5 Questions to Ask When Considering a Hybrid Workplace Environment

Many companies are choosing to move toward a hybrid workplace environment, which is where workers have some ability to work from home and some ability to work at the office. However, hybrid workplace environments aren’t appropriate for every business. Here are five questions to consider if your company is thinking about moving to a hybrid workplace.

1. How Many In-Person Employees Do You Need for the Business to Operate?

How important are in-person employees when it comes to operating your business? For a retail company, for example, office and administrative staff may be able to work remotely, while cashiers can work in-store. If you don’t need everyone working in a physical location, a hybrid workplace might be your best option. In-person employees may make a hybrid workplace more or less effective, depending on the exact circumstances.

2. Are There Public Health Issues Happening in Your Area?

Many companies are considering hybrid workplaces explicitly because of COVID-19. While vaccine availability is certainly helping the spread of the virus, it’s possible that it could continue to circulate and become endemic. The extent of health issues in your area will likely inform whether or not a hybrid workplace is a necessity.

3. What Do Your Employees Prefer in General?

If your employees overwhelmingly want to work completely from home or completely in-office, you’re likely going to have a hard time if you try to shift to a hybrid workplace. Conduct an employee survey  to enhance the employee experience to determine the preferences that your employees have, then try to see whether you can stick to those preferences as much as possible.

4. What Can Your Company Change to Create a Hybrid Workplace?

You’re likely going to need to invest money, time, and energy into creating a hybrid workplace. Investing in paid virtual collaboration tools and video conferencing software can help you create a well-functioning hybrid workplace that’s easy for everyone to take part in. That’s a crucial part of making sure the hybrid workplace works well.

5. Have You Found Benefits With Remote Work Already?

In general, it’s important to constantly assess and re-assess whether remote work is providing benefits for your company. Consider the movement between fully in-office work and hybrid work. Did you find that your employees started meeting goals more regularly? Alternately, when you moved to hybrid work, did you discover more issues? Whether or not hybrid work ends up being the right choice for your company, the only way you’ll know what works well for you is to keep an eye on it.

Conclusion

Hybrid workplace environments are a good fit for some companies and not a good fit for others. If you’re interested in moving to a hybrid workplace environment with your company, there are many things to consider. However, these questions will help you guide the process. Regardless of what you end up choosing, with these questions, you’ll at least have a more complete understanding of whether or not hybrid workplaces are a good option for you.