As the year progresses in 2021, many organizations are shifting to a hybrid-work model to support their employees onsite and remote. The pandemic has made companies shift their workplace efforts to a more digital landscape with digitized workflow systems around communication. Some companies have shifted seamlessly, and others, not so much. Based on
research from Stanford’s Institute of Economic Policy Research, roughly 55% of US workers want a mixture of home and office working.
Instead of structuring the workday around a desk, a hybrid-work environment provides a company’s workforce to work anywhere, at any time. There have been many productive benefits to utilizing a hybrid-work model for businesses, such as increased productivity, improved client-satisfaction & employee rates, reduction in overall business costs, better worklife balance, improved employee technology usage, and better visibility into employee performance for starters.
To achieve the benefits that were previously mentioned, there are a few necessities that are essential when it comes to supporting a hybrid-work model for your business.
How to Support a Hybrid-Work Model
1. Unified Communications (UC)
No matter where your team may work, unified communications is a business solution that integrates and unifies communication tools. Unified communications are exactly how it sounds, helping streamline communication across the company’s landscape, no matter where your employee may be working. There are many great vendors that support this service.
2. Collaboration Tools
To support a hybrid-work environment, there needs to be productivity tools in place to properly support employees and processes. Some of the essentials are voice calling, video conferencing, file sharing, messaging, email, and cloud-based hosting. When these tools are in place, employees and businesses can run properly without disruption.
3. Project Management and Processes
To ensure that projects and participation continues to progress, it is critical that you have the right project management in place with the correct processes. Team members need to be responsible for their actions but at the same time, should have clear goals, priorities, and deliverables to complete and meet project goals. There are many tools for project management
like, Monday, Trello, Basecamp, and of course Microsoft Teams to help support these initiatives.
Pros of a Hybrid-Work Model
Most companies are already aware of the benefits that surround a hybrid-work model, but here are some of the top benefits around a hybrid-work environment.
1) Increased employee productivity
2) Improved client satisfaction rates
3) Overall business reduction costs
4) Better employee satisfaction rates
5) Better employee workflow visibility
6) Brings businesses into a digital environment
Cons of a Hybrid-Work Model
Supporting a hybrid-work model has its pros and cons. Here are a few of the cons.
1) Employees that cannot work from home are at a disadvantage.
2) Not every employee has the luxury of internet access.
3) Employees that are not “seen” in the office, can possibly pass opportunities presented
in the moment.
Next Steps
As we continue through 2021, it is essential for businesses to capitalize on their digital efforts to support a hybrid-work environment. This includes providing unified communications, collaboration tools, and project management essentials so that employees can do their job properly and businesses may flourish.
If you would like to get started and support your business for the future, contact us today and schedule a time to learn more about unified communications as a service for supporting a hybrid-model. This is the first step toward better productivity, services, and happiness for companies and employees. Get started with ITS via Tekscape!
