[imagesource: Flickr / DG EMPL]

With so many questions and uncertainties regarding hybrid work, many business leaders struggle to find the best way to address the rising demand for flexible work arrangements. According to numerous studies, 3 factors are crucial for creating an optimal hybrid workplace, making sure that your employees are satisfied and your business is thriving.

Three magic words for optimal hybrid workplaces are productivity, flexibility, and connectivity. To make the most of a hybrid work environment your employees need to complete their tasks efficiently whether they work remotely or from the office. They should also decide where and when to work to best suit their needs and maintain much-needed work/life balance. Business success often depends on the work of tight-knit teams. Your hybrid employees need to feel well connected with other colleagues remote and office-based to achieve seamless and successful collaboration.

Here are several tips that can help you stay focused and achieve these goals.

Redefine Employee Performance

Before you start creating different strategies to increase your employees’ productivity, try to redefine performance focusing more on what your employees achieved during work hours rather than how much time they spend working. 

An effective work time tracking app can help you track your employee time and productivity throughout the day, painting a clearer picture of their performance. Use this insightful information to reinvent employee performance by limiting distractions and showing your employees how to be more time-efficient and focus on meaningful tasks.

More importantly, identify employees who are codependent when it comes to completing specific tasks and projects and involve them in creating office time schedules for in-person cooperation. These employees should decide what tasks require more attention and focus and what projects demand in-person collaboration with other team members.

Create Flexible Hybrid Work Policies

Defining a well-devised and clear hybrid work policy is an essential step in creating a highly 

productive and engaging workplace. However, this policy won’t work for all employees all the time. This is why you should allow your managers to change and adjust this policy to best cater to employees’ needs and work requirements. 

Also, set firm boundaries related to your employees’ availability to work. This is especially important for your remote teams that may feel pressured to be constantly available for work to prove that they are working. This misconception may drive them to overwork and even burn out, affecting their health and productivity alike. For this reason, create strict work time schedules and ban work-related communication after hours.

By offering this level of work flexibility, you may motivate your employees to go above and beyond to reach set goals, increasing their work satisfaction.

Provide a Level Playing Field for All

One of the downsides of hybrid work is that your remote employees may often feel isolated from the office-based teams and left out of significant decision-making processes. If you want all your employees to feel heard and appreciated during team meetings, stick to the video conferencing platforms and make sure that your remote and office-based employees are present on the screen. 

This is a simple way to make your remote employees feel like a part of the group working together on important projects.

Create Incentives to Attract Employees to the Office

Many employers have recently started to force their employees to come to the office more often. You shouldn’t be one of them. This approach can be counterproductive, motivating employees who don’t want to relinquish their work flexibility to leave, and making your turnover rates skyrocket.

So instead of thinking about how to make your employees come to the office more, start thinking about the things you can do to attract them to the office.

Besides well-known incentives like Friday free lunches and happy hours, you should think about hosting interesting professional development events or training sessions that your employees may find interesting.

In this way, they can work on their professional growth and socialize with colleagues at the same time creating valuable bonds and experiences.