What Are the Top Hybrid Work Model Options to Implement in Your Business Structure?

The world of corporate working has changed forever. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, businesses and its employees have had to work fast to come up with a process to continue running these organizations without disrupting the safety measures put in place. During this time, we saw a massive rise in remote working with almost all employees conducting their work from home.

Nonetheless, as we slowly move back to normality, it's time to start looking at what we have learned during this strange time. Firstly, it's evident that our previous working environment isn't likely to return, nor is moving to completely working from home. Instead, the office has become a more flexible workspace. However, many features need to be considered for hybrid working to be successful.

We have considered a few hybrid work model options to help you choose the right hybrid workplace model for your business’s specific structure. Everything you need to know about a hybrid remote work model is highlighted below, so continue reading to find out more about hybrid and company.

What Is a Hybrid Work Model?

Remote hybrid work is believed to be the future of business. This is the combination of remote and office work. However, not many people understand the various features making up this hybrid remote work model.

Nonetheless, many businesses are implementing a hybrid office model for the post-COVID world where employees are restricted in the amount of time they spend in the office. Typically, the majority of work that can be done remotely takes place at home while face-to-face collaboration and other in-person activities take place in the office.  

What Are the Best Hybrid Business Models?

Office working was brought to a quick halt during the outbreak of the pandemic. This left many employees and business managers finding new ways to perform their necessary responsibilities and keep the organization alike.

Now, as workplaces are starting to reopen, organizations are identifying that workforces aren’t too keen to give up their remote work situation. Many employees who began working remotely because of COVID-19 support this environment and want to continue using these hybrid business models.

A common reason that businesses used to avoid remote work before the global pandemic was saying that this business model couldn't work. However, this isn't the case anymore while the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak also makes it difficult to ask employees to come back to the office full-time. A popular solution to this that each organization seems to be implementing is a hybrid work model.

Individuals refer to one hybrid work model model, but there isn’t a defined example. Generally speaking, it involves a combination of working in the office and remotely. In most instances, these hybrid business models look different for each organization, but there are some predominant themes.

Companies can expect to encounter some challenges when incorporating a hybrid office model. Nonetheless, understanding the best option is likely to reap amazing benefits these models can offer, including higher employee satisfaction, increased productivity, and performance. Here are some of the most effective and popular hybrid business models:

Remote-First

Many business leaders are deciding to implement a remote-first hybrid office model, which entails that operations closely mirror a fully remote company with a few exceptions. Organizations still maintain offices as space for employees to work while not all employees are allowed the same flexibility. Meaning, some workers might be required to come into their office if their job requires physical presence.

A remote-first hybrid office model looks different for each business, but the main idea is that the company should conduct work as a fully remote company with employees spread across time zones differences while communication is primarily conducted online.

This hybrid remote work model means that the workforce can relocate and work remotely while these office spaces are kept for those who value this area. Nonetheless, it's vital to remember that remote-first doesn't entail that team members don't see each other in person. Many fully remote companies organize a form of an annual retreat for workforces while employees working with remote organizations might co-work together.

Pros and Cons of Remote-First

• Employees gain satisfaction by choosing when and where they can conduct work.
• A hybrid workforce can gain increased productivity levels.
• Safety and wellbeing are prioritized, which can increase morale.

• Not employing the right hybrid remote tools can cause inefficiency in the workspace.
• Some employees might lack human interaction and common workplace banter, causing demotivation.

Office-Occasional

Many businesses are eager to go back to the office. In some cases, these business owners don’t want to lose money on unused offices. Otherwise, these organizations might not be 100 percent sold on working remotely. That’s where office-occasional remote work models might work well.

The idea behind this remote office model is that the employees come into the office a few times a week. Unlike a remote-first model where office spaces are primarily used for team collaboration, this model utilizes the office to blend solo work and in-person collaboration.

Depending on the company’s requirements, this model can be backed by a relatively loose policy. For example, employees are instructed to come into the office two days each week where they can choose the ones that work best for their remote working schedule.

Alternatively, this office-occasional hybrid office model can also come with more firm guidelines. For example, employees are expected to work from the business’s office each Monday.

This hybrid work model’s core is that the business doesn’t implement a fully remote-first structure like the first example. Instead, these business owners and managers choose to keep an office and make it mandatory for employees to spend some time working from this space.

In some instances, employees might want to spend more than the required amount of time in this office. This hybrid workforce is mostly local because employees are required to come into the office occasionally, which is unlike remote-first hybrid business models.

Even though this hybrid work model sits in the middle of an office-first and remote-first hybrid business model, it can easily be implemented in either direction without constructing clear guidelines.

It’s vital to establish the best practices for communication during the early stages of this implementation. Moreover, leadership should pay careful attention to the varying experiences of teammates depending on how regularly these employees work from the office.

