Setting up office – the hybrid model

In many instances, the ‘hybrid’ model has emerged as the most prevalent way of working, if your role has been traditionally office-based. This involves a merging of working from home and working in the office, with specific days allotted to both each week. It has been welcomed by many as allowing staff a much great degree of work-life balance, and the flexibility of the system can help things like commute times and fuel consumption. But it can also become a headache for managers, when they are left in the dark as to who is working where, and when.

A structured approach

Which days are worked in each location can be a flexible arrangement – with days decided on a week-on-week basis – or it can have more structure. The structured approach can be more important in larger firms, where organisation for access to the building and to desk space may require greater thought – especially if social distancing measures are needed occasionally, due to employee numbers. This can be especially true of health locations, such as GP’s surgeries or consultancies, where there is a degree of mixing between office-based staff and the general public.

Time and Space

The ‘new’ hybrid working method, which for some savvy workers has already been part of their work routine for many years, has impacted businesses in all kinds of ways. It’s made managers think about their office space, their best use of their resources and if indeed the same degree of office space is needed. Staff can be allotted certain days to be in the office, to log into a specialist computer system for example, that they cannot access at home, but these visits can be scheduled not to overlap with other staff. In this way, a more ‘hot desk’ approach may work best – with desk space used by many individuals, with no set ‘placements’. Of course, this will lead to an end of the personalised desk tradition, but will perhaps result in tidier offices.

Making connections

Working from home necessitates a much more coherent approach to technology across businesses too. With everyone familiar with online meeting tools and platforms, it’s easy to keep in touch with staff, whilst also allowing them the freedom to work at home, managing their own workloads, at their own pace. Of course, some general rules still apply – such as working hours and the times of day you’re getting you work done. There’s no point working until three in the morning if your job requires you to interact with other businesses in normal working hours on UK time.

Virtually working anywhere

Often the hybrid model has not only seen an increase in productivity, but also an unconscious increase in working hours. Closing the door to the office on a Friday for the weekend can be difficult, if the ‘office’ is also your kitchen or lounge. On the whole however, the hybrid model has been welcomed in most quarters and when it works, it works very well indeed. There needs to be a degree of trust and faith on both sides – both managers and employees – but as long as the safeguards are in place, the hybrid model is well and truly here to stay.

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