Hybrid work is supposed to provide benefits like flexibility and autonomy to employees, but is it really as comfortable as we think?
According to a survey report, more than 80% of human resources executives believe that hybrid work is exhausting for employees. Hybrid work was also said to be more emotionally draining than purely remote work and more taxing than a full-time office job.
Following hybrid work is equivalent to maintaining two workplaces, one at the office and one at home. It requires forethought and a stop-start pattern, such as taking your laptop to and from work every day and remembering where you left important items.
This psychological shift and the frequent change of environment, this constant sense of never being settled and anxious is super exhausting. It makes you emotionally drained and you end up being unproductive.
Hybrid workers feel that their productivity has been up by 50% ever since they started using ProofHub. Sign up today and see for yourself.
What are the challenges of hybrid work?
Employees say they desire hybrid work arrangements, which businesses are increasingly giving, but they’re proving to be more difficult to handle emotionally than first believed.
Most employees who are not obliged to be in person for their job want their workweek to include a mix of remote and in-office work.
A rising number of businesses are now providing such services. They want to make changes to their employment policies to be more flexible.
However, new evidence suggests that hybrid work can be demanding, contributing to the specific problem that workers hoped it would solve: burnout.
Here are some of the challenges of hybrid work:
1. Inconsistent routine
Hybrid work necessitates constant adjustments to daily routines. There is no regularity or rhythm to a worker’s week; one day, they are at the office, and the next, they are working from home. All of the back and forth might be taxing when a firm tells you which days to do it on.
Also, building out new daily habits can be challenging and deplete cognitive resources. Switching to hybrid could also throw a wrench in someone’s home-working schedule. Hybrid practices necessitate more effort, organization, and forethought. You’ll need to develop new methods, such as hot-desking and commute planning, that you wouldn’t require if you were remote or in-person.
Carrying work back and forth between home and the office might have a psychological impact on certain people.
2. Confusion
It’s challenging to define hybrid work because everyone’s hybrid configuration is different, and it can change from week to week. Some organizations enable employees to return to the office for “hybrid work,” but for the most part, no one does, and everyone continues to work from home. This also means that all employees have their hybrid work schedules, but they must come into the office at least twice a week.
In many examples of hybrid work, there is additional ambiguity about who is supposed to be making specific decisions. Hybrid work can also bring in a lot of confusion if things are not managed correctly. Since some people work from the office and others work from home, it may get challenging to be on the page.
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3. Diluted company culture
The hybrid work approach will almost certainly result in diluted business culture. One issue with remote workers is that they don’t always feel linked to their company’s objective. This may lead to their dissatisfaction with the organization or the “office life” becoming the only emphasis of the corporate culture.
According to a current survey, over 60% of employees are unaware of their company’s values. This may make it more difficult for them to feel like a valuable member of the team and relate to the company’s distinctive mission. To prevent losing more bright employees, CEOs are rethinking and redefining their corporate cultures in response to new work arrangements.
How can companies make hybrid work less taxing?
1. Communicate with your employees
When you claim you want to make your company more flexible, make sure you talk to your employees first and find out what they want from you. What might work for one employee might not work for another. The concept of hybrid work is fantastic if your employees are comfortable with it and want to work that way, but it’s pointless if they aren’t.
When you try to understand your employees, you can easily collect information and have the power to address their needs better. And, in a world where our employees’ needs are becoming increasingly diverse and demanding daily, understanding them is more important than ever.
Finally, putting yourself in your employee’s shoes demonstrates your concern for them. Speak with them about what you can do to make hybrid work more bearable for them. Inquire about what works for them and take the necessary steps. You may show your employees that you understand how difficult hybrid work can be and that you care enough to come and assist them. A little act can have a significant impact!
2. Use the right technology
As mentioned before, when it comes to hybrid work there is no consistency. You have to go through different processes and procedures every day. There’s also a potential that if you go to work once or twice a week, you’ll forget crucial items at work, or vice versa if you work from home a few times a week.
Therefore, it is super important to provide your employees with a platform where they can keep all of their important information safe and readily accessible whenever they need it. Using a work management system like ProofHub comes to your rescue in that case.
ProofHub may eliminate the need for your hybrid team to use several tools and streamline the entire process. It brings together all of the tools you’ll need to improve team cooperation and keep on top of your duties.
ProofHub is ideal for both in-house and remote teams, as it can manage a large number of projects and facilitate team collaboration. It helps you with practically every project and team management function, including task management, progress monitoring, time tracking, file management, communication with your team, project reporting, etc.
Here are some of the core features of ProofHub that help you make hybrid work as easy as a breeze.
1. Kanban boards
Kanban boards from ProofHub are the most efficient method to plan your tasks and projects. They’re a visual depiction of your project’s and team’s progress.
The board view gives you a clear picture of your team’s workflow, verifies status and progress, and allows for open team communication.
2. Table view
ProofHub Table view allows you to organize data in one place and see the overall picture of your entire project at a glance. It enables you to prepare and systematically present project-related data.
Assign tasks, communicate crucial information, and make sure all critical data is in the appropriate place. The table view allows you to filter data by importance and organize your work in whatever way you want, ensuring that you never miss out on vital information.
3. Gantt charts
A Gantt chart is a time-based visual representation of projects, related tasks, and resources. It shows you who is allocated to which task, the duration of tasks, how long it took the individual to finish a certain assignment, dependencies, and overlapping tasks by displaying tasks against time.
The Gantt chart is an excellent tool for planning, scheduling, and organizing projects to meet deadlines.
4. Chat application
You can’t always keep video conferencing with your hybrid team members for minor problems. It’s critical to have a platform where people can communicate swiftly and get things done.
ProofHub’s built-in chat tool allows you to receive immediate responses and facilitates direct interaction with your team and clients. You can speak with your coworkers individually or in a group chat using the chat feature.
5. Reports
ProofHub generates thorough bespoke reports for each team member or the entire project, allowing you to track project progress in real-time.
It allows you to see all of the details of your project as well as the general development in one location. A thorough burn-up chart allows you to rapidly compare the quantity of work accomplished to the total work.
6. Time tracker
Since your workforce is dispersed across different locations, it’s more critical than ever to maintain track of their time.
Team members can use time tracking to improve their performance. It also allows you to monitor the productivity of your team members and analyze overall work hours. It gives you visibility, transparency, and effective resource management.
7. Proofing tool
You’d agree that managing a hybrid team when you have creative initiatives in the works might be difficult. You sometimes have to rely on guesswork when you don’t have the convenience of face-to-face input, and things may get quite confusing.
ProofHub integrates all of the necessary proofing features to help you and your team streamline the design approval and review process. You can easily proof a file using the markup tool and annotate changes without any sort of confusion.
It is now 10x easier to keep your hybrid team on the same page and get work done effortlessly. Book Your Demo TODAY!
Conclusion
Many employees find it challenging to manage hybrid work because it lacks consistency. It is not easy to work from home one day and go to the office the next day. Your mind and body need a similar environment on most days to perform well.
However, hybrid work can be a fantastic form of work if correctly managed. It all relies on the needs of your company and employees. Here’s hoping that these pointers will help employees and businesses avoid pitfalls and come up with efficient solutions to make hybrid work less taxing for everyone.
