Issues When Deploying A Hybrid Work Model

14 Jul 2023

As COVID-19 winded down, many organizations have decided to employ a hybrid approach to remote work, where workers work from home a couple days a week, with the option of visiting the office 1-2 days per week for collaborative activities, team bonding, and meetings. In fact, this type of labor could become the "new normal."

This appears to make a lot of sense. You will have to cope with some hidden intricacy that you may be underestimating right now. As someone who has worked remotely since 2013, for a few hybrid and fully-remote organizations ranging in size from a four-person startup to a globally scattered organization with over 200 people, the concept of a hybrid work environment is not new to me. I've been living it every day for nearly a decade. Many of our Friday customers are also partially or totally distributed, so we've spent a lot of time learning from their experiences and pain concerns over the years.

In this section, I'll go over the advantages and disadvantages of hybrid work. Many forward-thinking organizations were already offering this employment style before the epidemic began, so we don't need to remake the wheel.

1. The gravitational pull to hybrid

The reasoning behind a hybrid work environment is simple. Working from home has advantages, such as the ability to focus and conduct deep work without distractions. Working from an office has advantages, such as watercooler conversations and the option to have lunch with coworkers on the spur of the moment.

Figure 1. Working from home

Some members of your team choose to work from home a few days a week, while others prefer to work from the office every day. Another group would like to leave the office and live a thousand miles away from the headquarters.

What do you do as a company? Different people have different tastes. You may alienate a segment of your firm if you are excessively opinionated, which may result in employee turnover. If you don't have an opinion, you may unintentionally cause turmoil.

2. Issues with hybrid work model

If you decide to pursue a hybrid approach, there are a few potential difficulties to be aware of.

a) You need to be intentional about sharing information

As you meet and collaborate in the real world, you will accumulate institutional knowledge within your team, which will not magically spread to the rest of the organization unless you frequently document the highlights of your conversations and share them with others asynchronously.

This may appear to you as additional labor. It is! Changing habits is difficult. This is why many remote-first businesses are opposed to hybrid work arrangements. Because you've established an unequal playing field, some people of your team will feel detached and out of the loop if you don't make it a habit.

Figure 2. Sharing information

b) Cliques will form if you aren't careful

Following that, in a hybrid work setting, certain coworker connections will deepen while others will not. If you only meet with immediate team members in person, you will naturally come to know them better than folks on other teams. This can lead to a "us vs. them" mindset. In psychology, this is referred to as the in-group vs. out-group.

While this relationship is inherent at work (because you will always spend more time with immediate team members than people in other departments), if you aren't intentional, you could unintentionally create a poisonous environment.

For example, at a previous employer, employees were granted flexibility in terms of when they could come into the workplace. One group would come every week for a couple of days. This team's relationships were reinforced at the expense of their coworkers. Others would arrive at the office but were not invited to lunch. In summary, this team pretended to be the only one in the workplace, which created tension.

c) You will still need to make difficult decisions

Finally, if you believe that a hybrid work environment is a way to avoid making difficult decisions for your organization, you will be disappointed. You will still need to develop high-level policies, coordinate desks, and do a variety of other tasks. In fact, you will need to do more coordination than if you choose to go completely remote or completely back to the office.

For example, at one company, every employee (even those in the office) was required to attend video chats on their own computer rather than using a common webcam in a conference room. This policy was implemented in an effort to include remote personnel. We should expect hybrid firms to need to develop their own operational processes in a similar manner, which will take time.

d) Relying on in-person discussion can become a crutch

Another disadvantage of working in a hybrid company is the propensity to postpone key topics until you meet in person. For example, when I was working at a company, we had an annual company onsite. Teams would establish placeholders for future discussion two months before the company onsite and say, "we should discuss this topic at the meet-up."

This was a completely ineffective strategy. Day-to-day operations came to a halt for at least a month, and while the company meeting was fantastic, punting decisions created a massive bottleneck.

The work-from-anywhere concept is all about allowing people to go at their own pace. If you need to meet in person to make a key decision, you are putting your firm at a disadvantage.

3. Get your hybrid workplace ready for tomorrow with RICOH Spaces

RICOH Spaces can address many issues, from supporting employees working collaboratively from the office or remotely. It allows you to adapt to changes in work practices by providing a consistent experience now and in the future.

With RICOH Spaces, you don't have to worry about losing connection between team members or the challenges of remote collaboration. It quickly supports flexible working through desk booking, meeting room management, workspace positioning, and overall workspace management within a single platform. This improves the remote working experience for employees, eliminating the struggle of connecting with colleagues in the office.

RICOH Spaces will be your future workspace, unlocking the information and capabilities needed to transform inefficient work methods, enhance collaboration, and reduce unnecessary costs – preparing your company for the way it operates in the future.

RICOH Spaces – Your Future Workplace

RICOH Spaces provides a centralized platform for organizations to oversee and manage their entire building portfolio.

Administrative roles can be assigned to local users for each location, enabling precise access control and efficient management on a larger scale.

Location-specific policies can be implemented, offering flexibility and adaptability to meet varying requirements.

As your business expands, RICOH Spaces allows you to scale your solutions accordingly, ensuring a cost-effective and flexible journey that aligns with your evolving needs.

Manage Your Organisation at Scale

a) Scalable On-Demand

Enhance your workspace with the assistance of our Workplace Service Team
Opt for a complete office renovation
Acquire new hardware and equipment
Invest in top-notch Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and Audio-Visual (AV) equipment
Adapt floor plans to accommodate varying workspace sizes
No restrictions on the number of employees
Enjoy a scalable solution that grows with your business