The world of work has permanently changed as the mass transition to remote work continues to settle. Research shows that 63% of high-growth revenue companies have embraced Anywhere Operations, allowing employees more flexibility to choose ranging options between working remotely or onsite. Furthermore, 83% of workers surveyed expressed preferences towards a hybrid work model where they can opt for remote work 25% of the time. With the right management strategies, it’s possible to reap the benefits of a hybrid workplace.
Anywhere Operations & Hybrid Work
Anywhere Operations is the new working norm, as your employees can be located anywhere and serve your clients everywhere. The hybrid work model combines in-office and remote work within each employee's schedule.
In a hybrid workplace, the staff can occasionally choose when to work from home and when to work in the office. The good news is that you can customize the hybrid work model to suit your company's and your team members' needs. However, you will need to implement strategies to make this model beneficial for all parties involved.
Top 5 Management Strategies for Hybrid Work
If you want to leverage the benefits of Anywhere Operations and a hybrid workplace, then you should have a good playbook of strategies:
1. Implement Anywhere Operations Policies
The first step to running a successful hybrid workplace is establishing the Anywhere Operations policies that support and govern your distributed workforce. At a minimum, you should have the following policies:
- An Acceptable Use Policy outlines the constraints and practices each employee must maintain while accessing and navigating your company’s network.
- A Hybrid Work Policy that establishes which team members can work remotely, how and when your staff works outside of the office, and critical KPIs.
- A Secure Communications Policy safeguards your company's network and data processing and internal and external information transfers.
- A Media Disposal Policy ensures that all your company’s data is securely erased from devices before their disposal.
- A Clean Desk Policy outlines how your employees should leave their workstations at the end of each business day.
Having the right policies in place will inform your company’s processes and procedures and provide the right setting for greater productivity.
2. Establish Time Tracking for Improved Productivity
Maintaining productivity outside of the office is essential. Time tracking tools work well for improved productivity as you track and report employees’ performance for evaluation. However, these tools also give your team a standardized way to report their hours and request paid time off and sick leave.
An enormous number of time-tracking tools are available on the market, so you can choose the best option for your organization. It’s best to opt for tools that allow secure, real-time tracking and generate intuitive reports so you can optimize your organization’s productivity and success.
3. Adopt Relevant Teleconferencing & Collaboration Tools
A hybrid work model means investing in the appropriate tools — which are often cloud-based. These tools help your team members access your communication channels from anywhere and collaborate within and across departments. You can choose Microsoft 365 and communication tools, such as Slack instead of email for quicker and more effective engagement.
These cloud-based software tools offer greater cybersecurity and reliable performance, helps you save on costs, and are flexible for your organization’s changing requirements. Ensuring that your staff has access to the best teleconferencing and collaboration tools will enhance productivity and the bottom line.
4. Schedule Regular Check-Ins with Direct Reports
It’s easy for team members to lose sight of your company’s strategic goals when working in a hybrid workplace. Therefore, we recommend that your managers schedule frequent check-ins with their direct reports.
The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) philosophy advocates for 5-5-5 meetings at least once per quarter.
The 5-5-5 is a space that helps managers be on the same page as their direct reports. The emphasis is on the key roles and responsibilities and the reporting personnel's concerns and suggestions about each role. These meetings also ensure employee engagement, which translates into a lower turnover rate and higher productivity, and greater profitability in the long run.
5. Prioritize Your Team’s Wellbeing
The health and welfare of your team matter, and it's essential to emphasize each member's holistic wellbeing. The pandemic didn’t only create new ways of working; your employees may also be facing health, social, personal, and financial challenges as added results.
You can offer wellness programs and activities, and an employee assistance program (EAP) to better support your teams.
An EAP provides confidential personal support services to help your staff cope with various challenges from their financial concerns to navigating personal events.
Lastly, arranging social activities (either online or face-to-face) helps your employees build stronger team bonds and connect with each other outside of work tasks. This bonding often leads to more effective collaborations in the workspace.
Reap the Benefits of Hybrid Work
You need to stay abreast with the competitive marketplace. At Net Friends, we seek to understand your company’s requirements, and we offer a suite of services to help you transition to an innovative and productive hybrid workplace. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you leverage the benefits of a hybrid work model for your organization.
WHAT TO READ NEXT:
- 18 Questions to Ask When Adopting Anywhere Operations
- How to Budget for Anywhere Operations
- Top 5 Solvable Remote Work Challenges
