Digital Enterprise

Last week, my father-in-law drove into downtown Boston for a doctor’s appointment. When I spoke to him later that evening, he said, “Chris, thank goodness you don’t have to drive into the city everyday. Took me almost 90 minutes each way.” (We live in the southern suburbs that are ordinarily only 45 minutes away from the city without traffic.) I joked about not missing any of the multi-highway commutes into Boston, and said, “I’m definitely grateful,” understanding that I’ve been working in some type of remote or hybrid setup for the vast majority of my career.

For many others, though, the idea of remote or hybrid work has only been a reality for less than two years. And for their leaders, well, that’s a much different story.

There has been no bigger business-oriented discussion over the past 20+ months than remote and hybrid work. When the pandemic was in its infancy, many businesses were abruptly forced to close down physical locations and institute near-overnight contingency plans to support their workforce operating under remote conditions. For some, these plans went off without a hitch. For many others, however, the adaptation was bumpy.

While many of us had hoped COVID-19 would be in its eventual endemic form by now, new variants (hello, Omicron) are already portraying 2022 as yet another year that some semblance of uncertainty will remain within the business arena under pandemic conditions. If 2020 was a “shock to the system” and 2021 was a year of adapting to new ways of working, then 2022 must be the year that businesses truly develop Best-in-Class hybrid workplaces.

The biggest trick to hybrid work success in 2022 is, first and foremost, realizing that the past 20+ months were filled with ramifications due to the pandemic, but many of these transformational shifts were, in fact, Future of Work accelerants that forever shaped the ways work is done. And, there also needs to be a real understanding of the fundamental differences of remote work (full-time digital infrastructure) and hybrid work (remote work interspersed with in-office days). Going into 2022, businesses that anticipated a full return-to-office plan are quickly figuring out that hybrid workplaces make the most sense. Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research finds that 72% of businesses are actively planning for the best fit between traditional, in-person structures and remote work, proving that the majority of enterprises understand that hybrid work will become the norm (if it already hasn’t) in 2022 and beyond.

We’re entering year three of a global pandemic and hybrid work is a reality. How businesses tackle this arena in the coming months will ultimately depend on the strategy’s ultimate success:

• There’s no “return to normal,” so let’s just accept it. Seriously, just accept it! That’s the recommendation. Hybrid and remote work are both here to stay.
• Rethink how core teams operate and allow them to develop their own best ways of getting work done. Blanket recommendations aren’t going to work for those teams that know their functions better than their executive leaders do. We’re already in the midst of 2022 planning, so each team should be taking this time before the holidays to develop a plan for the year ahead that takes into account the access they need to systems, technology, and, most importantly, each other. Cross-enterprise mandates may work for businesses in which the vast, vast majority of workers are operating in a similar field, however, many businesses leverage dynamic teams that can and will benefit from a workplace structure that aligns well with the work they need to do.
• Work-life integration can, should, and will be the norm. A play on work-life “balance,” work-life integration is a much better concept for today’s workers that actively experience the unpleasant mixing of work and home life constantly throughout the day (and night). Hybrid work is only successful if leaders cultivate a (digital) workplace environment that encourages workers to take time for themselves and focus on mental wellbeing. How many of us are routinely answering emails after midnight? And, how many of us find ourselves glancing at our laptop screens at the same time we’re cooking dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets for the kids? When there are no physical boundaries, workers sometimes feel as if they should work more hours because of the easy access to their devices. However, burnout is still very much a reality for too many professionals; business leaders have to ensure that their remote staff can regulate work-life integration in such a way that they are happy, productive, and well-rested.
• Set workers up for success by giving them the tools, software, hardware, and emotional support they need to thrive. I can remember, during my early industry analyst years, running into a problem with my laptop. A quick walk over to the IT lead’s desk combined with a short wait, and, boom, problem solved. Many workers rely on this speed of service and support when our technology or hardware isn’t working properly (after all, IT is always there to help). At home, though? Software issues take considerably longer, while hardware issues can be catastrophic. Business leaders must ensure that their remote workforce has the necessary, up-to-date equipment to work productively at home. Also of note: the empathy factor. Working from home is not as glamorous as it seems if there are young children around or if workers are dealing with personal or health issues. Empathy-led leadership is just as critical in a virtual environment as it is in an in-person one.
• Less time in the office does not mean more video calls and meetings. Check-ins are critical, so are one-on-one video calls between leaders and their staff. A constant stream of meetings and conferences, however, can drain productivity. Many businesses attempt to overcompensate for the lack of physical proximity by plugging more virtual conferences on the calendars, often unaware that a worker spending half (or more) of their day on camera or on conference calls. Leaders must whittle down the gatherings and get to the core of collaboration for the sake of productivity and time.
• Hybrid work strategies should place flexibility at the core. As we wrote last week: expect the unexpected. There are both encouraging and ominous signs developing around the Omicron variant; whichever way this shakes out, though, business leaders must engage agility and push forward in a dynamic manner. A winter surge of cases could be around the corner, or, (hopefully) not. Planning for either scenario is what will drive success around any hybrid work strategy. After all, health and safety are more important than a simple edict to bring workers back to the office.
• Position hybrid work as more than just a workplace strategy. Some talking-head executives have publicly proclaimed that their businesses are “office culture, first and foremost” and that remote or hybrid work doesn’t make sense. There’s no stopping that type of thinking, however, tell the talented individuals out there that would work for your organization if you had flexible workplace options. The Great Resignation is happening for many reasons, and one crucial attribute of this “Big Quit” is that businesses are not offering flexible conditions after 20 months of experiencing (first-hand, mind you) that they are attractive to top-tier talent. The hybrid workplace (and remote work, for that matter) opens up new channels of talent and expertise…a factor which shouldn’t go unnoticed in a continued war for skillsets.

There’s much more to the hybrid work story in 2022 than just the above thoughts. Business leaders must be aware of the benefits of remote and hybrid work beyond the obvious necessities regarding the pandemic’s ramifications. There are data security and intellectual property concerns, as well, which must be accounted for. Questions remain regarding insurance concerning the workforce. However, at the core, the hybrid work model is what will allow businesses to continue thriving and being agile in the face of an evolving arena.