Last updated on 27th June 2024
It’s no secret that the world of work has changed forever. And when it comes to whether the future of work will be in the office, or remote – the answer, for most, seems to be: both!
So how do you make hybrid working work for you?
Let’s take a look at what 64 businesses who switched to hybrid working have to say about their own successes…
Education industry
1. “Employee satisfaction has been at an all-time high” – LA Tutors
“Since the pandemic arrived in full force back in March, 2020, we shifted all of our operations into a virtual format. We have since adapted a new hybrid model on a voluntary basis. Employees who enjoy working in person can do so if they are fully vaccinated, and those who prefer working remotely have the option of doing so as well. Remote work has required us to integrate new technologies and communications tools such as Zoom and Claap while also utilizing project management apps. These have allowed us to collaborate remotely and employee satisfaction has been at an all-time high.”
-Erik Kim, Program Director of LA Tutors
2. “Hybrid working is an amalgam of challenges and excitement for us” – The Speaking Polymath
“Matching strides with the current changes in the preferences of the workforce, our organization has transitioned to hybrid working.
As of now, hybrid working is an amalgam of challenges and excitement for us. As this is a new venture, we have to face a lot of turbulence at times. Keeping everyone connected, ensuring equality and equity in the organization are some of the challenges that we face. But, we are implementing some new policies and strategies in the organization to overcome them.
One of the biggest benefits of transitioning to hybrid working is an increase in employee engagement. From surveys, questionnaires and feedback sessions we have found that with the transition to hybrid working, our workforce has become better engaged in work. There has been an increase in overall satisfaction, productivity and engrossment in work. As cultivating an engaged workforce was one of the biggest aspirations we had as an organization, we are glad that hybrid working has helped us fulfill it.
One of the biggest challenges that we have faced is to ensure equity and equality among our workers. When half of the workforce works in the office and the other half works remotely, it becomes a challenge to make everyone feel equal and ensure equity. However hard you try, employees may find some loopholes and feel that one segment of the workforce is preferred over the other. For example, remote workers may feel that the managers are biased towards those working in the office. To prevent this from happening, we are deriving regular employee feedback to identify the issues and address them at the earliest.”
-Jessica Robinson, Content & Human Resource Manager at The Speaking Polymath
3. “The main benefit is seen in our health” – Academia Labs LLC
“Our company has implemented hybrid working since the start of the year. The main benefit of hybrid working is seen in our health. Since we have to go to the office a few days a week, we are forced to move around, hence, get some physical exercise. This is beneficial as some of us have been really sedentary since we had to work from home. Aside from that, communication has improved and there have been fewer arguments among our employees since they are now talking more face-to-face. There is really a big difference between virtual conversations and personal ones.”
-Craig Miller, Co-Founder of Academia Labs LLC
Hair & Beauty industry
4. “This has allowed us to bring in talent from far and wide” – London Lash Pro
“As a result of the pandemic we’ve switched to hybrid working to safeguard both the health of our employees and our operational continuity. We have been able to recruit members of the team from outside of what our previous catchment area would have been. This has allowed us to bring in talent from far and wide, and with the use of software such as Google Meets and of course the usual emails/Whatsapp etc, we’ve been able to remain in contact.”
-Billy Green, CEO of London Lash Pro
5. “My employees are all motivated and more productive than ever” – Dashboard Beauty
“Right now, my employees are all in a work from home or remote work setup wherein they also have the flexibility to work whenever they can as long as they will meet all their deadlines and tasks. I am allowing them to have the freedom to choose when they are going to work. This hybrid working system is going great. My employees are all motivated and more productive than ever.
When we started the remote from home and hybrid work set-up, our major challenge was communication. Since everyone can work anytime or any day they want, we weren’t able to communicate well. But, over time we are able to resolve those communication issues by having our own work chat channel.
We have several tools that we are using. We use Slack as our communication tool. We made sure that everyone in our team has a slack app on their phone. We use Google Meets as well for our weekly meetings.
I know that working from home and this hybrid working set-up is hard to implement but with the right tools and proper guidance to your employees it will make a big difference to companies on how they will handle their employees.”
-Ava Hathaway, Founder of Dashboard Beauty
6. “Employees working in hybrid workplaces get the best of both worlds” – AfroLovely
“Hybrid work environments give employees the independence and flexibility they need to balance their work life and home life. The end result is employee satisfaction and happiness. When employees are given the autonomy to manage their own work schedules, they become relieved of the work-life conflict and stress that comes with traditional work environments of being in the office from 9 to 5. Employees working in hybrid workplaces get the best of both worlds.”
-Sharon Terera, HR Consultant affiliated with AfroLovely
Online Businesses
7. “A much happier, healthier and productive workplace” – Home Grounds
“Hybrid working has allowed our business the perfect opportunity to mix in office face time while still being still able to manage our at home life – making sure we are allowing space for the personal life to take as much precedent as the professional set-up and allowing people the ability to be caregivers, etc while still completing their work. Hybrid working allows us to achieve the best of both worlds, and although it changes and develops over time with different team members, it still makes for a much happier, healthier and productive workplace.”
-Alex Mastin, Founder & CEO at Home Grounds
8. “A perfect opportunity to rebuild in a way that works for us” – SBO
“Simply by taking away commute times, it feels like you are winning back some personal time which can go a long way to helping productivity and work satisfaction. On top of this, I think a hybrid work structure really helps our team communicate more and in better ways, introducing collaboration tools to make sure that everyone is in the loop. Of course learning a new way of working is always gonna hit some bumps in the road, and introducing hybrid working is no different, but doing this at a time the world is metaphorically putting itself back together seems like a perfect opportunity to rebuild in a way that works for us.”
