How to Make A Hybrid Work Situation More Efficient
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A few weeks ago readers had a mini-discussion on how to make a hybrid work situation more efficient, which I think is a great topic for this day and age. Those of you who are in the office 2-4 days a week and allowed to work from home on other days, what are your best tips to making the hybrid work, work?
Here's the reader question:
For those of you who do a hybrid WFH situation, where you are in the office 2-3 days and home 2-3 days, do you have any tips for handling not being in the same place everyday? I really thrive on routine, and not having that makes me feel weird. I also have FOMO on what my coworkers get up to, and a brand new associate who I want to be available for. Maybe that’s ok and a hybrid thing isn’t for me, but I am really trying to wrap my head around what I know to be true – being able to work from home a couple days a week can be really great, if you make it great. And being gone a couple days a week isn’t really going to make me miss out on anything or harm my associate.
{related: our best tips for hot desking}
(First, a fun fact: as reported by the WSJ, a new study suggests that 2 in-office days a week, not 3, is the sweet spot for hybrid work.)
One reader noted the key to her success is a predictable schedule where she's WFH on certain, preplanned days. “It’s too stressful for my brain to have to consider options and reconsider options all the time. I also try to schedule meetings for the days I’m in the office. I haven’t yet figured out what to do with things like paper files and records, which are currently all at home.”
Another reader echoed her sentiments, noting
I think it’s ideal if you have predictable days in office, and use them differently-more meetings, mentoring, and small tasks/email in the office and then use home days for focused work on bigger projects.
{related: how to be a good remote worker}
Readers also noted that for supervisor/mentoring type roles you could do telephone check-ins regularly on WFH days so they know they don't need to save up their questions for formal meetings or in-the-office days.
Over at CorporetteMoms, we've rounded up advice from moms who work at home frequently, and one noted that she especially loves working from home on Thursday/Friday: “[I]t’s a nice way to start wrapping up the week, particularly when combined with ‘summer hours,’ (which run from the end of May—Sept.) that allow us to work only a half-day on Fridays.”
{related: 30 random work-from-home tips}
Similarly, when we've discussed how to make the most of face time at the office, we've shared tips such as visiting people's desks, cubicles or offices just to check in, as well as lingering after meetings and showing up for happy hour when you can. (This is probably the one downside for choosing Friday as your WFH day!)
We've also rounded up mistakes to avoid when working from home over at CorporetteMoms, in part inspired by reader threads here on Corporette about things people hate about WFH culture — one of the biggest mistakes people make personally is not keeping an eye on career growth. As we noted there:
Not growing enough in your profession [is a big pitfall to avoid when WFH sometimes or always] — I recently heard a speech about how most women “fail” in their careers at least once because they turn into one-trick ponies, and I think it's doubly hard to push for new skills or “growth” work you're not ready for if you're off people's radars.
Readers, what are your thoughts — those of you who are in the office 2-4 days a week, what are your best tips to make the hybrid work situation more efficient and predictable? What are the major struggles you're coming up against as you try to make it work, and what gaffes are you seeing colleagues and subordinates make?
The only thing that works for me is going in more often than required. I go in 4 days a week (3 is required), always go in on Mondays (to get a fresh start to the week) and usually, but don’t always, go in on Fridays too. I usually have Wednesday or Thursday as my wfh day.
I do online trainings, zoom meetings, and routine boring work on days I wfh (mentally phone it in a bit) and use my 4 days in office to get 90% of my work done.
It may seem counterintuitive, but if I have a light day, I am better off going in. I have a hard time buckling down at home when I am not heavily scheduled or trying to meet an immediate deadline. I do very very well at home when I have a packed day without in-person meetings.
Ooooh, I agree with this. I had a light day last week and it was a STRUGGLE to not do anything else at home.
If I have a light day, I enjoy the downtime and schedule myself to do professional development webinars on the patio or do light housework during the day. The days I work where I am back-to-back meetings/deadlines far outweigh the light days – and it helps with my work/life balance.
I think the tough thing is mindfulness of all of the logistics not even relating to the job itself. For example, if you go in more days than required, you run the risk of this becoming expected of you and you looking bad if you go back to the schedule expected of you and/or upsetting colleagues who feel like you make them look lazy for not going in more than expected. If you are more productive at the office, some bosses will use your productivity as a sign to make everyone come back to the office and then you can become the cause of the unhappiness of many. I wish we could just let everyone work where they work best and offer in-person and zoom options for all. Instead, now it’s so often a dance of comparison and bosses scapegoating one who fits into what they want everyone to do. Ugh.
I agree with the comment about the days being predictable. It’s also important for me that the office/home days be consecutive – e.g. in office M/Tu/W and home Thu/F. That way I only have to lug the physical things I need (e.g. laptop, paper files, my hardcopy to do list) on the days that I switch workplace and not carry those things every day.
For days in the office I try to schedule the things that work best in the office — 1:1 meetings with my team, connecting with other stakeholders, etc. I have found that I do my best “thinking” work while at home when I can focus for several hours at a time. So I keep the lighter hands-on work interspersed between in-person meetings at the office. I have heard about organizations who say if one person in a meeting is virtual then everyone should join virtually — I wish more would follow this idea because it really does put everyone on the same footing. If a meeting must be in person, make that clear and give the participants enough time to make necessary arrangements.
Most managers are bad at managing virtual teams — it takes more thoughtfulness and planning and some just are not willing to put in the time. If you are in an organization with managers who are unwilling to adapt to managing virtual teams (even part-time virtual) then you will likely have to put in the face time if you want to move up in the organization. It is sad, but true.