Pros and Cons of Office-Occasional

• In-person collaboration is available.
• Employees still maintain the freedom to work from home.
• When implemented correctly, a company can reap the benefits of remote and in-office work.

• Morale can drop if communication isn’t clear and employees don’t know what’s expected of them.
• Safety might be jeopardized if in-office planning is well-thought-out.

Remote Allowed, Office-First

Another hybrid office model is to maintain remote and office working. However, this hybrid work model designates the office as the main place for working. This was a common setup before the global pandemic where companies would have a small percentage of their workforce working remotely while the rest working from an office.

A remote allowed office-first model is common if the whole leadership team is in the office. From here, the rest of the company is likely to become office-centered by default. This is because the leadership team is likely to become office-centered as the leadership team generally has in-person conversations and collaboration (excluding remote workers).

In this hybrid office model, the business provides a remote work policy while having some employees scattered. However, employees who work in-office conduct their responsibilities closely with the organization’s leadership team.

Another way of setting up this model can take place if the bulk of the workforce conduct work from the office. An example could be if most of the marketing team are in-office while a limited few choose to remain remote. There’s a likely chance that the in-office workforce is likely to form closer relationships because they are working together each day.

Such setups can cause issues with remote workers, as these employees might feel like second-class citizens. Additionally, these remote employees often have fewer career opportunities. This combination is bad for employee retention, productivity, and engagement.

Pros and Cons of Remote Allowed, Office-First

• It’s easier for in-person collaboration to take place.
• The organization doesn’t need to invest large sums of remote working tools.
• The cost of this office space is effectively used.

• Those working remotely for an organization can feel like second-class citizens, which can lead to a decrease in employee productivity, retention, and engagement.

Why Should You Use The Autonomous Hybrid as a Digital Solution for Your Hybrid Work Model?

As a business leader, you have the pick of the litter when it comes to selecting the various hybrid tools you would like to incorporate into your organizational structure. However, some are more effective than others, which is why you should pay close attention to the ones you wish to include.

Luckily, Autonomous Hybrid is an excellent digital solution that you can use in your company's hybrid office model. The technology included in this digital solution helps you move your workplace into a flexible future. With this, you can harness the best of both worlds.

When it comes to enhanced hybridity in the workplace, allowing your employees to decide where they can work empowers them to offer the best performance. Nonetheless, this approach can be difficult to manage, which can result in inefficiency.

That’s where an Autonomous Hybrid comes into place. This digital solution makes it easy to manage flexible and/or hoteling office space models while also keeping workplace productivity and employee satisfaction high. Many business owners enjoy using this digital solution because it supports individual success, as it:

• Allows employees to work when and where they are most productive.
• Offers self-managing properties while also helping stay flexible.
• Enables employees to be in charge of their safety and well-being.

However, Autonomous Hybrid doesn't only offer benefits to the workforce. It also helps make companies more productive. This is done by:

• Reducing office space costs.
• Accessing global talent pools.
• Increasing employee satisfaction.

When choosing this hybrid digital solution, you have the freedom to start by deploying hot desking. This hybrid work model makes the process of moving to a hybrid workspace less daunting. One of the best ways to do this hybrid work model is to take the guesswork out of space management. Autonomous Hybrid allows you to:

• Map out your office space in mere minutes.
• Make rooms and desks available to book to help uphold safety policies.
• Allow your teams to self-manage.
• Assign hot or fixed desks.
• Optimize schedules, resources, and space.
• Set safe layouts and capacities.

Moreover, convenience is offered when installing this digital solution, as it’s compatible with Android and iOS devices.

Wrapping It Up

There’s no doubt that the workplace of the future is likely to continue being a hybrid blend of office and remote work. For many companies, one of the most robust hybrid business models is the remote-first approach. Nonetheless, the specific structure of an organization needs to be considered before a company can find the most suitable approach.

However, a remote-first hybrid work model should always be considered, as it works to mitigate the inequalities that naturally occur with hybrid workspaces while also allowing employees the flexibility to work from where they can be productive. For some employees, this might mean not working from home.

Even though many conversations are surrounding the differences between working from home and working in-office, there's an alternative option that offers an alternative place for remote employees to work. This alternative work model allows for in-person collaboration while not requiring any office. What is this model? Co-working.

Co-working has always been a popular choice when conducting work remotely. This hybrid work model offers a way to get occasional in-person interaction without being tied to an office space. Offering this coworking is a natural fit for fully remote teams.

From everything we have mentioned above, remote work doesn’t need to be synonymous with working from home or never having face-to-face collaborations with colleagues. The most successful way to incorporate remote and office working is to understand the needs of your workforce. From here, you can select a suitable hybrid office model that aligns with these needs and offers the right support for your employees.