-Mario Cacciottolo, PR & Branding Manager at SBO
9. “Things took a sharp turn with overall positive results” – Vinpit
“It’s been over a year since our company integrated a hybrid working environment. Although there were challenges at first, things took a sharp turn with overall positive results. Just like we all know, workers have different working preferences and they are more likely to choose what works for them if they’re given the chance to. For instance, some of our employees enjoy working in-office while others work remotely. For those working remotely, some prefer working at certain times of the day that’s different from others. Since our company’s projects allow us to be more flexible, we tend to give employees the freedom of working at any time of the day provided they meet the deadlines. The immediate effect we’ve seen by implementing this strategy is an increase in productivity and overall growth of the business.”
-Alex Wan, Co-Founder at Vinpit
10. “Hybrid working has many bright sides” – iFax
“I think we’re doing good [with hybrid working]. One of my employees said that it makes the whole team feel more comfortable.
I think the benefit is you can interact personally with real people for some time in the week. You are working in both worlds as a remote worker and still maintaining your interpersonal skills with the people in your office.
I think one of my challenges is technology. At first I kinda got used to the traditional way of working directly with my employees, but now I realize that hybrid working has many bright sides and I am adapting to it.”
-Adam Korbl, CEO of iFax
11. “Productivity has been at optimal levels because none of my staff are stressed or overwhelmed” – How I Get Rid Of
“We’ve been following a hybrid work set up for the last eight years since the website began its operations. I run a team consisting of digital content creators, SEO, and social media experts, as well as web developers and designers.
So far, I’ve fortunately made the entire team work. Meetings/brainstorming sessions are done at a time that’s convenient for everyone, regardless of where they are in the world.
The benefits that I’ve seen are on the productivity side. It’s been at optimal levels because none of my staff are stressed or overwhelmed. It’s also made us give importance to communication, which surprisingly isn’t a strong suit among many teams.
As for the challenges, the only thing we’ve struggled with is the times when we aren’t able to find common ground between all of us, in terms of when to meet. It happens rarely, but we do find a way to pass on the information, which is great.
For the tools, we keep it simple. For day-to-day conversations and announcements, Slack is our go-to. It’s very simple to use and has an interface that’s easy to understand. For virtual meetings, we go with Zoom. It’s not as intrusive as Skype because, with this one, you don’t need to call the other person up. It’s just a matter of joining a meeting room, like how you’d do in a face-to-face setting.”
-Jack Miller, Founder of How I Get Rid Of
12. “It is important to foster connection with your team” – Messente
“So far, hybrid work has been going well for us. To make it work, we migrated operations to a centralized cloud-based system. This ensures that all employees have equal and easy access to the tools they need in order to do their tasks effectively.
However, even if hybrid work worked for us, it did not come easy. We encountered many challenges, and one of them was deep engagement. It is important to foster connection with your team. Employees who have good working relationships with their co-workers tend to be more engaged and more productive. To help our employees make meaningful connections, we provide virtual team-building opportunities and do check-ins at the start of the meeting to allow everyone to talk with each other and share what’s going on with their lives.”
-Lauri Kinkar, CEO at Messente
13. “You could spend less time on low-value tasks” – EpicWin App
“Hybrid work, in theory, provides the ideal balance of ease and productivity. If your organization adopts a hybrid work model, you could spend less time on low-value tasks like commuting or attempting to concentrate on deep work in a busy workplace. You may use those hours to do high-value work at home, such as collaborating with colleagues or finishing deep work more quickly.”
-James Stephenson, Co-Founder of EpicWin App
14. “Slack can function as both a work and social tool” – Simple Solar Living
“You need to be actively working each day to engage with your employees, in order to reduce their own feelings of being siloed, and stay aware of how projects are progressing.
If your company uses a communication tool such as Slack, then you as the manager need to be encouraging employees to use it — and not only for work! Slack can function as both a work and social tool, and should be used as such in order to keep a sense of play alive in your team.”
-Eric Thomas, Founder of Simple Solar Living
15. “Having a hybrid workforce has made collaborations and team meetings much easier to manage” – CocoDoc
“We went hybrid three months back, and it’s been working generally well so far, if not for a few challenges here and there.
While hybrid has helped us get some in-office presence, it’s also contributed a lot to some level of team misalignment in the workplace. Having a hybrid workforce has made collaborations and team meetings much easier to manage.
In retrospect, our biggest mistake while moving from full remote working into hybrid working was failing to create a strategy to bridge the gap between in-office employees and those working remotely. Balancing in-office and remote employees during meetings was also a challenge during the first few weeks. Having a physical meeting with one bunch and a virtual meeting with the other creates a lot of issues. Communication also tends to get lost in between the platforms. In our experience, using a virtual video platform for all employees is the only way to bridge the disadvantage against remote employees. Even those who are working from the office can log in to a meeting remotely.”
-Alina Clark, Co-Founder of CocoDoc
16. “There is an environment of cheer and merriment that seeps into the work we do” – TruePeopleSearch
“The feeling of being back in the office with my employees is unparalleled by any other. Work is much smoother, productivity levels are higher, and there is a general environment of cheer and merriment that seeps into the work we do. The main benefits of hybrid working are, without a doubt, the feeling of being back in the office, which pushes our employees to work harder and be more productive,
At the same time, however, there were some advantages to remote work as well. It is more expensive for the company to have employees return to the office since rent and utilities do cost a significant amount for the company. Additionally, managing a hybrid team can be incredibly challenging at times, simply because it can be difficult to coordinate between and across teams when employees are present in two different modalities.
