There is currently a lot of talk about hybrid working models. However, it is not about an “either/or” or a “both/as well”, but about many more options.
Employees expect their companies or supervisors to state clearly and clearly why they should work for which activities and how. As a result of the pandemic, almost all employees not directly employed in production have learned to work digitally. How they deal with this individually is more influenced by their personality and life situation than depends on their age.
Some employees don't have the space or peace they need to work at home and prefer to go to the office. Others have found that they work much more effectively at home or even do more in the park than in the rather noisy office and would like to continue working remotely in the future.
The old way of thinking “meetings always in person, desk work in the home office” is also outdated. Not every meeting has to be held in person. I've always followed the guideline here: If I can hold a meeting for which there is an agenda and I can stick to the agenda and allotted time without limiting the results, I don't need a personal meeting. Because this is more of a project update that can also take place virtually. However, if ideas are to be developed together, both options are available. How best to proceed should be discussed with the participants. They know best how to optimally activate their own creativity. In this case, I personally prefer physical cooperation.
It is also necessary to reconsider the assumption that there is work that requires absolute peace or solitude. Many people can concentrate better when listening to music or with background noise than in a quiet office space. Others find it relaxing to talk to people who have completely different jobs as a balance to concentrated working alone during coffee breaks. Models such as co-working spaces are ideal for them.
At “New Work”, we therefore talk about more than hybrid models. Today, managers have the task of defining the best 'way of working' together with the team: Who does what when with whom where how. This is more complicated than before, when the boss only had to open the door and saw his' sheep 'sitting in front of him, which he could divide up accordingly. If projects are also carried out in an agile way, the coordination task of supervisors intensifies. Maintaining the balance between supporting, demanding, promoting and delegating is the new challenge.
It is helpful to create a clear overview of all pending work, to record the competencies required for this and to compare them with the competencies and ongoing activities of employees. As a next step, it is worth looking at what work preferences the respective employees have. It is then necessary to build a whole out of this multi-dimensional puzzle.5
Would you like to be supported in defining your “way of working”? I'm ready!
