How can you future-proof the hybrid workplace?

Organizations worldwide are embracing the reality that the hybrid workplace is here to stay. Working partly from a remote location and partly from an established central workplace is simply a better way to conduct business for everyone involved. Here are just a few reasons why…

• Increased employee satisfaction, which leads to enhanced productivity and a healthier work/life balance.
• Expensive real estate can be consolidated into smaller, more manageable spaces from which to conduct business operations.
• Long, time-wasting commutes are being exchanged for creativity and fruitfulness.
• Video conferencing has massively cut travel costs for those organizations with international offices.

While there’s no doubt that the way we work will be forever changed, it’s still early days. Long-established working cultures take time and effort to adjust to, and in the new hybrid workplace, there are many challenges for businesses leaders and employees to overcome.

Every business is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all instruction manual for how to make the hybrid workplace work seamlessly for everyone.

However, there are some key considerations that should be top of mind as you move through this shifting landscape that will help you optimize your hybrid workplace, overcome IT challenges, navigate cultural changes, and ensure flexibility and agility through digital transformation.

Innovation

The challenge in today’s workplace is to ensure a seamless strategy where those who work from the office and those who work remotely can be well-equipped to take advantage of all avenues of collaboration at any time. This includes keeping on top of evolving technology and staying flexible enough to change business models if needed.

• How quickly can you organization adapt to changing requirements and situations?
• Is your infrastructure set up for hybrid workplace success? Has it been put to the test?
• Is you organization on board with, and excited about, technological change? Are your customers? And are they equipped to handle it?

People

In the hybrid workplace, the most crucial consideration is your people. A successful hybrid workplace prioritizes the employee and encourages a stronger work-life balance.

From a business point of view, organizations with a combination of in-office and remote employees will have a larger talent pool to work with, as they will no longer be confined to hiring employees in specific geographical regions.

• Are you meeting employee demands and expectations?
• Are your employees involved in decisions about returning to the office?
• How is the role of the office changing in your organization?
• Can your employees have a good collaboration experience, regardless of where they are working?

Performance

It’s clear technology has allowed us to collaborate remotely, and it’s technology that will enable the success of the hybrid work model. But not all collaboration tools are created equally.

It’s imperative to implement solutions that work better for everyone in the longer term.

• Are you creating a unified experience, or are your collaboration tools creating frustration?
• Do you have access to the data and analytics you need to make the right decisions?
• Should you team up with a service provider or technology partner to better meet your needs?
• How are you monitoring and managing the performance of your technology?

There is always some uncertainty as to the future of the working world, but one thing is clear – things will not be returning to the way they were before the pandemic.

To help future address some of the challenges organizations are facing, we’ve put together Your Ultimate Guide to Future-Proofing the Hybrid Workplace, that dives deeper into each of the themes we’ve talked about in this blog.

This guide is designed to help businesses simplify the complexity of the hybrid workplace. It reveals some of the different ways for organizations to manage their digital transformation, bring their people along for the journey, and get the most out of their technology.