With COVID-19 restrictions relaxing across the U.S. — just recently, on March 25 Hawaii was the last state to remove their mask mandate — more and more companies are making the shift from remote work to a hybrid schedule. Just as it took some time for teams to adjust from 100% in-office work to 100% remote work, this new transition will likely involve a learning curve. Here are some tips to help your team adapt to a hybrid schedule.
1. Find the Best Schedule for Your Team
If your company allows teams the flexibility to create their own schedules, work with your team members and get their perspectives to make sure you create a schedule that everyone can align with as closely as possible. For instance, your team may prefer to all go into the office on the same days every week. Or perhaps they would prefer to have the flexibility to make their own individual schedules. Having visibility into when and how often teams and individuals are working on-site can make landing on the best schedule for your own team easier.
2. Set Clear Expectations
One of the most important steps you can take in transitioning to a hybrid schedule is establishing clear expectations for your team from the get-go and making these known to everyone in writing. This ensures there are no misinterpretations. Make sure to keep your hybrid schedule in a central, easily accessible place such as your team Slack channel or shared team folder on your company drive.
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3. Make Over-Communication the Norm
Communication has always been important in the workplace — and in the hybrid work environment, this is doubly so. Here are some ways to take communication to the next level with your hybrid team:
- Make everyone’s schedules clearly visible to the whole team: To facilitate coordination and scheduling meetings, it should be easy for everyone to see where team members are working each day.
- Establish a team communications policy: To prevent communication overwhelm and digital burnout, decide which digital communication channels (SMS, Slack, PM software, email, etc.) should be used for which types of communication.
- Invite regular feedback: During one-on-ones and team meetings ask your team how it’s going and invite their suggestions for making hybrid work easier. This will make your team feel heard, and allow you to funnel up feedback to senior leadership that will help improve your company’s hybrid policy.
Your Role in the Hybrid Office
As a hybrid workplace manager, you play a vital role in helping your team members and your company as a whole adjust to a hybrid schedule. By following the best practices above and continuing to adapt your leadership skills for the new hybrid workplace, you can ensure your team makes it through this transition with success.
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