When adopting a hybrid work model, you must provide the right tools for your employees. A cloud-based infrastructure that delivers powerful results anytime, anywhere gives your employees a consistent work experience whether on the go, in the office, or on their comfy couch at home.
So, what’s the secret sauce to a successful hybrid workplace in today’s landscape?
Empowering your employees with the right hybrid UCaaS solution.
Keep reading to learn what the hybrid workplace looks like today, the benefits and challenges of the hybrid model, how companies are making hybrid work for them, and how having the right UCaaS tool is a must-have for collaborative success.
What Does the Hybrid Workplace Look Like Today?
When COVID first pushed businesses to remote work, business leaders scrambled to generate new ideas for work from home to be successful. The end result? Today’s hybrid work model. From total autonomy to flexible scheduling — you decide what’s best for your business.
There are five types of hybrid workplace models in today’s workforce:
Split-Week: The company decides which days of the week teams work in-office, ensuring all departments take turns while supporting all remote options.
Week to Week: The employee works one week per month in the office to collaborate with their team on essential tasks. For the other three weeks, they work remotely.
Mostly Remote: Employees are remote-first and in-office at their discretion.
Mostly In-Office: Employees are in-office first, with some remote availability.
Employee’s Choice: Employees create their own schedules for in-office and remote work.
Benefits of the Hybrid Work Model
According to a Gallup sample of 8,090 hybrid workers, there are significant benefits to offering a hybrid work model, especially when you have the right UCaaS solution in place.
Improved work-life balance
Better time management
Freedom to choose where and when to work
Less fatigue and work burnout
Easier to meet customers’ needs
Improved working relationships with colleagues
Easier to coordinate and collaborate work
Better employee-management relationships
Enhanced development opportunities
Less commuting time
Now, let’s look at the benefits from the employer’s standpoint:
Happier employees mean longer employee retention
Enhanced productivity
Improved employer-employee trust
Cost-savings — fewer in-office employees means needing less space
Access a wider, cost-effective talent pool across the globe
Staying competitive — the hybrid trend is in high demand
Improved company culture
Challenges of the Hybrid Work Model
No working model is “perfect”, so there are some drawbacks to the hybrid work model. The good news is you can address many of the disadvantages with a few strategic tweaks.
Challenge #1: Not Having the Proper Tools Makes it Harder For Employees to Collaborate
Make it easy for your remote employees to collaborate with your in-office employees by using the proper tools and etiquette for remote and in-office workers.
Technology: Embrace the modern workplace with instant communications. Support work across all settings by investing in high-quality audio and video equipment to bridge the gap between your remote and onsite employees. LinkUp from Acrobits can handle 24 audio and 15 video users in one conference room.
Communication: Chatting tools like Zoom, Slack, and Asana allow your employees to stay connected regardless of where they are and are essential to hybrid success.
Include Your Remote Employees: Sometimes, it’s easy to “forget” that your remote employees are involved in your meetings too. Encourage your onsite leaders to pause during video conferencing to ask remote employees if they have anything to ask or add.
Challenge #2: Effectiveness and Efficiency May Suffer
According to Forbes, one of the biggest challenges of the hybrid work model is improper time and energy management. Finding the right balance when tackling tasks that demand so much of your time can be difficult. Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your employees by using a unified communications tool that:
Simplifies complex processes and routines
Reduces manual work by automating mundane tasks
Embed real-time feedback loops so you can learn what works well and what needs improving
Challenge #3: Lack of Motivation
Hybrid employees can feel disconnected from shared goals and a common purpose. Focusing on team-based performance strategies helps remote employees provide constructive feedback, resulting in improved engagement, productivity, and overall performance. Here are a few ways you can overcome motivational challenges:
Ensure your employees are aligned and functioning well as a team
Give your teams clear direction and purpose by letting them know what they’re working toward and why it’s important
Provide open and honest communication by offering and encouraging feedback and sharing information freely
Work collaboratively to problem-solve and make group decisions. When your team focuses on collective performance, they’re more likely to achieve success.
How Do Companies Make Hybrid Work Successful?
Your attempt at creating a successful hybrid work environment hinges on having the right processes, technology, and people to back you up. Here are some things to consider:
Communication: Are your staff up-to-date with any changes or additions to your hybrid policy? Every decision you make affects them, so ask for their input. Explain that hybrid work is an evolving process, and you’re trying to find the perfect blend of productivity and work-life balance.
Flexible technology: Does your company have the infrastructure to bridge the gap between your office and remote employees with seamless processes and integrations, or do you require a whole new set of tools to accomplish your hybrid goals?
Create a dynamic workplace environment: Who wants to be part of an uptight, stiff-shirt, boring office setting? Entice your hybrid staff to want to come to the office on their scheduled days by radiating positive energy, encouraging new ideas, and implementing a better workplace experience.
Collaboration: Find new ways and reasons to connect remote employees with office employees. Establishing a company culture where everyone feels equally important creates happy, engaged employees.
Have your HR and IT work together: Ensure your technology is a seamless fit and supports all employees wherever they work. Your IT department needs ongoing feedback from HR to tweak operations for efficacy and efficiency.
Workspaces with a purpose: Having more purposeful workspaces, such as collaboration rooms, quiet zones, lounge areas, or meeting pods, shows that you fully support (and appreciate) the different types of personalities that make up your hybrid work model.
Why Having the Right UCaaS Solution is Essential For Hybrid Success
Today’s employees rely on significantly different communication methods than prior generations. So what do you need to maintain collaboration and effective communication in today’s hybrid environment?
A best-in-class communication experience.
Unparalleled communication should be at the forefront of your hybrid planning. A UCaaS solution like LinkUp gives you access to a suite of tools that delivers everything you need for success. Everything from deployment to administration and scalability becomes easy. Here’s a sneak peek at some features:
Virtual meetings with high-quality audio and video
Available on desktop and mobile so your employees can work from anywhere, anytime
Rich messaging
Easy file storage
Group chats
Call analytics
Push notifications
Add and remove features as you need them, and only pay for what you use
Make video and voice calls, share files, send texts, and more — all within Cloud Softphone
APIs and integration support
Improved security by using the same encryption stack the European Parliament uses
Maintain feature parity with access to 100+ premium features
Why UCaaS?
UCaaS (Unified Communication as a Service) provides a single, white label softphone cloud-based platform designed for flexibility and scalability. Essential features like team collaboration, messaging, video conferencing, and telephony allow you to connect all your employees regardless of their physical location or device.
The right UCaaS solution ensures your employees have all the tools they need to effectively collaborate with their colleagues, reducing the silos between remote and in-office teams.
Here are some of the biggest benefits of using a UCaaS solution for all your hybrid needs:
Cost control: Employees can use their own tablet, laptop, desktop, or even their smartphone for their communication needs. This saves you from investing in new tech tools.
Real-time communication: Everyone on your team connects to the same communication hub so they can share data in real-time, regardless of where they are.
Improve productivity: Consolidate all your file-sharing, chat, screen-sharing, and conferencing tools in a single cloud communications hub to enable your employees to communicate and collaborate better.
Reduce labor costs: Fewer tools in your pocket means less time managing all your systems.
Bridging the gap between silos: When you have siloes, you can easily lose information, leading to a breakdown in communication. UCaaS consolidates all communications so your team can seamlessly connect in the same environment.
Transition to a Hybrid Work Model With Cloud Softphone & LinkUp
As a business leader in the modern world, focusing solely on productivity is a thing of the past. Successful businesses today rely on healthy company cultures to fuel its growth. More specifically, employee participation, collaboration, and engagement.