To make hybrid working more successful and integrate the full team better, we host a virtual ‘Happy Hour’ every Friday for our employees one hour before the workday ends. Happy Hour basically consists of drinks and games that require a team effort, such as treasure hunts and escape rooms.”
-Marilyn Gaskell, Founder of TruePeopleSearch
17. “We’ve discovered that remote work, well, works” – Voices
“After having to rapidly transition to remote work in the midst of Covid-19, Voices discovered that remote work, well, works. As such, the company has decided to permanently offer the choice of in-office, hybrid, or remote work models to its employees—and it’s working well!
Productivity and progress are unhindered, and work-life balance has improved among employees. Being able to save on the commute alone is a significant give-back of time for many, and the flexibility of working from home (or anywhere with an Internet connection) has allowed Voices to consider talent outside its usual geographic area, leading to expanded hiring opportunities.
The Social Committee has also done a fantastic job of continuing to provide social events and opportunities, while the DEIBs (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion + Belonging) Committee continues to provide educational and learning opportunities. We maintain regular, company-wide meetings like our regular Monday morning Huddle, as well as regular meetings with our respective teams, i.e. Monday and Friday morning Marketing team check-ins. This leaves everyone feeling connected, supported, and valued.”
-Kelsey King, PR Specialist at Voices
18. “This has led to an irreplicable increase in morale and productivity” – Convincely
“Our team is spread around the world, with developers and designers based in Australia and an extended team located in London and Brazil. The team works from the office, but one of the biggest challenges we faced was keeping everybody connected despite the distance and time zone differences. To remedy this, each employee has been given the option to work remotely if they choose. Offering this choice has given employees greater autonomy over their working schedule, including the specific hours that they work and where they’re working from. This has led to an irreplicable increase in morale and productivity.”
-Gregory Yong, Chief Experience Officer at Convincely
Insurance industry
19. “We’ve created a workplace that brings a sense of belongingness” – My Choice
“In the months of hybrid working, I have seen various factors that most commonly cause managers to fail in handling a hybrid team. These are lack of communication, the nonexistence of proper equipment, and working from home with no operational methods.
Because of that, we gave employees more exceptional mobility and connection to create a workplace that brings a sense of belongingness. In addition, we improved the accessibility of data through Dropbox, which aids our team members with their jobs, especially in file-sharing. We also developed standard hybrid work plans through workplace collaboration tools and systems, like Slack.”
-Matthew Roberts, Chief Operating Officer at My Choice
20. “What we are now calling ‘hybrid’ should be the real deal” – Insurance Geek
“The hybrid working model has worked like a charm for us for the past four years or so. We believe in a new and upgraded idea of working and the hybrid model gives us just what we need.
We are also focusing on making hours flexible and enhancing virtual management skills to ensure that work is a part of life and not life as a whole.
An increase in autonomy at work has shown us a tremendous increase in productivity. This is something that we plan to continue even when the ordeal has completely passed us. This is because we work more efficiently and because it has impacted us positively from a psychological standpoint.
I think a more progressive idea needs to be accepted in terms of embracing virtual leadership and focusing on leading wholesome lives instead of sticking to rules that were made a century ago.
What we are now calling hybrid should be the real deal, and while I truly believe that it will be in the days to come – let us start manifesting this marvellous idea.”
-Brad Cummins, CEO of Insurance Geek
Manufacturing industry
21. “Figuring this out felt impossible!” – Bennett Packaging
“My company introduced hybrid working as the Covid-19 pandemic began to ease, and we returned to normal. Hybrid working was an important step towards supporting employee wellbeing as we all welcomed (if hesitantly) the return to office banter and break room chats.
However, one of the biggest challenges was establishing everybody’s comfort zone. Every employee had different boundaries where some might want to wear a mask at all times within the office, and some might be happy to share a table in the breakroom with a colleague.
I won’t lie that as a leader figuring this out felt impossible! But ultimately, the task was up to me to safeguard my employees mental and physical wellbeing. So, we asked each employee for their boundaries and implemented some policies to help everyone feel more at ease. After all, employees can’t produce their best work if they’re uncomfortable in their work environment. These policies include sanitization stations, temperature checking upon arrival and regular cleaning of all shared surfaces such as door handles and vending machines.”
-Kathy Bennett, CEO of Bennett Packaging
22. “Employees have enjoyed flexibility” – Wiringo.com
“My company recently implemented hybrid working and so far, it has proven to be a good idea. The employees have enjoyed flexibility in carrying out their duties and have been less exposed to illness. It has also enabled the employment of talented individuals across the world.
Notwithstanding, it has its challenges. There is little or no proper office set up for the employees, thus affecting their productiveness and they may begin to feel undervalued without regular input from the managers.
To tackle these challenges, provision for regular facetime communication amongst members and managers has been formulated.”
-Tracy Yin, Head of Digital PR at Wiringo.com
23. “Hybrid working enabled optimization of our business outcomes by 24%” – VEM
“In our company we have implemented hybrid working for the last four months. It created a workplace culture that empowers our workers to work flexibly depending on the type of work they must do and the individual circumstances. And at the same time, they can enjoy both the advantages of remote working and traditional office work.
Hybrid working enabled opportunities for more accessible, more seamless collaboration and proved essential for the growth of our workers and optimization of our business outcomes by 24%.”
