COVID-19 has significantly influenced all spheres of people’s lives, including the working one. While at the beginning of the pandemic, companies and institutions all around the world started to work remotely, now, with the spread of COVID vaccination, many employers implement hybrid working. Hybrid organization of the working process lets the employees choose whether they want to work remotely from home or go back to the offline work in the office (Seven hybrid working challenges, 2021). At first sight, it seems that hybrid work is the best option for employers to organize their business activity as it combines the best sides of face-to-face and online modes. However, if managers do not understand the challenges the company may face after the implementation of the hybrid model, all the advantages may turn into significant shortcomings.
When speaking about the challenges the line managers may face during and after the implementation of the hybrid working regime, it is necessary to mention, first, fostering close connections between online and offline workers. The employees’ engagement in the working process is one of the essential components of the productive work of the company. However, the physical separation of the staff makes it hard to build close professional connections and relations (Seven hybrid working challenges, 2021). The best way to foster these relationships is to implement in-person meetings for all workers outside of the company, as they foster face-to-face communication and create bonds between the employees.
The next challenge that may emerge after the implementation of the hybrid working mode concerns the dilution of culture, which is extremely important for the companies. A properly formed and developed corporative culture helps the employees stay motivated and do their work with eagerness and pleasure. However, when it comes to the hybrid model, the culture often becomes diluted due to the fact that the workers do not often meet in person. As a result, they lose motivation and become disillusioned with their workplace (Seven hybrid working challenges, 2021). In order to avoid that, the line managers should adapt the company’s culture considering the needs of office-based and online workers.
The third challenge the implementation of the hybrid system possesses regards the construction and organization of the physical office. With a lot of employees working remotely, it is hard for the managers to calculate whether the working space retain is profitable or not (Seven hybrid working challenges, 2021). Thus, hybrid organizations should design their offices in ways that support both offline and remote regimes of work. In order to do that, the line managers should understand how and why they want their workers to use the working space and then take up to redesigning it.
When speaking about successful managing hybrid teams, it is possible to single out several tips for the line managers. Since the communication between online- and offline- workers is different from only face-to-face or remote interaction, it will require new approaches and skills. The first way to ensure safe managing hybrid teams concerns engaging the workers into the new ways of work, from in-team communication to the working principles everyone should observe (CIPD, 2021). The manager should also help his employees who work remotely establish clear boundaries between work and life since it is hard to do it when one works from home. Finally, it is necessary for the line manager to clearly define the working aims, as the working performance of those who work from home may be less noticeable. Hence, the managers should write clear working objectives as well as give their employees regular feedback on their work to not let them lose motivation or interest in their job.
References
CIPD (2021). Line manager guide to support hybrid working.CIPD. Web.
Seven hybrid working challenges and how you can address them. (2021). SiaPartners. Web.