This summer and fall, more companies will begin welcoming workers back to the office—at least part-time. This rise in hybrid work has sparked all sorts of conversation over COVID-19 safety as vaccination rates plateau, and about the clear disconnect between how eager employees are about a return to the office compared with their managers.
Central to many of these discussions, of course, is the idea of productivity, and how to devise an arrangement that maximizes employee output, while still allowing for the flexibility that many have come to expect.
If workers are only coming into the office on certain days, what tasks and responsibilities should be reserved for on-site work and which should be considered more “heads-down, headphones on” work? What projects are even necessary to be together for? What kind of upgrades to the office will be necessary in service of collaboration? And finally, if some of the team is remote-only, how can managers ensure in-person workers aren’t given an unfair advantage?
“In March of last year, we had this level playing field, where everybody is remote and on Zoom,” says Michael Peachey, vice president of global user experience, design, and research at the communication software company RingCentral. “It was fair, because everybody got sent home. Now that we’re coming back in this hybrid space, we’ve got to think about how we use [all] these tools.”
Determining which tasks are best accomplished solo and which are done best at the office is key if you want to thrive in a hybrid work setting.
Source: How to maximize your productivity in a hybrid work environment
