The hybrid work model is now ubiquitous and has significant momentum. It is a model that blends new work styles that enable employees to work from different locations dynamically: home, office, or on the go. It encourages autonomy and flexibility, but keeping it on track puts a significant burden on effective and results-oriented communications. Hybrid models also leverage many traditional and new communication channels. Linking these channels and all their communications is challenging and necessary to deliver the demanded higher performance with great flexibility. Hybrid work models and results-oriented communications go hand in hand. Still, few organizations have a handle on linking results to communications that are the lifeblood of the hybrid work model. Click here for more on results-oriented communications.

Benefits of the Hybrid Work Model

The benefits of the hybrid work model for the Covid era were plentiful because safety was the number one issue for all involved. Analyzing the benefits now that we are down the road a bit yields a clear picture. There are reduced overhead costs exemplified by lowered rent, utilities, office supplies, and such. There is often boosted productivity as office chit-chat is diminished and people are no longer interrupted in a face-to-face fashion. There is also a great reduction in micro-management, which is the bane of real productivity. The commuting is often significantly reduced, and employee well-being is increased because they control their work schedule. Team building occurs quite naturally, enabled by better collaboration tools. The benefits are substantial for both the organization and employees; however, it is not all hearts and flowers. Some challenges start to emerge.

Challenges of the Hybrid Work Model

Both the organization and the employees must up their planning game. Meeting types have to be matched with the kind of support that is needed. Each participant will have to be considered for remote vs. live. Better resource scheduling by skill type will have to be considered. The level of dress and formality will need to be considered as well. After the meetings, the archiving of issues and solutions linked to actions will need to be recorded and shared. This will also need a plan. Rethinking the workplace is also necessary. What kind of work can be done remotely and what should be done in the office is an issue that third-party office spaces can temper. Management visibility becomes a balancing act. It would be easy to err in the direction of invasive surveillance, so watching deliverables is a better practice. On the other hand, remote workers can easily fall into the trap of thinking they are second-class workers, and fair pay emerges as some locations require more pay than cheaper locations.

Net; Net

Hybrid work models need speedy and innovative solutions that drive organizations towards results-oriented communication infrastructures and tools. Deliverables become the focus of optimizing hybrid work results. These deliverables need to be tied to stakeholder outcomes, requiring technologies that can archive team results and link them to desired outcomes in a shared way. There will be a targeted application of new kinds of collaboration tools that don't just support low-level random communications but link everything to results and outcomes. Hybrid models are here to stay even if Covid dissipates and we no longer have to deal with threatening scenarios. Hybrid models also optimize on opportunities while linking strategy to operations as they both evolve and optimize.

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