BC is back!
Attending concerts and sports events. Travelling around Canada, working-out inside, eating at restaurants, dancing at clubs, hanging out with friends, or hugging our granny.
Plus, going back to work, In-Person.
While the pandemic raged, businesses that could, adopted work-from-home strategies, finding them highly effective. Some discovered productivity improvements as well as workers adapting well to work from home regimens. Workers reported skipping long commutes, being more productive and remaining engaged and creative when working from home.
The BC re-start provides employers with the opportunity to offer workers hybrid work-from-home and work-in-person options. The combination allows workers to get the job done and balance work-life, while pursuing career goals and staying connected to the workplace.
However, combining work-from-home with in-person work, takes planning, fore- thought and adequate routines to be effective. The following six tips for workers and organizations are key to making hybrid work options successful:
- Do A Job/Task/Project Analysis
Planning is key. Examining jobs, tasks and project requirements to identify when work from home is best and when being on-site advances deliverables, takes time and it’s worth doing.
For example, an engineering firm determined in-person team meetings were best when kick-starting a project and work-from-home helped when team members needed focussed time to complete tasks associated with their area of expertise.
They observed building business relationships was better in-person, while nurturing established relationships from a home office made scheduling easier.
Taking time to determine what aspects of the work lend itself to an in-person modality and which tasks are best suited to a work-from-home approach, assists in making effective use of the hybrid option.
- Ongoing Career Advancement Conversations
A work-from-home only approach can have a chilling effect on career advancement and promotion. Out of sight, can literally mean out of mind when it comes to getting opportunities to move up.
To offset this, ongoing career advancement conversations can be scheduled between managers and employees to discuss the employee’s career goals and how they are being met.
For example, at a medium-sized financial organization, employers had career conversations once-per-year during goal setting meetings. They would then rely on “seeing” the worker in action on a day-to-day basis to ascertain progress. Promotion decisions would be made based on manager observations and general workflow.
However, in a successful hybrid environment, relying on face-time (seeing people at their stations or desks) won’t be helpful in promoting talent. Effective career advancement interactions need to be tied directly to the worker’s job, tasks, and projects on a regular and ongoing basis. Advancement conversations need to be scheduled by supervisors both in-person and during a work-from-home stint.
Workers can also take the initiative to schedule contacts with their supervisor. For workers, being willing and prepared to discuss your development regularly is important to getting ahead in a hybrid workplace.
- Social Contact
Isolation due to restrictions, lockdowns and stay-at-home orders took their toll at the height of the pandemic. Zoom fatigue, loneliness, feeling depressed and scared were symptoms of a lack of in-person social connection.
As workers return to the workplace, their community expands. In-person get-togethers at work to celebrate a success, recognize milestones or meet new recruits are key to psychological and organizational health. Planning in-person gatherings at work, retreats, conferences and time together will be important to recovering from the pandemic.
Hybrid models offer this opportunity. For example, combining coming to the worksite for these occasions and throwing a videoconference games night, demonstrate how socializing on-the-job can be flexible and meet a variety of needs.
- Regular Check-ins
A key take-away from the work-from-home experiment thrust upon the workforce during Covid, was the importance of regular check-ins with one’s supervisor. Managers who worked hard to stay connected with staff supported workers psychologically and in their positions.
Supervisors who took an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach, netted less engaged, more stressed and less-focussed staff. They could not rely on popping by worker cubicles to supervise or manage.
Scheduling regular check-ins help staff know they matter to their manager and what they are working on is key to organizational success. Refraining from relying on workers being at their desks to prompt supervisory interest or activity is important in a successful hybrid environment. Timetabling both in-person and work-from-home huddles, 1:1’s and coffee-chats with staff, is key.
- Plan to be Creative
It was feared creativity would suffer during Covid. Being unable to spontaneously come together to bounce ideas off one another was a chief concern in some workplaces. Staff and supervisors alike missed the energy experienced when everyone comes together.
One tech company put a premium on innovation. They discovered, during Covid restrictions, team videoconference meetings could still do the trick. Videoconference creativity took more planning and thought, but the results were excellent. Nevertheless, it was observed using a videoconference platform seemed to reduce the sense of energy experienced overall.
As a result, the company decided to plan creative in-person spaces to tap staff energy when restrictions lifted. They decided to ensure the entire team attended in-person when tapping staff energy and enthusiasm for creative purposes. They reserved creativity-by-video for times all team members were working from home. And, they decided not to combine videoconference or phone calls with in-person creative meetings, as it drained energy.
- Talk To Staff
Staff members have a key role to play in helping shape hybrid options. They assist in making the option chosen effective and provide valuable perspectives on staff and team needs. Tapping staff thinking by rolling out a draft hybrid plan for discussion, using a survey to obtain staff input or creating a working group to tackle hybrid issues engages staff in the options being considered.
We’re emerging from our bubbles and cocoons into workplaces significantly changed by the pandemic. Employers who embrace hybrid work options and manage the combined approach effectively will foster staff re-engagement with their work communities. The net effect being stronger staff and resilient organizations uniquely poised to recover.