After more than two years of Corona, it is impossible to imagine our society without hybrid work. How do you set it up so that it works for everyone?

That is not as simple as you would hope, no human being and no organisation is the same, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

‍

Working from home offers many advantages. Less travel time, better focus, flexible schedule with a good work-life balance and for employers possible savings.

There are also disadvantages to working from home such as a feeling of loneliness, it is more difficult to really close the working day, it demands more from the managers and there is less attention to the relationship between team members which can lead to quicker irritations.

‍

So how do you design hybrid work so that you can take advantage of the benefits, minimise the drawbacks and make it work for everyone?

‍

Read here the seven factors that determine whether you, as a hybrid organisation, will outperform your old organisation.

‍

1.As a leadership team, make a conscious decision on how to deal with hybrid work.

Very few people want to go back 100% to the office, but hybrid meetings where half is at home and the other half is in the office, do not work in our eyes.

• Start by spreading the question widely in your team, map out personal preferences and look for the red line.
• As a leadership team, think about what you think is important. When do you want people to be in the office, how often and what does it look like when they are in the office? What fits well with your culture and way of working.
• And like you, people like their freedom to make their own decisions, so give your team members as much autonomy as possible and provide clear frameworks.

‍

2. Make clear agreements with your team about hybrid working

You will not succeed in meeting all individual needs, the most important thing is that you, as a leadership team, make a decision and explain why you have made certain choices. Lay down these agreements and keep it simple, don't write a whole policy but a number of rules, the 10 commandments, about how we work with each other hybrid.

Always keep in mind the individual need, we cannot always capture everything in a few rules when it comes to people.

‍

3. Ensure commitment through appreciation

Did you know that the deepest human emotional need is the need to be appreciated? (William James - founder of European psychology in America 1842-1910) Receiving a compliment activates the same reward areas in the brain as when we receive a financial reward. And we perform and learn better when we receive compliments.

‍

For you as a leader, our most important advice is to keep expressing your appreciation. Especially if you see someone less often, make sure you have regular (online) contact so you know how your people are doing and your team stays informed of what is going on and how they contribute to it.

‍

At VIE People we introduced the Thumbs-Up-Channel a few years ago. Team members compliment each other because they have helped with a challenging task, solved something for the other or just had a good conversation with each other. Our customers have also started doing this.

For one of them, after the introduction of a Thumbs-Up-Channel, the metric 'Recognition' (the appreciation experienced) increased from a 6.4 to an 8.3!

‍

4. The office of today

After two years, many people have set up a home office.

Use the office to connect with each other, to spar about (new) goals and projects. And also use it for growth and development, discussions about this and learning from and inspiring each other. In times of labour shortage, it is more important than ever to pay attention to this.  

‍

5. Nature of work

Individual work, routine work and focus on a project work best from home. It works faster if you can do this work without being disturbed.

Working in the office is crucial for engaging with the organisation and maintaining a good relationship with your colleagues. Collaboration requires personal interaction, so this is best done from the office. Brainstorming about long-term strategies or innovation, or the induction of a new colleague are best done face to face at the office.

‍

6. Good home office or not

Whether someone can concentrate at home depends on the home situation. Is there a good home office where you can really isolate yourself or are you sitting at the kitchen table with small children demanding your attention?

‍

7. Everyone is different

It is no surprise to you that there is no 'one size fits all' hybrid working mode. Work and private life intermingle more than ever.

It appears that the desire to work or not to work from home is also related to life phases. In general, young employees have a greater need for social contact and personal interaction in order to learn and develop. Employees with a family find working from home more pleasant, so that you can help your child to the sports club in between jobs.

Research by Tilburg University shows that extraverted people perform less and experience less well-being when working at home, due to the lack of social interaction.

It is notable that even conscientious employees were less satisfied and performed less well, probably due to the lack of structure caused by the pandemic.

‍

This finding ties in well with the research by Katlijn Haesebrouck, who was a guest on the work professor podcast, and who found that people who are honest prefer to work in the office while people who are not always honest by nature prefer to work at home.

‍

When setting up hybrid working in your organisation, keep the above points in mind. In this way, you will ensure that you can continue to make a real impact together and create an environment where people inspire each other. Where continuous development, excellence and fun naturally lead to innovation and success in a hybrid form.

‍