Webex defines the Hybrid Work Model as: “a flexible work model that supports a blend of in-office, remote, and on-the-go workers. It offers employees the autonomy to choose to work wherever and however they are most productive.” This model is not new. In fact, a lot of companies have adopted this work model pre-pandemic. These were mostly small and agile SMEs who could afford to allow their employees the flexibility of remote work.

However, a lot of big companies have followed suit. One notable example is Airbnb, which announced in April that they are allowing their employees to “live and work anywhere—while collaborating in a highly coordinated way.” If you haven’t yet, here are 5 tips to make the business case around adopting the hybrid work model:

1. Set Expectations
If you plan to adopt hybrid work, set extremely clear expectations on deliverables and work quality. This is the time to use your KPIs and SLAs. Everyone in the company, top to bottom, must understand the level of quality expected of the work they turn in. Also, specific guidelines on allowable time for remote work. Make sure that these expectations and guidelines are communicated to everyone in the organization.

2. Be Ready For Pushback
Traditionally, work is done in the office so that managers can “monitor” an employee’s productivity. Therefore, one of the biggest concerns for employers regarding hybrid work is that remote workers will “slack off” or under deliver. But studies have already debunked this myth. Data has shown that even during pre-pandemic times, remote workers were 77% more productive and were less likely to be absent from work. While a huge part of the organization will readily embrace hybrid work and the flexibility that comes with it, there will be apprehensions re: management and collaboration. Open your doors to communication and allow everyone to voice their concerns through the proper channels. This gives employers the opportunity to alleviate worries and ease employee (or management) concerns.

3. Have Policies In Place
Your policies must be concise – meaning short, and straightforward, with little room for assumptions and confusion. Don’t let people guess what they can or can’t do. Your policy should be short enough that the salient points are easy to remember and just long enough to be able to provide some explanation for the decision. Focus on the benefits and don’t bury the policy in words. Take Airbnb’s example: “you can live and work in over 170 countries for up to 90 days a year in each location. Everyone will still need a permanent address for tax and payroll purposes, but we’re excited to give you this level of flexibility.”

4. Be Transparent
Be transparent with the company’s goals. Airbnb’s April announcement wasn’t just a move to adopt the hybrid work model but a key part of their talent management strategy. They were clear about hiring and retaining the best talent and their hybrid work policy was a brilliant and strategic move.

Has your company adopted the hybrid work model yet? What is your hybrid work policy? Tell us about it in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

The return to the office has brought about the trend of hybrid work where employees are required to come to the office most days and have the option to do remote work on some days. This has spawned the option of being able to hire remotely distributed teams. 

Distributed teams – where teammates are working from different locations is part of an ongoing trend. With highly specialized software making collaboration easier, it is now possible to work together from anywhere. However, for teams to collaborate successfully there has to be cohesion – everyone needs to be on the same page. When there is no organization-wide view into tasks and projects – silos will develop and that makes it harder to work together. Aside from teamwork, successful collaborative teams have the following values:

Clarity: Clear communication is of utmost importance. It is a given that not all teams will not agree on everything all the time. It is therefore very important to communicate opinions, ideas, and priorities clearly to reduce conflicts or and avoid misunderstandings.

Efficiency: Successful collaboration does not correlate to how much time the team spends together. Rather it is dependent on how that time together is utilized. Keeping meetings and catch-ups short, structured, and to the point help teams get their work done on time.

Positivity: It is also a given that not all team projects will go smoothly. It is key to instill the value of resilience and failing forward. Learning to shake off failure and to start a new task or project with a positive attitude make collaborations successful.

Trust: Successful collaborative teams place a premium on psychological safety. This term means team members are given a safe space to share their opinions and be themselves. They know that it is safe to contribute their ideas and unique skills. To foster successful collaboration, make sure to encourage sharing of ideas and that the team knows that their leaders have their best interest at heart and believe in their abilities. 

Accountability: Make sure that everyone is holding themselves accountable for their work. This means that everyone understands their part in the process and how missed deadlines and haphazard performance affects the tasks or projects as a whole. Isolate issues and offer support so that everyone can reach their goals.

Another thing to factor into teams is diversity and inclusivity. Studies show that diversity in teams (and your organization roster, in general) greatly improves an organization’s culture and the team’s performance on a project. Diversity helps brings an array of skill sets and skill levels. Add to this the fact that diverse personalities are great facilitators of a strong company culture. In order to create successfully collaborative teams, help instill the above mentioned values.

