The future of work is hybrid. The advantages for employees and companies are obvious: high flexibility for employees with increasing productivity in the company.
Hybrid working requires you to replace your need for control with an attitude of trust towards your team. You don't need to know at all times who is working on what and when. Always assume that your employees are willing and motivated to perform. As a team, you should focus on results and leave it up to the individual to decide when and, above all, where they complete their tasks. Clear agreements on deadlines and responsibilities help here.
The same rules should apply to everyone in the team, which are best developed together and apply to joint collaboration. It also makes sense to carry out test phases for this and to check what works and what still needs to be adapted. All team members should have the same level of information at all times. Remote workers should not be forgotten here. So always ask yourself which communication rules and meeting formats make sense for you.
The team can experience a feeling of anonymity and interchangeability due to the lack of face-to-face meetings. As a manager, it is important to strengthen team cohesion through social interaction. You should also attach great importance to personal contact and always know what is currently on employees' minds. Everyone plays their part in good teamwork. There is no "them in the home office" and "us in the office".
By eliminating control and heteronomy, many companies achieve greater satisfaction among their employees. The more the manager supports the individual's personal responsibility, the more this encourages the employees' own drive and creativity.
Knowledge must be secured and accessible to all. Think about a sensible filing structure so that everyone has the same status and the same conditions. New team members in particular should be considered here and everything should be available to them in the on-boarding process. Networking also includes exchanging information with other teams, departments or even other companies about experiences already gained in the hybrid model and benefiting from the knowledge of others.
Stay on top of new technologies and don't be afraid to try out something new if the tool can offer real added value. Have new tools tested in joint working groups and thus support the establishment of new tools. But also make sure that too much technology causes digital stress for your employees.
A hybrid working model should be seen as a process, so it makes sense to regularly question the status quo. Sit down together as a team on a regular basis and ask yourselves the following questions, as this has a clear added value, especially in terms of collaboration:
Behavior comes from attitude: a good, agile mindset is therefore the basic prerequisite for the introduction of a hybrid model and for making good decisions in this process. As a manager, you are a role model for your employees and should set a good example, as they will adopt your behavior and, ideally, your positive attitude.