Hybrid Workplace Arrangement: What It Is, The Good and the Ugly

The government might have lifted the 30% employee workplace quota, but it does not mean that your employees can no longer work from home. Some employees would prefer to work from home full-time, even after the pandemic subsides. But it would be hard for companies to run things without anyone staffing the office. 

The good thing is companies can introduce a workplace arrangement that satisfies everyone's needs. It's called the Hybrid Workplace Model.

Hybrid Workplace Arrangement?

The hybrid workplace model connects office and virtual work into one. 

This arrangement allows companies to have team members working from home, office or even both! Your team can also include employees working from a co-working space.

If necessary, you can have some employees work from home for a few days every week and report to the office just once a week. 

Employees get to have a set time to work with their team while also having the chance to be productive when working alone. 

There are many variations of hybrid workplace arrangement. Some companies allow everyone to work in the office and remotely part of the week. Others allow employees to work remotely or on-site full-time. Some companies combine both.

The pros of a Hybrid Workplace Arrangement

Some companies love this model because of its many benefits. Here are some of them:

1. It saves the company money

Usually, a company would have to spend a lot of money to rent and maintain the office. However, your company can reduce spending on rent or office supplies when fewer employees come to the office. 

Your organisation can also save money spent on electricity by letting employees work together in a room, rather than the whole office space. 

2. Employees can collaborate from anywhere

Teams can collaborate and make crucial decisions face-to-face via the traditional on-site working system. However, a hybrid workplace arrangement allows our team members to make plans or brainstorm ideas through a video call. 

This model allows our team members to collaborate and make critical decisions from anywhere in the world. 

3. A sustainable workplace arrangement

This model is one of the most effective and safest workplace arrangements during a pandemic. 

The traditional office arrangement makes it hard for your employees to follow social distancing and put them at the risk of being infected. 

The remote work arrangement makes it difficult for team members to collaborate because of communication barriers. 

The hybrid workplace arrangement combines the best of both worlds, and it is also crisis resilient. Your distributed workforce is less prone to be infected, and your team can meet at the office only when they need to discuss crucial situations. 

4. Higher productivity

The hybrid model allows your employees to work however they choose. Employees have to work from the confines of the office in the on-site work model, and a fully remote team may not be able to perform to its full potential because of the lack of strong bonds between the employees. 

Meanwhile, a hybrid workplace arrangement allows your team members to work from the comforts of their home and communicate with their team occasionally to build strong relationships. 

The hybrid workplace arrangement allows members to work at both the office and home. 

The cons of a Hybrid Workplace Arrangement

No model is truly perfect. Here are some reasons why:

1. Power disparity

Your on-site team members spend more time in the office and have better access to information. They may also have a great relationship with the team leaders who regularly come to the office. 

On the contrary, remote employees may not receive frequent work updates. It may demotivate and make them feel less involved. 

However, we can prevent this by updating our remote team members through messages or video calls. We can also assign an office employee to update the remote employees with the newest work policies, guidelines and news. 

2. Team members become more isolated

A hybrid workplace arrangement only allows the remote member to engage in conversations with a limited number of colleagues. 

Over time, they may feel isolated and detached from the rest of the squad. This situation may negatively impact employee engagement, and they become less inclined to work. 

We can solve this problem via regular video meetings, and it will help your employees establish a trustworthy relationship.

3. Worse customer experience

A company needs to ensure clients are satisfied with their work so they will return for the company's services in the future. We can provide a great client experience by prioritising their needs and solving their issues immediately. 

However, these strategies are manageable only if your employees work in the office as it's easy to meet customers and talk about their needs. A hybrid workplace arrangement makes it hard for your employees to keep up with the on-demand face-to-face client meetings. 

Yes, video conferencing can help conduct meetings, but it lacks the human touch. Also, poor internet connection or software issues can negatively affect the client experience. 

In the next article, we will explain how to implement a hybrid workplace arrangement in your organisation. Stay tuned!

Source: Time Doctor

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