Many organisations have listened to employee feedback and have spent time planning how a hybrid work model can be introduced. The move to hybrid aims to offer all the benefits of working in the office and from home, such as collaboration, ease of communication and a more robust organisational culture. It is also possible to significantly increase productivity whilst working in hybrid environments. This leads to a better work-life balance and increased employee satisfaction.
We have created a blog post that outlines four practical ways to enhance productivity while working in a hybrid model. Implementing these methods can help keep your organisation running efficiently and also lead to higher staff retention rates, which can save you from incurring expensive recruitment costs.
Running effective hybrid meetings is a crucial aspect of maintaining productivity. There are two methods to consider: having all members use Teams or having office workers use a single computer and communicating with remote workers via Teams. The former ensures a consistent experience for all attendees and may be more suitable for some businesses. The latter promotes collaboration. However, it’s crucial to ensure that remote workers are fully included and that the audio and video equipment used are of high quality. Adapting to these new meeting methods may take time, but through trial and error, businesses can find the most effective approach to increase productivity.
While working from home, some employees find it easier to close their laptops at the end of the day and finish on time. Others, however, struggle to set clear boundaries between work and home time.
Similarly, some employees find it difficult to leave the office on time, especially when there is more work. Spending more time working may seem like it would increase the amount of work completed. However, in the long run, this leads to a poor work-life balance and puts employees at risk of burnout, significantly decreasing productivity.
Employees must stick to their start and finish times regardless of where they work. When working at home, one way to ensure this is to set the alarm for when it is time to finish work and turn off all work-related notifications on mobile phones. Microsoft Viva can help with this by setting up a ‘virtual commute’ at the end of the day.
In the office, if multiple employees finish at the same time, colleagues should encourage each other to leave at the same time. This helps to ensure no one is forming an unhealthy habit of prioritising work over home life.
For many who have become acclimatised to working from home with few distractions, returning to the office may be difficult to manage. This can decrease productivity, make work more stressful, and leave employees less motivated. By setting aside time that will be focus time and letting colleagues know you should not be disturbed during these times , is a great way to reduce distractions in the office. It is also beneficial to set aside time dedicated to checking and replying to emails rather than responding to all emails as soon as they arrive.
When working from home, it is typically easier to avoid distractions. However, having meetings too often can cause distractions that decrease productivity and can lead to an unhealthy work-life balance. In Microsoft Viva Insights, it is possible to view how much of a week is dedicated to meetings. You can automatically set calendar times dedicated to focusing without distractions.
One of the more prominent struggles with working from home has been effectively collaborating on projects. Effective collaboration can drive innovation, efficiency, and productivity and is significantly more straightforward to do in person. For this reason, it is vital to, where possible, take advantage of working in an office for collaboration on tasks and using other employees’ knowledge and skills to drive productivity and business growth.
Similarly, it is essential to maintain communication when working from home and include those who may be remote only. One way to ensure this is to hold short meetings with all department members throughout the week to keep all employees in the loop. Microsoft Teams is an excellent platform for effective communication. Regular communication increases productivity by enabling employees to understand each other better and boosting morale.
As the workplace shifts to a hybrid model, employees and organizations must adapt to reap the benefits. Retaining staff is paramount as recruitment is expensive. Keeping your employees happy by offering flexible hybrid working not only helps to reduce costs but also empowers a motivated team.
Contact us today to learn more about how hybrid working productivity can be optimised using technology. Our team of experts can assist you in seamlessly transitioning to a hybrid working environment, eliminating the hassle of doing it on your own.
Contact us today to help you with your hybrid working plan.