-David Reid, Sales Director at VEM
Marketing industry
24. “Understanding how to use tools is of utmost importance” – Structured Agency
“Understanding how to use tools when working in a remote environment is of utmost importance. From project management to automation and video messaging, our company has taken advantage of these resources and have not only found success in doing so but have capitalized on the increasing demand for a hybrid model within the talent pool. Implementing a forum for feedback, project management software to measure performance and store client information, and establishing a dialogue where everyone is comfortable enough to voice their concerns, has enabled us to assess what is a collective issue and what is more of a personal problem.”
-Nick Shackelford, Managing Partner of Structured Agency
25. “Employees can work in the environment that best matches their needs” – Webcitz
“Employees can work in the environment that best matches their work-related needs using a hybrid work model; some employees may flourish working from home, while others may require a quiet and distraction-free workspace in an office. This amount of autonomy, which allows employees to work from home, in an office, or a combination of both, leads to increased employee satisfaction by allowing employees to feel more trust between themselves and their colleagues. This flexibility may also lead to a better work-life balance, which has a significant impact on employee satisfaction.”
-David Wurst, CEO at Webcitz
26. “Generally, our experience has been positive” – Truesix
“Generally, our experience with such a work setting has been positive. We had learned to manage remote work very well before, so the tools and some essential tactics have helped us manage hybrid working.
Benefits:
- Option to work from anywhere, not necessarily going to the office – for example, our teammate often worked from her family’s summer house by the seaside during the summer.
- Flexibility – We could easily plan remote work getaways and our little personal “workations” – for example, I spent some time working from my parents’ place in the countryside.
- Different work environments for different tasks – in-office can be slightly louder or on the contrary – there can be family at home, which can hinder working on deep focus tasks. So the ability to plan your workload according to working location is a great benefit.
Challenges:
- File storage and sharing – if using different PCs when at home and in-office, we need to remember to upload the files on cloud storage. Otherwise, they can be inaccessible when required.
- General fragmentation of docs and files – this refers to physical documents, receipts, contracts that aren’t available digitally. They’re stored in-office, which makes it difficult when they’re needed on a WFH day.
- Productivity struggle – when working mainly from the office and less from home, it gets significantly harder to get into the working mood when remote.
Tools:
Our must-have hybrid working package consists of Slack for communication, DeskTime for time tracking and team accountability, and Google Workspace for cloud storage, file sharing, video calls, and working in general as we mainly use Google Docs for that.”
-Aiva Strelca, Content Marketer at Truesix
27. “Advantages overpower disadvantages” – Box Out Marketing
“We have been in this setting for quite some time now and I must admit that if you’ll weigh things out, advantages overpower disadvantages.
The benefits of having a hybrid work arrangement include a better work-life balance, being more focused with fewer distractions, and less hassle in commuting, so there will be reduced absence rates.
Keeping the team’s cohesion intact is one of our company’s significant challenges with this remote work setting. Since we work in different time zones, we find it hard to collaborate quickly. We needed to schedule it for a day where everyone would be available.
The most important tool that an employee should have to have a thriving hybrid working environment is good communication. Without it, the collaboration will be less effective, and employees will easily experience burnout.”
-Tyler Garns, Founder and CEO at Box Out Marketing
28. “A hybrid strategy helps to balance virtual and actual encounters” – Hyperweb
“Virtual meeting fatigue is avoided with hybrid employment. As many individuals have seen firsthand during the shutdown, remote working, virtual meeting fatigue, and burnout are definitely real. Too many video conference sessions and exchanges with coworkers may be exhausting. They might also lead to a lack of communication and excitement within the team. A hybrid strategy helps to balance virtual and actual encounters. Finally, it promotes a better work-life balance.”
-Kyle Arnold, Owner of Hyperweb
29. “Set clear objectives and outcomes and make sure they’re visible” – In Motion Marketing
“The biggest challenge in any remote or hybrid workplace is management. To manage dispersed teams, create a uniform style of evaluating performance. So whether a team member is in the office or at home, use that system. Set clear objectives and outcomes and make sure they’re visible in a project management system.”
-Bryan Philips, Head of Marketing at In Motion Marketing
30. “We have an office just in case” – elictrIQ marketing
“As a company, we work remotely most of the time, but we do have an office just in case. It’s really convenient to not have to commute somewhere every day, but at the same time it’s also nice to know that there is the option to go somewhere else to work due any potential stir-craziness at home.”
-Brandon Amoroso, Founder and CEO of elictrIQ marketing
31. “The team is pretty flexible in managing their days and schedule” – Encharge
“We are a small team of ten. Five of us are based in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the rest of the team works remotely with people in the US, UK, Australia, Philippines, and Eastern Europe.
With the majority of the team working remotely, we’ve implemented several processes and team routines to make hybrid work more manageable.
We run a virtual weekly standup call on Google Meet. We also have virtual daily check-ins to stay in the loop with each team. Apart from our Weekly standups and Daily check-ins, the team is pretty flexible in managing their days and schedule, which works well for us so far.”
-Kalo Yankulov, Co-Founder at Encharge
32. “To be quite honest, work has never been better” – Digital Funnel
“Digital Funnel are now operating on a strictly hybrid model and to be quite honest, work has never been better. The vast majority of our work is done via the cloud and we usually collaborate through shared document folders. We’ve found the flexibility to be incredibly useful and actually boosts productivity. If you need to WFH on a certain day, that’s fine but if you need to use the office space for a meeting or just to have a quiet place to work, that option is there too.
We have a smaller team so issues have been thankfully few & far between however if you’re working as a part of a larger organisation issues can easily creep up. Mainly, if your teams are not aligned properly in their schedule the collaborative aspects on certain projects could break down. You may need to set specific days where certain teams come to the office and place an emphasis on group project work on those certain days. Perhaps one of the most important elements of a successful hybrid model is the tools you give your staff to ensure they can work seamlessly and comfortably.”
-JJ Lee, Digital PR Executive at Digital Funnel
33. “Just a camera and high-speed internet are enough” – Lasting Trend
“We consider the hybrid format to be optimal for our company. Not all tasks require a presence in the office, and some are even more optimal to solve remotely – the online format allows you to attract colleagues from other countries, hold large-scale meetings and meetings without additional spending of time or expenses on business trips: just a camera and high-speed Internet are enough.
Working from home has its advantages, such as being able to focus and do deep work without distraction. On the other hand, personal meetings are also necessary to preserve the cohesion and traditions of the corporate culture. It’s not only about maintaining connections within the team, but also about relationships with customers. Once a week we organize Zoom meetings with the team members concerning the projects as well as keep in touch with all of them via Slack.”
-Tim Absalikov, CEO of Lasting Trend
Events management indusrty
34. “We started flying people around” – TeamBuilding
“We’ve actually been hybrid for years, with our event hosts working and meeting up locally, and our headquarters staff working remotely.
One of the biggest challenges we faced was that it was easy to have in-person meetups for bonding time and training, but our remote team of sales, marketing and admin people would miss out. We found a few ways to bridge the gap.
First, we made all of our all-hands meetings virtual, which meant that everyone on the hybrid workforce was on an even playing field for face time at these important meetings. Second, we started flying people around. For example, a few times a year we would fly a number of our remote colleagues into major cities to meet up with the local staff. When possible, we aligned these meetups with big client events, but even when we couldn’t do so we still made the time.
Finally and similarly, we do team retreats that combine staff from both in-person and remote positions. The result is a mostly happy and productive team that feels connected, even when we are working together at a distance.”
-Michael Alexis, CEO of TeamBuilding
Retail industry
35. “The effects on productivity are second to none” – ViscoSoft
“When it comes to hybrid work, the effects it has on productivity are second to none. I think we have all learned how important autonomy and independence are over the course of the pandemic, and hybrid work fosters that autonomous mindset. When employees have more control over when they work, the overall employee experience and culture in the workplace skyrockets.
Hybrid work also fosters collaboration, which in an ever-changing and ever-growing business world is necessary for overall growth.”
-Gabriel Dungan, CEO and Founder of ViscoSoft
36. “Hybrid teams give employees choice about what best suits them, and that choice is invaluable to employee wellbeing” – Nolah Mattress
“The major benefit to hybrid work is the flexibility it offers employees in terms of their work-life balance. Hybrid teams give employees choice about what best suits them, and that choice is invaluable to employee wellbeing. When employees are given the freedom to define what work-life balance means to them, they often feel more engaged with the company, and their work is proof of the benefits.”
-Stephen Light, CMO and Co-Owner of Nolah Mattress
37. “The most critical factor is investing in the right technology” – Custom Neon
“Being able to offer remote working has enabled us to increase our talent pools extensively, as location is no longer a barrier to applications.
The most critical factor for initiating off-site working capabilities, especially when it comes to navigating time zones and multiple locations, is investing in the right technology.
In order to succeed, every team member must have the right tools and software so they can communicate and collaborate without disruption.
It’s important for organizations to provide not only the tools for all employees to be successful, well trained and motivated, they also need to provide ample opportunities to keep teams connected.
Online meetings that incorporate fun activities such as online painting tutorials, create your own LED neon sign, virtual bingo, music quizzes, coffee catch ups or Friday Happy Hour, create environments that are conducive to networking, positive mental health and camaraderie.
Conducting anonymous feedback is essential to establish a thorough understanding of how employees are feeling in mixed working configurations.”
-Jess Munday, Co-Founder of Custom Neon
B2C Businesses
38 “Communication has been a key success factor” – iCASH
“We have our 50% employees working from home. It has reduced our overhead costs by reducing our office configuration. We are planning to increase this number to 60-70% in upcoming months.
Communication has been a key success factor in this model. We have Zoom to discuss our major projects and Slack for regular connection. Though we have been struggling to monitor the working of our remote employees. It takes time for us to educate our new employees on the system. But overall, hybrid has been a very positive experience in terms of productivity and cost-efficiency. We are heavily using freelance sites to get our one-time projects done without needing to recruit new talent. So, that’s a real plus for us.”
-Dror Zaifman, Director of Digital Marketing for iCASH
39. “I constantly remind myself to treat everyone equally” – Créatif
“Our company scheduled two weeks to shift. This means the first team will spend two weeks working onsite, and the second team will spend two weeks working from home. In the next two weeks, they will shift the working environment.
Sometimes I feel that onsite employees are noticed more than remote workers, and to make up for that, I constantly remind myself to avoid that and treat everyone equally regardless of the kind of work setting they are in.
The most vital tool to have to make a hybrid work successful is technology, whether you are working from home or onsite. Most industries refer to technology, and you also have to find a way to cope with it as technology changes constantly.”
-Jaya Aiyar, Founder & CEO at Créatif
40. “We believe in giving our employees the choice” – Lovebox
“At Lovebox we believe in giving our employees the choice of working from home or working remotely. For those living near our headquarters, we have a beautiful office they can work out of if they so choose. This allows for a great exchange of ideas between our different divisions. Whether our teammates work from home or in the office, they’re always communicating. Even from a distance, we ensure that each of our employees feels close to each other. We use a daily discussion tool such as Slack to communicate both professionally and personally. While it can be challenging at times to work in different cities, we do our best to bridge the gap with the technology we have on hand.”
-Jean Gregoire, CEO of Lovebox
41. “Initially, it was a bit awkward!” – PhotoAiD
“Our company implemented hybrid working in January 2020. Initially, it was a bit awkward! In those times, just 15 people were working in our startup. We knew each other personally and created a unique collaboration atmosphere. The change towards a hybrid model was difficult – not on an organizational but a personal level. Over time, we got used to this situation. When the pandemic came and most companies switched to a remote or hybrid work model, we appreciated making this decision earlier.
Before January 2020, we rented ample office space in the center of Warsaw. Our startup was snowballing, so we considered buying our own office. However, the concept has changed, and following a trend that was not very popular at the time, we decided to try a hybrid model. As the future showed, it was a very beneficial solution! Not only did we not have to pay for the purchase and maintenance of the office, but we were also well prepared for the pandemic crisis.”
-Maciek Kubiak, Head of People at PhotoAiD
42. “We provide our blended workforce with equal opportunities” – Number 1 Plates
“I realized that one of the keys to managing a hybrid team successfully is to treat every member equally. Because of that, we provided our blended workforce with equal opportunities in training, mentoring, feedback, and leadership opportunities. In addition, we provided employees with the right tools and equipment, which helped them transition smoothly and have a way to collaborate more efficiently despite the distance and work hours differences. This is when collaboration tools like Slack, Google Workplace, and Zoom come in handy for us.
However, the risk of security breaches also became higher since our business processes moved online. There are instances when employees work in other places while connecting to public WiFi connections. To mitigate the security risks, we employed a stronger antivirus software and made tighter security measures to protect the company’s data and everyone’s personal information from hackers. We also trained employees on how to remain secure while working online and securely using the company’s online software and collaborative tools.”
-Tobias Rawcliffe, Head of Marketing at Number 1 Plates
43. “The transition was seamless once we had the best tools and training in place” – 4WD Life
“We’ve been using the hybrid and remote work model for a long time now and it has served us better than anticipated. The transition was seamless once we had the best tools and training in place.
A better approach to work-life balance has been the primary benefit, both for our leaders and our workforce. Unsurprisingly, this has also proved to be a cost-effective option as far as operations and resources are concerned, since many of our employees now work from home.
Since many of our team members work in different time zones, the biggest challenge was ensuring that everyone was always on the samepage.
Technology and online collaboration tools have definitely helped in this regard, but it took a fair bit of planning and creating streamlined processes that the team could follow and stick to. While there are a number of tools and apps dedicated to making the hybrid work model a lot easier, quick implementation was our top priority. We ultimately decided upon Slack for team communication, keeping Zoom and Google Meet for virtual meetings since they’re widely used by all.”
-Jerry Ford, Owner of 4WD Life
Data management industry
44. “Seek out a schedule that works for you” – HighTouch
“A number one benefit of hybrid working is flex scheduling. There is less time wasting and more opportunities for balancing your personal life. While these can fall out of balance without proper scheduling or intentional personal control, the positives when taken advantage of are immense.
If in a hybrid environment, focus on creating a schedule that works for you and your fellow employees, and seek opportunities to better your own health (both physical and mental) in the process.”
-Kashish Gupta, Founder and CEO of HighTouch
45. “Hybrid work is more productive” – GoodCloudStorage
“I feel like hybrid work is more productive than full-time and remote work cultures. The inception of hybrid works made me realise that we can hit our targets even with fewer working hours.”
-Joe Kok, Co-Founder of GoodCloudStorage
Real Estate industry
46. “Managers have to learn to trust their team” – Precondo
“With hybrid work into the picture, the most impact has been on managing my team.. Managers have to learn to trust their team. Micromanagement can lead to frustration that will obviously decrease the productivity of the team members. Everyone in the team should feel heard and know their contribution is essential to the project’s success. They need to be given the team space and time to innovate. Stand for them when you need to, as the leader you should always have their back.”
-Jordan Scrinko, Marketing Director of Precondo
47. “Hybrid work has been fantastic for us” – HouseCashin
“Hybrid work has been fantastic for us. It has worked so well because we’re a small team (10 people) and only a few of us have customer-facing roles that require physical meetings. It has allowed us to downsize our office, thus saving overhead as well. A few of us go into the office twice a week while the rest are permanently remote. Most of my team is more productive working remotely than in the office, so overall productivity has definitely increased.
We also have a few working parents, so they’ve been able to handle childcare far easier through this hybrid work arrangement.”
-Marina Vaamonde, Founder of HouseCashin
Legal industry
48. “Hybrid working is here to stay” – WinIt
“The biggest challenge to hybrid working is understanding that it is here to stay, and finding ways to embrace it instead of dismissing it as a fad. Moving forward the goal is to try and keep your virtual team members connected when they don’t have that valuable face-to-face time they experience in the office. This can mean setting up daily meetings where workers from different departments can connect and share information. These meetings can create water cooler moments, where people are able to talk in real-time and not rely only on email as a way to connect. One thing that can also be a successful way to replace the after-work “let’s go for a drink” is to institute an end of the week cocktail hour where your team can gather and actually not talk about work, but reconnect in a way that’s not always possible in formal online video calls. Being creative and bringing your team together in unexpected ways will boost your employee satisfaction, and help you stay connected to your team.”
-Ouriel Lemmel, CEO & Founder of WinIt
49. “The most important benefit is a significant improvement in the mental health of employees.” – Lawrina
“The most important benefit is a significant improvement in the mental health of employees.
The most difficult task was to coordinate the work of the team in order to successfully set up the processes and note the time for meetings and opportunities as needed. The most important applications are those that help with communication among the team such as Zoom or Slack, as well as tools for planning such as Jira or Gantt.”
-Inna Ptitsyna, PR Manager at Lawrina
50. “Many of our workflows remain the same” – The Patel Firm
“The transition was easier than expected, with team members quickly adjusting to the hybrid work style. Likely, the adjustment was smooth because much of our business was already done via computer, so many of our workflows remain the same.
Having the option to work from home, even sometimes, has been a positive influence on everyone. We all want a better work-life balance, and the flexibility of hybrid scheduling has allowed us an easier path to find it.”
-Minesh J. Patel, Founder of The Patel Firm
51. “One must actively avoid having the ‘A team’” – Net Lawman
“Hybrid working is difficult. I find that you need to constantly work on ensuring that you don’t have classes of workers as a result of a diverse working system. I mean, one must actively avoid having the ‘A team’ , the team who works together, and the rest, the remote workers.
It can quickly go this way, as much as you don’t wish for it to. I suppose it is human nature to feel more attached/involved with those who you are in close proximity to on a daily basis.
There are benefits however. Smaller office numbers means a smaller footprint, less costs and it’s safer.”
-Andrew Taylor, Director of Net Lawman
B2B Businesses
52. “We now hire talent from around the globe” – PerkUp
“We’ve adapted to hybrid working like a fish taking to water and are enjoying some great benefits to productivity.
Challenges and opportunities are both sides of the same coin, right? So the challenge was really to adapt and formulate systems that can support hybrid and virtual office interactions amongst colleagues and teams. We managed to get this right and also created some great onboarding training to help with the orientation process.
Overall here are the benefits of hybrid working:
1. We now hire talent from around the globe and are not restricted to getting the best talent on board.
2. We have great internal processes in place to ensure hybrid working, including a zoom meeting room for quick online face chats and real interaction.
3. We conduct team surveys every month to keep on track on how the systems are working to improve productivity.
4. We also have weekly wrap ups to see how everyone is coping on their shifts and if there are any issues we need to iron out.
5. Our staff are more productive as they work on shifts that best suit their personal circumstances.”
-Thomas Mirmotahari, CEO of PerkUp
53. “All the tasks we have can be done remotely” – Force by Mojio
“My company started doing hybrid work about two months ago. It’s a super relaxed version of it, where our employees essentially choose whenever they want to come in and they don’t have to follow a schedule. We decided to go this route because a lot of our employees are actually spread out throughout the country and can only work remotely, so we didn’t want them to feel like they were going to fall behind. We also didn’t want in-person work to be absolutely necessary, so all the tasks we have can be done remotely.
One of the biggest challenges that we’ve had with this is virtual meetings. Having all of the in-person workers log into their individual computers for these meetings seems a little overkill, but having the in-person workers all join on one screen seems strange and almost creates a separation between them and the remote workers.”
– Kyle MacDonald, Director of Operations at Force by Mojio
54. “Employees feel valued and motivated” – CoCoSign
“We recently implemented hybrid working in our company and so far I like it. At first, it was a challenge to adapt to the new changes but with its flexibility, the company has become more productive. Being flexible has helped me to become more productive because I can now work at times when I’m the most productive.
The most essential tool in making hybrid work successful is effective communication. Practicing open communication where every team member participates, makes employees feel valued and motivated. At CocoSign, employees are encouraged to form social groups where they can help each other in their projects and even get to know each other. This has helped us learn new skills and improve our work.”
-Stephen Curry, CEO of CoCoSign
55. “One of the most visible benefits is the restoration of work-life balance” – ProofHub
“We have initiated a flexible model of work schedules where certain team members work from the office and others work remotely. Everyone has the liberty to work from the office or take up remote work given how their physical safety and work preferences are aligned.
One of the most visible benefits is the restoration of work-life balance. Employees feel much more comfortable with the choice to work from wherever they want. We have also seen an apparent boost in productivity as team members work from where they feel the most productive.”
-Vartika Kashyap, Chief Marketing Officer at ProofHub
56. “The lack of distraction boosts productivity” – Trustana
“Most people that I work with prefer remote and flexible work. Employees like the cost effectiveness and flexibility of remote working and enjoy the chance to be more relaxed while at work. They also find the lack of distraction boosts productivity, and find they feel happier and more efficient than before. In our experience, Microsoft Office 365 brings us convenience and boosts our productivity rate. We get to obtain files anytime and anywhere, and we can also interact productively with our people to ensure the continuity of our business. It is a tool that lets us operate at our maximum capacity by helping us streamline the processes we do.”
-Isabella Zhou, Marketing Lead at Trustana
57. “Time management became an invaluable skill” – Motivosity
“The benefits of hybrid work have been increased employee engagement, easier collaboration between teams, and overall greater employee satisfaction because they have more control over their schedules. Time management became an invaluable skill. With hybrid work managers will be balancing their time between employees in the office and employees who are working remotely. This adds to the other tasks and responsibilities they’re responsible for, so it’s important to be able to manage your time successfully in order to stay on top of things.”
-Logan Mallory, VP at Motivosity
58. “Employees feel more empowered to make their own decisions and be a little more autonomous” – Textel
“Our hybrid workforce has helped drive employee satisfaction, and even employee engagement, which we were concerned may drop without the social, in-person office experience. Employees feel more empowered to make their own decisions and be a little more autonomous, which has driven engagement higher – it’s been a great change!”
-James Diel, CEO of Textel
59. “Hybrid working allows me to reinvest more into company growth” – PDFLiner
“My company implemented the transition to hybrid working after the first COVID-19 lockdown in the US started. All my 15 employees have the choice to work from home all the time if they want. Still, many of them keep coming to the office from time to time.
All my employees are happy about the new rules as they are not pushed to commute every day just to reach their computers anymore. As for me as an owner, I am happy about the new smaller office space that costs less and allows me to reinvest more into company growth.”
-Dmytro Serheeiv, Co-Owner of PDFLiner
60. “The right interactions are essential to success” – Aquinas Consulting
“At Aquinas Consulting, we have been operating in a hybrid manner for 21 years. We find it incredibly valuable and necessary to ensure our employees are just as engaged online as they would be in the office.
In the days when everyone worked in the office, I had a philosophy of “Management by walking around” instead of holding meetings. With more workers being remote, this becomes difficult to do as there needs to be ways of replicating the normal daily touchpoints that might occur in an office setting. On the contrary, I believe with a remote workforce we still need to find a way to “manage by walking around.” This can be done through a variety of approaches that involve traditional and new technology that facilitates frequent ongoing interaction. Virtual management, as I would describe it, is designed to help me keep in touch with workers and to make them feel included every step of the way.
While running effective meetings is essential, too many meetings can be a drain on productivity with people suffering from “zoom fatigue.” I find direct and meaningful interaction with members of my team throughout the day essential to our success. If this interaction is micromanagement, it is harmful. But the right interactions are essential to success.
Maintaining a virtual work environment that is just as active, celebratory and positive as that in an office setting is critical to the success of remote work, and we were adamant about transferring a lot of the approaches we have developed and used in the office to a virtual workspace.”
-Tom Mercaldo, President of Aquinas Consulting
Finance industry
61. “We adopted the hybrid model and it’s been a net positive” – The Stock Dork
“We adopted the hybrid model sometime around last year and it’s been a net positive to be precise. One of the benefits has been the reduced operational cost because we don’t require a large, expensive office space anymore. Having a smaller space as our headquarters along with most employees working from home is what our model looks like right now. We gave everyone the option to work from home or the new headquarters and that seems to have boosted morale. In fact, productivity has gone up as well, because not everyone is cut out to work from home or the office.
The main challenges have revolved around communication and collaboration. It was much harder earlier on when we didn’t look for the digital version of the “meeting room.” Thankfully, we started using apps like Slack and our problems were significantly reduced.”
-Adam Garcia, Founder of The Stock Dork
62. “We’ve seen a huge drop in the usage of sick days and PTO in general” – Education Data Loan Finance
“We’ve been experimenting with a variety of hybrid approaches. There have definitely been some stumbling blocks as we figure out what works and what doesn’t, but overall we’re finding it to be a better work environment for everyone.
We’ve seen a huge drop in the usage of sick days and PTO in general, we’re seeing substantial savings in office-related expenses from rent to paper to toner to coffee, and our turnover remains low in the face of the great resignation.
There have been two big, related challenges to overcome: Communication and scheduling. It took some trial and error to find an optimal schedule that maximized collaboration while maintaining flexibility, and we had to really change the way we communicated to be both more online and more intentional.
If you have the budget, invest in a dedicated scheduling coordinator. Having someone whose job it is to make sure people in several time zones all make it to a meeting, or that two key team members are in the office on the same day, saves a lot of headaches for everyone.”
-Melanie Hanson, CEO of Education Data Loan Finance
Health industry
63. “Having a strong company culture can be more important than ever.” – Pawp
“With so many companies now using a hybrid work model, having a strong company culture can be more important than ever.
When teams are collaborating — with some working from home and others in the office — having those standard procedures and strong brand awareness can ensure that everyone is on the same page. Even the apps and tools that you use as a company can be indicators of your company culture, especially when they focus on the importance of organization, communication and project management. Maintaining these things will ensure that your hybrid work model is a success, and not simply an experiment.”
-Marc Atiyeh, CEO of Pawp
64. “It’s so much nicer than being stuck in an office” – Aimvein
“We had some concerns before we implemented hybrid working. We were worried that productivity might be lower than it is in the traditional office. We didn’t want people to get distracted by social things, or just feel bad if they weren’t able to get work done at home.
However, since we introduced hybrid working, the results have been excellent. It’s so much nicer than being stuck in an office. And our employees are more productive at home than they used to be in the office.
We have seen an increased job satisfaction among employees since we switched to hybrid working. Employees claim to be more productive and valuable. This is likely due to the fact that they now have time for learning and personal development as well as their normal workload. It is also believed that this method of working increases the productivity of the employees as they now have time for networking and collaboration across teams.”
-Austin Dowse, CEO of Aimvein
TL;DR: The number one hybrid working takeaway
Most of the businesses in this article attributed their success with hybrid working to clear processes, excellent communication, and the right tools.
A solid project management tool can encompass all 3 of these by giving your team a centralised place to manage their work and communicate with each other and clients.
Project.co is a modular project management software that allows you to select specific tools that are relevant to your business to create an unlimited number of projects that are perfect for your needs. Get started for free today!
