In this article, we will be talking about how to build an optimal hybrid work schedule. We will be looking into the main components of hybrid working and some core practices to help you work out the best setup.
To many companies, the introduction of hybrid working was a blessing in disguise. Although it certainly took some adjustments, many businesses were able to reach new highs after changing their work setup. However, just like with everything in the business world, there is always room for optimisation and improvements. A hybrid work schedule is one of these areas. Setting the basics in place is effortless, but if you strive to drive efficiency, you will need to dabble in data and strategy.
Today we will be focusing on tips on how to create an optimal hybrid work schedule for your business. We invite you to start this read with an open mind and make judgements based on your organisation’s unique position. We kept these bits of advice very generalised and loose as we know everyone’s journey looks different.
How Do You Balance a Hybrid Work Schedule?
There are many options when it comes to remote/on-site ratio in hybrid. To work out which one is best for you, you need to consider the following factors:
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How many employees you have;
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What’s the minimum you need on-site at all times;
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What’s the maximum you can accommodate;
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Your busiest days/hours;
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Any workers with strong preferences.
Equipped with these, you will be able to work out the basic hybrid work schedule balance for your company. However, work doesn’t end here. There are plenty of opportunities to better your setup, which we will be exploring next.
Understand Your Options
Everyone knows the basic concept of hybrid working. However, if you strive to make it a long-term or a permanent work model in your company, the basic understanding won’t be enough. In this section, we will be dipping a little deeper into what hybrid work model entails and how to utilise it efficiently.
Remote Working and Working On-site
There is more depth to the simple concept of distributing one’s time between on-site and remote working. Especially when it comes to building an actual schedule. Very possibly your headcount has increased since the pandemic and even if you wanted to fit everyone in, you physically can’t. Maybe some workers you hired moved too far away and the commute is nearly impossible for them now. Maybe they simply get too distracted in the office.
Now whether you want to implement the same work rules for the whole company or each worker individually is entirely up to you. There is no right or wrong answer and, as long as it doesn’t cause resentment across your team, you can mix and match all you want. The popular approach is doing 3:2 model - three days working in the office and two remotely. But it being popular doesn’t mean it’s universal. You might find some of your employees achieve more when only showing their face on-site once a week!
Flexible Hours
When speaking of hybrid, most people are under the impression it solely includes the mixture of working remotely and on-site. While this is the core of this work model and it’s okay to only consider that, there is more than meets the eye. An often overlooked aspect of hybrid working is the offer of flexible hours. Namely, the freedom for employees to choose their business hours in accordance with their availability.
It is a great way to help your workers achieve a better work-life balance, utilise their productivity peak hours and generally improve their satisfaction at work. You can even offer an option to work weekends if that’s what works for your business, though make it clear the rate would remain the same. To make sure flexitime delivers benefits, it needs to come with well-defined rules, such as stating the timeframe of available business hours to avoid understatement and so on. We will discuss this in the next section in more detail.
Setting up the Rules
As great as flexibility sounds, it can become the breeding grounds of managerial chaos, constant slacking off and a dip in performance. Defining the rules is a crucial step to prevent that from happening.
Clear Boundaries
One of the main reservations employers have in regards to continuing to run a hybrid company when there are no more restrictions in place is the fact they often feel out of control. Namely, they have little to no visibility of employees when they are granted more liberties. It’s not the question of trust, not in most of the cases at least. It’s the general anxiety of being unable to see the process which can grow into resentment and the need to micromanage.
But it’s all easily avoidable if the working environment is still controlled by a clear set of rules. We’ve already mentioned specific timeframes for flexible hours and deciding on in/out of office days distribution. But there are more nitty-gritty matters such as setting up minimum response time, having scheduled catch-ups and more. Flexible doesn’t mean unregulated. In fact, to be functional, hybrid needs a lot of thought put into rules.
Mandatory Tools
Digital tools are necessary for hybrid working. And not just because you need to bridge the gap between team members based in different locations. There are also other aspects that come into play, such as safety, expenses, resource allocation and many more. Not to mention, to build a truly effective hybrid work schedule, you will need a lot of data. And digital tools are notoriously good at collecting it.
Using digital timesheets to track your team’s time is great for understanding when and under what circumstances are your workers most efficient. It works both in terms of team and individual performance. For example, one employee may show better productivity metrics when working remotely - they should naturally be given more time operating away from the office. On the contrary, some workers are thriving in the office and should therefore have less remote work days. But don’t trust the numbers only; take your team’s feelings into consideration too.
Take Your Time
It’s never wise to rush things. You want to explore your options and stick with the best one. Fortunately, hybrid is one of the areas where experimenting and patience bring great benefits and minimal losses.
Don’t Be Scared to Experiment
The hybrid model is still very new. There are no rules of how things must or must not be done. On top of that, this entire approach is built around flexibility. Meaning instead of you having to adapt to it, it adapts to your needs. It is perfectly understandable if you aren’t entirely sure what are your core preferences or what will work best for your team. There’s only one way to find out, though - through experimenting.
We recommend trying to implement small changes and tweaks, one or two at a time. This way, you can test different approaches yet not disrupt your team’s day-to-day work in the process. Depending on the size of your team, you can implement one change per team and swap them after some time to see if there are differences in efficiency, and so on. As long as your employees aren’t distracted from their duties, experimenting will only bear benefits, both short and long-term. With a clear understanding of what works and to what extent, it will be very easy to put together an optimal hybrid work schedule.
Summary
It is easy to lay down the basics for hybrid working, but if you want to keep this approach long term, optimisation will be required. Each business has a unique way of operation, team dynamics and such. Understanding them all, as well as the full scope of flexibility delivered by hybrid, is the first step in building an efficiency-driving schedule. The most important bit here is to understand there is more depth than simply allocating days spent working on-site or remotely. Flexible hours and personal preferences play a big role too.
However, flexibility doesn’t mean lack of regulations. An optimal hybrid work schedule should follow a clear set of rules in regards of acceptable timeframes, number of hours, and tools used. Working out what works best for your company isn’t going happen at once. Make small changes as you go, without disrupting your team’s day-to-day activities, analyse them and make them part of your approach when relevant. Eventually, you will get where you want to be.
Ready to start optimising your hybrid schedule? Timesheet Portal will help.
