work setup

We thought remote is the new normal, right? Well, for most companies, it is. Big companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb, and Slack have allowed their employees to work from home or anywhere they want permanently. But this is not the case for everyone. There are companies like IT-BPO in the Philippines. They are required by the government to return to the office or adapt a hybrid work setup. And while most employees prefer working remotely vs. a hybrid setup, they don’t really have much choice. The best that their company can do is make sure that the transition is as smooth as possible. Preparation is the key. So if you are one of those companies required to transition to a hybrid work setup, here are 10 tips to help your employees adapt to the hybrid work environment. Challenges Of Transitioning to Hybrid Setup from Remote We all know that hybrid work benefits employees and employers, such as cost-effectiveness, increased productivity, and more. However, not everyone in the team can receive these advantages. Hybrid work can be a huge adjustment, especially for those who live away from the office or are used to working remotely. You should look out for some pitfalls when transitioning to a hybrid setup. Confusion about the official rules. Since the pandemic, many companies have changed their practices and policies to adapt to remote working. Policies like work hours, breaks, or communications might need to be changed back to something that will address the office setting. Productivity gap and issues. Many companies benefitted from the increased productivity of workers when they started working remotely. In fact, it is believed that those who work remotely are 47% more productive than those who are working onsite. Thus, companies need to expect lower production at the start of hybrid work as most workers are still adjusting to this new setup. Low morale and poor work-life balance. Since working remotely, a lot of employees have a proper work-life balance. They were able to spend more time with their family and got in touch with their passions. A hybrid setup will more likely lose time to these things, causing low morale or disengagement. FOMO and team desynchronization. Some employees who are still working remotely or on different schedules might feel left out of the loop with the others. 10 Ways How to Transition Your Team Smoothly These are just a few pitfalls when transitioning from remote to a hybrid setup. Now, let’s dig into strategies to transition your team members smoothly to a hybrid work setup. 1. Focus on employee engagement Keeping remote employees engaged is a difficult task. But in time, companies were able to adapt to these settings and successfully engage with their employees via different methods like virtual events, games, etc. However, transitioning to hybrid work can prove new challenges to employee engagement. Due to the hybrid work setup, companies need to focus on employee engagement initiatives with low morale. Many things can be done to ensure that employees are happy with their work. One way is by giving them more autonomy over their work schedule and allowing them to decide when they want to work or take a break. This is especially important for people who have children because they will be able to spend more time at home with their families. Another way is by ensuring that the project leaders are not developing biases between those who are working hybrid and remote. Since that working hybrid is more likely to meet face-to-face, managers might develop biases towards those who don’t go to the office. This could affect their engagement or relationship, and remote employees will feel neglected.   2. Establish a clear work policy As mentioned earlier, transitioning to hybrid work can cause confusion to employees, particularly with the company policy and rules. Companies need to set up a clear work policy for their hybrid setup. This will help them in determining the allocation of resources and manpower. It will also help them decide how much time they need to allocate for each department. 3. Provide necessary tools and equipment Companies need to provide the essential tools and equipment to help employees transition to a hybrid setup. This is a significant change for both the company and the employees. The first thing that companies need to invest in is their physical space. They need to ensure they have enough room for everyone to work together in person. Management also needs to have enough workspace so that people can be productive when they are working remotely. Some companies might also want to invest in a virtual meeting system so that people can still collaborate and communicate with those who are still working remotely. 4. Communicate framework and team structure Establishing a policy is one thing. But communicating it to your team is another. If not appropriately displayed, new approaches can cause chaos to the team. It can happen disentanglement or confuse employees, resulting in unproductiveness. As such, companies need to communicate the new framework for hybrid work setup to the team and how the process of being implemented. They need to constantly update the team structure and schedule to accommodate these changes. 5. Empower managers and leaders Transitioning to hybrid work does not only affect the junior employees. It also affects managers and leaders. They need to be able to manage the work that is being done at home as well as at the office. Companies need to empower managers and leaders for a hybrid work setup. For companies, this means they need to provide a flexible workplace to meet the needs of their employees. Management also needs to enable their managers with skillsets to lead in this new world of work where there are no boundaries between work and home life. 6. Enhance all employee capabilities and skills With a remote work setup, employees have more free time on their hands. Most don’t have any issue improving their skills and learning new capabilities. There are