What values do you think are important for remotely working teams to be successfully collaborative? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

According to Merriam-Webster, procrastination is a verb that means “to put off intentionally and habitually.” We don’t really need the official definition (but it’s nice to know). There are 2 components of procrastination – intentional and habitual. This means that we choose to display this behavior and it’s not something that just accidentally happens. When we intentionally delay a task for another task that we deem is of greater utility or importance – then that’s not procrastination. It is prioritization. But, when we intentionally and habitually delay a priority task for an easier, low-priority one, we procrastinate. That is not very productive. Escaping into an easier task might feel good for a while but procrastination is tiring. Having to be constantly reminded of the list of things to do that are left undone can drain our mental resources. 

Everyone procrastinates, we all do it. It is THE top productivity issue in major employee surveys. But if everyone has this problem, why haven’t we solved it yet? Here are 3 scientific reasons:

Temporal Discounting aka “I have 4 weeks to finish the report.”

This means we perceive tasks that are further away into the future to be of less value. We’ve all experienced putting off a paper that’s still due next month and crammed it into a few days (or worse…hours). Instead of writing a few pages everyday for a month, we subject ourselves to the stress of having to complete it the week before.

What to do:

Think of your future self and your present self as friends. The more responsible you are for your future self, the less likely your present self will procrastinate. Ask yourself if your future self will appreciate the fact that your present self is blowing off this high priority task. 

Irrational Avoidance aka “I don’t have all the resources I need to do it correctly.”

Procrastination always comes with a looming sense of dread for a task. We fear that we might do it wrong. But this is irrational fear. There is no silver bullet that will make you complete the task perfectly just because you waited long enough. 

What to do:

Confront your fear. Give yourself permission to begin right now (or whenever you’re due to start). Ask yourself how difficult would it really be to start. Baby steps go a long way.

Completion Anxiety aka “I will never get this room spic and span just like in Pinterest.”

The notion of having to complete a task is daunting and painful so we avoid it at all costs. More often than not, we inflate this fear and so it turns into a threat when in fact most of the time, these ‘standards’ are unnecessary.

What to do:

When faced with an overwhelming task, don’t think about finishing it. Instead, commit to doing a chunk of time working on completing your task. For example, cleaning comes easier if you commit to tidying up for 15 mins instead of cleaning it all up in one go.

What are your tips to combat procrastination? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

We have our orders – return to work orders, that is. Soon, almost everyone will be typing away at keyboards on their generic desks back in the corporate office. That’s how organizations envision it, at least. There has been pushback from employees though – mostly because the pandemic is far from over and not everyone has the same level of safety precautions practiced.

Here are 3 common arguments FOR returning to work and why they’re not always correct:

1. Returning to the office increases productivity and collaboration
You will hear this argument most of the time. In fact, it is the primary argument for the return to the office. Organization higher ups believe that their team struggles with loneliness, disengagement and low productivity if they are not in the same place as their co-workers. But remote workers have long known that this is a myth. In fact, remote workers have been shown to do the opposite – it increases productivity. Imagine having to do busy work just to fill the usual 9 to 5 when you were already done by 2pm.Thanks to the proliferation of various collaboration software like Asana, Trello, GSuite, MicroSoft Teams, and the amazing video conferencing technology that Zoom, GoToMeeetings, and Skype have made available to us have enabled geo diverse teams to communicate and work together on projects and tasks on a scale that has been unprecedented.

2. Managers can’t trust their team to get the job done
Ah, the micromanagers have their say. Nobody likes to have someone looking over their shoulder to ensure that the work is getting done correctly. Empowered teams are usually given the tools and resources to do their work whenever and however way they deem fit. The burden of establishing a trusting, fair, and accountable relationship falls on the shoulders of the employer. These values must be established. Most employees have proven that they can finish the work with less oversight. More trust, less “hovering’ is what teams need to be empowered and not feel like a cog in a wheel.

3. The corporate culture is suffering
The fact that there are more remote teams collaborating and working with each other is always a plus. Collaboration tools enable geo diverse teams to work around the hurdle of not being able to work in the same space. Inclusivity and diversity is always encouraged in remote teams. More diverse minds encourage creativity, idea generation, and problem solving. What company culture will suffer from more of that?

A hybrid approach, where some days, teams work in the office and some days they have the option to work remotely, is the way to the future of work. There are benefits to returning to the office too. For example, a return to the office encourages less Zoom Gloom and tech fatigue. Face to face interactions mean there will be less reliance on technology for team huddles and face to face meetings, thus freeing up time for asynchronous work without interruptions.

What are your thoughts on returning to the office? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp