How to make hybrid working a success?

If you thought 2020 was going to be a year of change and transformation across your organisation – well, you were right! The impact of Covid-19 saw that most organisations were forced into having their teams work from home for a prolonged period. A shock to many as it was unseen of before, now hybrid working has become the norm, and as industry leaders, we believe it is here to stay.

Though many businesses have already adopted this new landscape of work, that has not gone without challenges. The working arrangement seems to have worked well for many, and we have really seen the modernisation of some businesses, with the flexibility to allow staff to work from anywhere, and the ability to explore new options in terms of remote working during the recruitment process. It is far too early to say if we will miss all of the office-based interaction in the longer term, but if hybrid working is done right, you shouldn’t be missing out on a thing, and neither will your employees.

Making the hybrid working regime a success…

When thinking about enabling hybrid working, it really is a ‘regime’. Planning must be in place whilst the company considers key elements to manage and help employees navigate the new landscape of work, however, this couldn’t be simpler with Enreach, as our solutions are based on hybrid working. Some key considerations should be:

• What is the function of each department, and does their role allow them to work remotely?
• Where are employees located, could they benefit from working remotely or hybrid, to cut travel time and cost?
• How will hybrid or remote working affect your company culture?
• What are the different methods of internal communication?

Keep your employees up to date

When embarking on a new way of working it’s important to keep everyone up to date as a joint collective, after all, this is something that is new so team buy-in is crucial.

It is always a good idea to set clear expectations for your teams about how much communication you want from them when they are working from home. You don’t want them to feel like they need to be contactable all the time as work life balance is important but equally, you don’t want to lose touch with them altogether. Set up regular check-ins and make sure that everyone knows what is expected of them. It is also good to set guidelines around working conditions at homes, such as noise levels and pets, so working habits aren’t compromised in the process, however, you should also focus on setting break times, for employees working from home so that they are actually having a break. With the presence function on Enreach Contact, If a member of your team is uncontactable, they can set up do not disturb alerts, that will update across all devices.

Eliminate the fear of missing out with Enreach

When setting up a hybrid working environment, it is imperative to make sure you have the right technology in place to support your hybrid workforce. This is crucial to ensure that your team can collaborate efficiently when they are not in the office together.

With many people working from home and others working in the office, without planning many employees may fear that they are missing out on, key information or events with their colleagues. A simple way to eliminate this fear is clear communication. A combination of video conferencing, and email is a great way to communicate over a distance. However, with a cloud communication system such as Enreach Contact, you can also transfer calls to anyone registered on your cloud phone system, no matter where they are, as long as they are connected to the internet. This means no missed opportunities. So, no fear of missing out. However, we are aware that some staff are out on the move, and don’t always have access to as desk. But with our business mobile solutions and competitive SIM-only packages, we can ensure your team can work on the move and be kept in the loop.

Ultimately, the ability to integrate a streamlined hybrid workflow is beneficial for everyone involved. When properly configured, it can let you work together without being in the same place, which can open up opportunities for recruiting new talent and exploring new career opportunities. For more information, or some friendly advice on how we can help your teams to work wonders, wherever they are, you can call us on 0333 3603 723 or email us at enquiries.uk@enreach.com.