How Hybrid is Your Workplace?

The last three years were certainly not what we were expecting them to be at the onset of 2020. We all know how drastically things changed by March of that year.

The pandemic, and mostly the lockdowns that ensued, forced most businesses to rethink and redo how they went about their work in getting their products or services to the end customer. This process had to happen in a heartbeat as the lockdowns of March 2020 occurred. Now it’s time to go beyond that to the ‘New Normal’ – if it’s even here yet. A lot of employment issues are still in flux.

Enterprise was forced to find out if their business could remain productive with offices that became mostly empty. When you consider that it was not that many years ago that working from home was a rare situation, the quantum leap to nearly everybody working remotely was a splash of cold water in the face, and it was worrisome.

After the initial shift to a remote workforce, many companies, including Microsoft, reported an increase in worker productivity. But as time went by that increase leveled off, and in many areas even decreased. Most often, the reason cited was that the adverse effects of isolation and lack of social interaction with coworkers eventually took a toll on employees.

The journal Nature Human Behaviour published a 2021 survey of more than 61,000 Microsoft workers. Analysis determined that the most common ill-effect was on productivity was the decreased quality of company collaboration, causing business groups within Microsoft to become less interconnected. Many of the smaller but necessary voices within these collaborative groups tended to be excluded as inconvenient, producing a more stagnant pool of fresh ideas.

ITFirm.com needed certain personnel to be mobile during the pandemic - specifically, our team of field technicians. Even if the office was completely empty, the onsite servers and networking gear must be attended to. We had temporarily set up our in-house IT Help Desk Support team at home, and it worked better than was expected. With the automated processes and AI (Artificial Intelligence) we employ, our technicians can remote into a network to perform maintenance and repairs from their smartphones. It is cumbersome, but doable.

Within a month, our remote techs were back in the office, making for faster responses and faster repairs. The social interaction also helps with the occasional ‘odd’ IT support issue they encounter – it’s very handy to ask a co-worker, “Hey, have you ever seen something like this?” However, in the same respect, it’s also easy for them to waste time talking about sports or movies.

Having discussed these changes with colleagues in the Charlotte business Community, most went through the same type of transition. Many of the small IT companies did not have an operation with the level of sophistication to allow for full home-based IT HelpDesk Support, but more than a few of the solo practice ‘IT Guys’ were probably working from home either all or part of the time already.

A lot of shoddy remote setups were uncovered in the mad rush to transition employees to working from home. We know this to be the case because after the initial scramble, we became the beneficiary of some ‘competitors’ incompetent work – having come to the rescue as problems flourished.

The worldwide transition to a workforce operating remotely also provided a feeding ground for cyber-criminals. If remote networks were not set up properly, vulnerabilities in both reliability and security become apparent to those who are looking for them – namely cyber crooks. It was like blood in the water for these cyber-sharks. We were more than happy to take on new clients when this below-par work caused problems.

Again, looking back on what we thought might be in our futures before COVID, just examine the wisdom of Yogi Berra, who was correct when he said, “The future ain’t what it used to be.”

No… it ain’t.

What now?

How close to ‘business as usual’ are we likely to get? All the indications are there that COVID is pretty much over, so the questions that business have been discussing are once again rising to the forefront: Where do we go from here? How will our workforce operate on a permanent basis?

There are basically three options:
1) Bring everybody back to the office.
The statistics showing workers’ attitudes on returning to the office (at the end of 2020, 92% said they would seek other employment if required to return) fluctuate monthly, although the trend is that resistance is decreasing. In 2022, 34% of US workers returned to the office full time.

2) Let everyone stay home.
Still the most popular option among remote workers.

3) Do both: This is what ‘Hybrid Model’ means.
Some days at the office, some at home. This is becoming an increasing popular idea, as many workers miss the office interaction but do not want it full time. Plus, with inflation and the high cost of gasoline, it’s a lot cheaper to stay home.

Choosing the type of hybrid which works best for any company is key to the success of the new work environment.

What are the three most common hybrid work models?

The first 3 below would be the most common, but there are 5 basic models which support a wide range of specifics as to scheduling:

1) At-Will/Remote-First Model
Employees choose where to work: the amount of time spent in either environment is up to them. This model does not typically have a requirement, but remote work is prevalent.

2) Office-First Model
Similar to At-Will/Remote-First, but there is usually a requirement that more time is spent in the office.

3) Split-Week Model
Times and locations of work are assigned by management, generally with specific input from workers. For example, Monday/Tuesday in-office, the remainder of the week at home.

4) Week-By-Week Model
One week in-office, next week at home.

5) Designated Teams Hybrid Work Model
Set up by management and determined by the collaborative nature of various teams – some need to be physically together and some do not.

Whichever model your company chooses, it is important to make the best use of your resources. Assess the upsides and downsides based on your experience over the last three years.