or all of your workforce. As a workplace leader, it’s your job to ensure your people know what’s going on with the workplace in the midst of broader organizational changes. It’s important that you know who is impacted by these decisions, as well as how and when you’ll communicate changes to employees. 

#3. Work with HR and IT to ensure workplace tech is seamless 

Your company’s tech stack is crucial to providing employees a seamless workplace experience in a hybrid work model. To ensure you’re making the right investments, collaborate closely with your company’s HR and IT teams. HR should have insight into the kinds of tools that employees need to be productive while on-site. 

IT will make sure people’s infrastructures can support the networking connections necessary for hybrid work. They’ll also help your company right-size its investments so you don’t accumulate tech debt as you finesse your hybrid workplace tech stack.