How To Make Hybrid Working a Success

As working practices continue to evolve, hybrid working is the phrase everyone is currently talking about… and for good reason.

Before we look at how to make hybrid working a success in your organisation, let’s make sure we fully understand what it is exactly. 

What Is Meant by Hybrid Working?

To put it simply, hybrid working refers to a flexible working approach that combines working in an office/coworking space with the whole team and working from home.

Depending on what work they need to do, employees can migrate between various locations, allowing them to design their working week in a way that works both for them and with company guidelines. 

This working model allows employees to have much more flexibility and control over their work schedules, while also benefiting from face-to-face interaction and socialising with colleagues in the office.

Hybrid working is well known for offering a much better work-life balance to their employees, and is becoming much more popular, highlighted by a study that found that ‘more than half (57%) would choose a hybrid work model’.

Here are 5 ways you can make hybrid working a success in your organisation:

1. Provide employees with the right technology and tools
2. Choose a quality coworking space
3. Encourage employees to create a dedicated work environment 
4. Continuously evaluate, gather feedback and adjust
5. Provide training & support

1. Provide Employees With the Right Technology and Tools

It goes without saying that for hybrid working to be a success, employees must be provided with the right tools and technology to carry out their jobs to the highest possible standard. Employees must be able to switch between different work environments effortlessly and ensure work processes run as smoothly as possible from their chosen environment without any issues. 

Employees must be able to communicate effectively from different working environments, whether that be at home or in the office/coworking space.

The good news is that there are countless tools to make communicating between employees easier, allowing them to get updates, book meeting rooms or retrieve documents no matter where they are.

2. Choose a Quality Coworking Space

In a loud, noisy workplace with lots of distractions and poor amenities, it’s unlikely that your staff will be able to concentrate and produce the quality of work you expect from them. This is why it’s so important to choose a workspace that meets the needs of all employees. 

Coworking spaces are great for hybrid working models, as they can bring a tonne of benefits to your business. Firstly, lots of coworking spaces will offer complimentary amenities and shared resources. For example, at our Tramshed Tech office in Cardiff, members will get access to desk Space, ultrafast WiFi, tea & Coffee from an in-house barista and bookable meeting rooms. 

A key benefit of coworking is the community feel, which allows you to connect with others on both a personal and professional level.

Coworking spaces are also generally much more flexible than corporate offices, as there is no need to sign a long-term lease or tie yourself down to a strict 9-5 week unless you want to. This gives you and your team the space you need, whenever and wherever you need it. 

For more information about why you should use a coworking space, check out this blog. 

At Tramshed Tech, hybrid working is possible with one of our coworking space memberships or day passes. Our memberships give you access to multiple benefits depending on the one you choose, such as social events, bookable workspaces, and more. Click here to learn more about our coworking space or book in for your free session.

3. Encourage Employees To Create a Dedicated Work Environment

In addition to having a dedicated office or co-working space, it's just as important that employees have a suitable work environment at home. Encourage employees to create a dedicated workspace at home (or anywhere else they can work productively) that is free from distractions and allows them to focus on their work.

A home working environment should be set up in a quiet area, free from noise and other major distractions such as phone notifications or even other people in the house if you work best in silence.

For more tips on how to make a home the perfect office space, check out this blog. 

4. Continuously Evaluate, Gather Feedback & Adjust

Continuous improvement is essential in any organisation, especially when it comes to the working environment. For successful hybrid working, you must continuously evaluate the current effectiveness of your model and make any adjustments as necessary. And what better way to evaluate the effectiveness than to ask for your employees' feedback?

Employees are the ones fully experiencing this hybrid work model, so it’s essential you know how they’re feeling about it, what they feel is missing, what could be improved or changed etc.

How to Gather Employee Feedback

You can gather this feedback in 1-1 meetings or perhaps send out a survey with several questions. By gauging this information, you can create a hybrid model that works best for the whole company, especially employees.

Here are some questions you might want to ask:

• How many days per week would you ideally like to work in the office?
• Do you have a suitable environment to work remotely?
• Do you feel well-informed about changes in the organisation?
• How would you like to hear about company updates? 

5. Provide Training & Support

Lastly, organisations typically find hybrid working works best when they offer training sessions and resources to help their employees adapt to hybrid working.

This might include workshops or support sessions on remote collaboration, time management, cybersecurity best practices, and maintaining work-life balance, for example. 

We are Tramshed Tech: a startup ecosystem home to 50+ companies ranging from pre-revenue start-ups to scaling businesses with 600+ registered members from the digital, creative and tech communities. If you’re interested in joining us at any of our locations, please do get in touch.

Written by Kate Jones for Tramshed Tech.

Published on 09/05/2023

Updated on 31/01/2024