Hybrid Work Plans Failing? Engage Teams With These Steps

During a recent Hybrid Ways of Working session, someone mentioned a colleague in the leadership team of another business, had decided that everyone would return to the office two days a week, except the leadership team, who would be in three days a week. A blanket rule for their hybrid work plan.

Immediately, there were lots of nodding heads in the Board Room. Talk of "getting this implemented quickly", and that people would "have to make it work" in the hybrid workplace.

This team was making decisions that significantly impacted their workforce and were under the impression that because another company had done it, and probably many more, that this was the right course of action for their hybrid work model.

I get it. Bringing everyone back to the office has some benefits for employee engagement. But there are also some costs.

Challenging the Blanket Rule

As the facilitator in the room, the goal of the session was to help the team reach the best solution for their hybrid work plan. Sometimes, you have to assist a team by sharing ideas from outside the group to help their thinking. So we took the session in a new direction to help them disprove or validate the initial idea that blanket rules for flexible working arrangements are best (or not).

We focussed on answering the following questions:

• What is (actually) driving the need to bring people back to the office? Is it the commute, office space, or something else?
• Why does there need to be a blanket rule for everyone? Is it not possible to personalise flexible schedule arrangements?
• What might get in the way of making any hybrid work plan work?
• What would be another option based on this thinking?

A Full 180: Putting Employees at the Heart of the Plan

This team did a full 180. Filled with insights that they were putting themselves, not their employees first, they decided to create an Employee Hybrid Work Planning Group and come up with a new way of working, together. When I caught up with the CHRO last week, they were well on the way to implementing a plan which differed significantly from the initial conversation in that Board Room. They recognised that remote work and office-based work could coexist effectively.

Is your company coming up with a blanket solution because they want to allow their people to connect better? Or are they under the impression that the only way to achieve this is by having them back in the office?

This was where our team started.

The Real Issue: Trust

For me, the underlying cause of this whole line of thinking boils down to the need for trust. There are a few different perspectives that need addressing:

• Managers need to trust their employees working from home.
• Managers need to trust their own leadership skills in the new context of distributed team management.
• Employees need to trust each other and aren't clear on who is doing what and when, requiring better asynchronous communication.
• New employees need to develop trust with their organisations, managers and peers.
• Employees need to trust their managers to have their best interests front of mind, especially with work from home jobs becoming the norm.

Finding What Works for Your Team

Discuss options and make a plan with your teams. Uncover what works best for them and the business, and which enables even greater productivity. This might be an investment in technology, enhanced communications training, specific locations or times the team come together for certain tasks, or a raft of other ideas. Every business differs. Whether you are utilising Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Google Workspace, the right IT infrastructure and cybersecurity measures must support your hybrid work plan.

Never has the challenge for leaders been greater, but that doesn't mean we should resort to old-fashioned authoritarian strategies. Instead, leaders can level up and find new ways to lead which inspire their teams.

Building a Hybrid Model That Truly Supports Your People

Creating a successful hybrid work model requires more than just an HR policy. It demands a deep understanding of employee experience and a commitment to work-life balance. Conducting an employee engagement survey can reveal whether your team is seeking greater flexibility. The key is balancing collaboration and productivity, and ensuring that your hybrid work plan truly supports your team's needs.

The Hybrid Ways of Working session is one of the additional sessions we add to our core 3 module programme. If you want this session for your team, let me know and I'll reach out and we can see how our team can help you.