How to establish a hybrid way of working that fosters wellbeing and sustainable performance
An optimal way of working for you and your team will depend on your business Objectives and the nature of the work that achieves these Objectives.
Two high level factors to consider with hybrid work are the Time and Place in which the work should be conducted.
A consideration of the nature of the work required to achieve your objectives and your employee’s preferences, will dictate the optimal time and place.
Ability to Focus
As an example, if you are working on building a strategy, planning a project or solving a complex problem, you need to focus your attention and think clearly.
Time: When do you naturally have the highest level of energy? Your brain needs a lot of energy to focus your attention. If you are a morning person it will therefore be easier to focus your attention in the morning.
Place: Is it easier for you to focus undisturbed at home, in the office or another remote location?
Ability to Collaborate
If you are brainstorming together with others, to explore a problem or a solution, your efforts will be more effective if you can collaborate in-person.
Time: This will depend on when the team can come together. It is also be impacted by energy levels. Many people tend to be more creative in the mid to late afternoon.
Place: A meeting room or collaboration space in the office.
Establish a continuous improvement routine
A simple way to get started on your journey to establishing an optimal way of working for you and your team, is to run weekly to monthly experiments, then reflect on what worked well (why is this?) and what could be better (and how?).
To enable your team to regularly reflect and improve your way of working, you need to build a routine. The time you spend reflecting and improving will be much smaller than the number of hours of unproductive time that gets recycled into productive time. Your team will also experience less stress and a greater sense of satisfaction and meaning.
Weekly Review and Planning Meeting
Clarifying your priorities and making them actionable, helps you to determine as a team, the best way in which you can work together and how much of this needs to be in-person, virtual or in a hybrid format.
For example spending 15 to 60-mins on a Monday morning to determine your top 1 to 4 priorities for the coming week, helps you to plan and focus your time and energy accordingly.
You could use this time to:
Prioritise: Align the team’s top priorities and what each person is doing to help achieve them.
Review: Continuously improve how you work as a team: Spend a short while reviewing what went well last week (& why) and what could be better this week (& how). Form an experiment that tests out the hypothesised improvement.
Plan: Consider the nature of the work that needs to be done. How much is to be done alone, undisturbed to concentrate (Focus). How much needs to be done together with others (Collaboration), and how much time should you set aside to be able to respond to requests and coordinate with others, e.g., to respond to email or catch the urgent and important requests or curve balls (Responsive)?
Consider the energy demands of the work and the required location? What are your individual preferences in regards to location and time?
- Focus: Intentionally book calendar appointments for this week and the coming weeks when your brain works best, to concentrate, contemplate and be creative on your most important work. Different roles need varying amounts of Focus Time. E.g., your R+D team might need the most where as Customer Support might require the least. Could this work be done at home or in a quiet location in the office? This is energy demanding work so aim to schedule this when you tend to have the highest energy.
- Collaboration: Determine which meetings are required and why? Do you have enough time with the right people and is it best to meet in-person, virtually or hybrid? Which meetings do not relate to your priorities and can be delegated, delayed, or eliminated?
- Responsive: Schedule time to respond and coordinate with others. Different roles need varying amounts of Responsive Time. E.g., your R+D team might need the least where as Customer Support might require the most.
- Recharge: Schedule short Recharge and Mental Preparation sessions throughout the day. Ideally at least one every 60 to 90-mins. Especially before important meetings, mentally challenging work or before you transition from work to home life. Have you got solid work boundaries in place?
By reflecting as a team on how you work each week, you can gradually establish a way of working that fosters wellbeing and sustainable accomplishment. Your individual preferences of the office vs. remote locations can be considered against the nature of the work activities required to achieve your common objectives.
Your continuous improvement process will support the evolution of the way you work no matter the external changes that occur.
Clarifying your priorities and making them actionable, helps you to determine as a team, the best way in which you can work together and how much of this needs to be in-person, virtual or in a hybrid format.
Your way of working
Are you happy with the way you work, the value you add, and your resulting sense of accomplishment?
Reflect on the following six questions. What are your answers?
- Do you know what your top 1 to 4 work priorities are this week and how they relate to your team’s/squad’s/tribe’s/circle’s/organisation’s objectives?
- Do you and your team regularly reflect on how well you all work together to achieve your common purpose and objectives?
- Do you have enough time and energy to focus your attention on your most important work activities to achieve your top priorities (e.g. to concentrate, contemplate or to be creative)?
- Do you have enough time to connect and collaborate with your colleagues on the achievement of your organisation’s objectives, while also having the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with your colleagues?
- How much of your time is spent adding value and do you experience a meaningful sense of accomplishment and purpose in your work?
- Do you have sufficient time for self-care during work and enough time and energy for your priorities outside of work?
