What’s the value of hybrid working? Finding the fit for you & your company

I took my first tube ride for several months yesterday. Securing the last seat on the carriage and joining the queue of commuters exiting Warren Street station, it was clear that the next stage of the change journey was in progress.

Kids have returned to the classroom, London reported its busiest morning rush hour since the start of the pandemic, and working parents are navigating a new routine once again. We are not returning to normal as we knew it and that does present its challenges; there’s still a sense of unpredictability in the air. However, there’s also an opportunity to look at the start of the new term and return to work with a fresh perspective.

We have all spent the last year adjusting to new COVID-19 norms that almost overnight turned the world upside down and re-defined work and home life as we previously knew it. Surviving multiple lockdowns, remote working, and home schooling has given many of us a greater appreciation of what’s most important in our work-life. And as many organisations start the transition towards longer-term hybrid working practices, there’s the potential to shape an improved work-life pattern that’s more aligned to personal values. So long as we find constructive ways to act on these opportunities and avoid slipping back into old habits.

To find the hybrid working fit for you and your company, consider:

How you can positively influence the change direction

The next few months will continue to be a period of individual and organisational experimentation. As with any experiment, some of our hypotheses on hybrid working will be confirmed while others will need to evolve for some time.

Effective, open and two-way communication will be key to maximising the opportunities (e.g. flexibility, productivity, inclusivity) and minimising the risks (e.g. presenteeism, silo working, inequality) of hybrid working. You can play an active part in the change conversation by asking the right questions.

Asking the right questions will help to clarify any choices you must make to get the best out of hybrid working. It will also offer an opportunity to helpfully raise awareness of any hybrid working risk factors, so that you and others are not inadvertently penalised for making the most of hybrid working policies. For example: Do we have set guidelines for changes to work patterns should schools or nurseries need to close again? How will we ensure performance assessments and opportunities are equitable and not affected (consciously or unconsciously) by who is in the office more?

While it’s important to appreciate that some areas may still be a work in progress, by raising the right points and initiating the conversation now you are ensuring these questions and concerns are on management’s radar.

How hybrid working aligns to your personal values

The last year has presented both unique challenges (e.g. balancing full-time work with full-time childcare) and unique opportunities (e.g. more time together as a family). While there will be periods of the last year you’d likely forget altogether, there will also be some helpful lessons to be learned about what you value most from a home and work-life perspective.

At the same time, it’s important to remember that this hasn’t been a ‘normal’ year, which may muddy the waters a little when looking to define a working pattern today that will continue to serve you well into the future (after a year of lockdowns and home schooling, it’s understandable that an early retirement at 40 to a desert island would be most appealing right now!).

Tuning into your underlying work and life values can help to give this next deeper layer of clarity, as these will act as your compass to keep you focused on what you value most during change. Consider how the last 12 months has helped you to recognise what’s most important to you across different life areas, such as:

• Work – e.g. what type of employee or manager do you most want to be? What are the personal strengths & qualities you show at work when you’re at your best?

• Wellbeing – e.g. what are your intentions with regard to your physical & mental health, personal growth & general enjoyment of life?

• Family – What are the personal qualities you most want to express in your personal relationships with your partner, your children, and other family members?

• Friends – What about the personal qualities you most want to express in the social relationships that are most important to you?

Once you’ve defined your behavioural guides, consider how they are informing the ways in which you would like to work going forward. Where are you currently spending your time and energy, and how could hybrid working help you to change your focus for the better?

How you’ll pitch a compelling business case

To maximise the benefits hybrid working has to offer, you may need to communicate a clear business case for the way you’d ideally like to work going forward.

Preparation ahead of conversations with your manager is key. Start by considering your wants and needs, where your wants are your best possible outcomes and your needs are your ‘must get’ minimum outcomes. Be as specific as possible when defining these. For example: I want to work from home on a Tuesday & Thursday. I need to have the flexibility to pick the kids up from school on these days.

Next consider what your manager / team / company wants from you, what they need from you and how this is informing the way in which they would like you to work going forward. For example: based on the requirements of your role, do they want you or need you to be physically versus virtually present in the office on certain days? Do they want you or need you to be readily available during certain hours of the day?

Ultimately, what you are trying to find here is the win-win solution that presents a positive hybrid working fit for you and others. While we may not always be perfectly aligned with our organisation on the values that matter most, there’s usually a window of shared benefit and that’s what we need to work towards.

Consider what’s most likely to be realistic within this window of overlap based on what you know about your team or organisation’s culture. Also think about how your wants will benefit others to help strengthen your case.

Remember it might take a few conversations to get to a win-win outcome. While you may not get everything on your want list, having clarity on what you absolutely need and where there is some flex will help you to feel more confident and prepared going into these discussions.

How to overcome possible blockers to your hybrid working success

Once again, good communication plays an important role in overcoming potential blockers to personal hybrid working success.

There’s still a lot of change going on as hybrid working finds its feet, and so frequent communication to address assumptions and clarify facts is essential. To keep the conversation focused on mutual benefit, you might want to highlight where you see alignment and conflict in how hybrid working is playing out in practice and the shared values and behaviours everyone signs up to within your team or organisation. This helps to demonstrate why the challenges you’re raising may impact others too.

Consulting with or seeking the support of influential role models and allies demonstrating positive hybrid working in practice can also help you gather further information and insight to address specific conflicts you might be experiencing. Find out how they make it work for them and their teams and what positive results they have seen. This knowledge sharing across the business will be crucial as new hybrid working norms and cultures evolve.

Returning to your wants and needs, then reviewing where these align or are at odds with the wants and needs of the business, is always a helpful framework to use for these more challenging conversations too.

Jayne Ruff – Chartered Occupational Psychologist & Founder of Parenting Point.

Parenting Point exists to give everyone the self-belief that they can flourish as a parent and a professional by positively aligning both worlds. We help parents find their meaningful and fulfilling work-life balance through practical, psychology-based workshops and coaching. We work with organisations to create positive and inclusive performance cultures that support and encourage the growth of working parents.