The idea of working from home has really taken off, but like anything else in this world, it has its pros and cons. Especially from a business leader’s perspective. The idea means trusting your employees, which is easier said than done without keeping a physical eye on them.
There is a compromise, and it doesn’t involve a Big Brother-esque camera nearby, called Hybrid Working. It’s a combination of employees in the office and employees at home, whether both are permanent operations or people are coming and going as needed.
But how do you go about it? Read on for our tips on how to do hybrid working well.
Downsize your office space
The main perk of hybrid working is that you are likely to have far less people in the office at any point. That will mean that you will need far less space than you currently have. If you are looking out over the threshold to empty chairs at empty tables, you should think about downsizing your office space.
As much as it can be a hassle, you can find a smaller space, pay less rent, and accommodate fewer employees without lowering your workforce. Don’t worry about where everyone is going to sit if you decide to implement a hot desk policy. Everyone grabs a seat as they need it, and no one is set a particular desk. Simply find a desk and sit down. Tomorrow, someone else is sitting there and all the space will still be filled.
This can also be made easier by assigning days when people should or shouldn’t be in the office. So not everyone crowds in on Mondays and leaves an empty office on Friday, you can set up days with your employees on two or three days when you’d rather see them in the office.
Swap out your equipment
To make things a lot easier, it is probably necessary that you swap out at least some PCs for laptops. The portability of your tech is now pretty important if your employees are coming and going. It means they can sit down and set up without having to share PC’s or log into everything again.
Plus, at home, their own PCs and laptops won’t have the security you can download into work laptops, like encryption or VPNs to make using public wi-fi more secure.
If you have decided to downsize, a lot of office equipment can find a place in storage. Whether it’s desks and chairs or unused PCs you can rent a garage for extra storage space and fill it with office equipment, ready to pull out if you decide to expand again.
Walking meetings
As things stand right now, a lot of your employees, aside from the occasional digital nomad and traveling worker, will likely be from the same general area, which means there has been a rise in walking meetings.
Where practical, employees are conducting meetings while having a stroll around their local park, neighbourhood, etc. allowing them a chance to get out of the house and avoid any encroaching cabin fever, while still being productive.
It would be a good idea to suggest it where possible to keep morale high. Zoom meetings can be very to the point, and no one gets to chat about what they did at the weekend.
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