How to Create an Effective Hybrid Work Environment

    

I’ve recently seen articles addressing hybrid work environments. Over the years, I have had positions where I worked at home a few days a week and in the office. The last 15 years I have worked remotely (very successfully).

            First, let’s address the reasons for remote/hybrid work – the pandemic. I want to share a story about illness in the workplace. I worked for an organization where I was continuously exposed to other sick employees and bad air filtration. We used to call these “sick” buildings. Older buildings where the air is recirculated also meant germs got easily shared among employees. When I worked in this sick building I was ill nearly all winter long. Years later when I began working exclusively from my home office, the illnesses ceased. Now I am rarely sick.

            Many positive reasons exist to keep employees remote. Some jobs obviously don’t work as a remote positions. However, many jobs can be easily done remotely. Intellectual and analytical positions are ideal for remote work. My own publishing team does not and has never worked in the same office. When companies use virtually distributed work models, employees don’t need to commute to an office. It’s healthier for employees and for the environment. Notice during quarantine how the air quality improved, and, for example, water quality improved too. The canals of Venice became clear, and people observed dolphins back in the water. We discovered planet Earth can heal itself pretty quickly.

            For those companies where leaders insist on line-of-sight management or feel in-person work is vital to success, the hybrid work model is best. This model rotates employees in and out of the office to keep more space between people.

            The real question, how do you make the transition between home and office go smoothly? An important aspect requires seamless workflow models. A network or Internet-based document sharing systems effectively keeps documentation stored in a central site where the material can be accessed from anywhere. Before document sharing networks became more common, I used to have to email myself documents back and forth between my desktop computer and laptop (for traveling). With centralized document management, users can log into the system from anywhere, work on the documents, and save them.

            Centralized document management allows others to access the materials too. For collaborative projects, this system makes it easier for each person on the team to gain access to the material. Attention should be given to “version control” to ensure that updates don’t get lost or confused with each change.

Small businesses can also use inexpensive systems like Google Docs to maintain version control. Document storage is critical. For inexpensive off-site storage, add Google Play ($1.99 a month) and make sure you send your final versions to yourself. While many people don’t worry about off-site storage techniques, it can be hazardous to your business not to address it. For example, my accountant’s office building burned down, and she lost all of her clients' work. While that example might seem extreme, it happens. Businesses can’t afford to lose all of their work to an unexpected disaster. Two dollars a month is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Other off-site tools like Constant Contact can be used for marketing programs and campaigns. Constant Contact, much like a centralized network, acts as a single communications tool that multiple users can get into and use. It’s another way to easily access information and materials from anywhere, anytime. Other email campaign systems exist like Mail Chimp; however, Constant Contact has been around at least 15 years and has always been a reliable choice.

Those tips are just some of the options to create an effective hybrid work model.

 

Michelle Gamble is a publisher, writer, and artist. She can be reached at info@3LPublishing.com or 916-300-8012.