The 7 Facts of the Hybrid Workplace

These things might sound trivial, but for people it does matter in the hybrid working place.

Hi there and welcome. It’s Kerstin Jatho here, a transformational coach who shifts people from languishing to flourishing. In today’s video, I want to talk about the eight facts of the hybrid workplace.

The workplace has gone into flux. Everything has changed. And if you think back perhaps to the Y2K period, which was the turn of the century where with the centuries changing, there was a lot of uncertainties. Will all our digital equipment, computers, systems manage that change?

Some people believed it would create an absolute disaster on the systems. Others believed it would tick over nicely. Some people sat back and waited to see what would happen. Others were very proactive. I think when it comes to the hybrid working place, we’re in the same situation. Some organisations and leaders are very proactive with embracing the change in the hybrid workplace, where others are sitting back on a wait-and-see scenario.

But what do we know about the hybrid workplace? Here are some facts that we have established.

Fact 1 -The hybrid workplace is our new reality

The first one is the hybrid workplace is here to stay. And what is a hybrid working place? It means that people will work partially at home or outside of an office, and then go back to the office.

Fact 2 -Work environment hygiene

Secondly, people – when coming to the office – want to know that it is hygienically clean.

Fact 3 -Being digitally savvy

The third one is they don’t want to share technology with people anymore, which means companies have to shift their technology all onto either people’s digital phones or remove it, but people are not interested in sharing remotes with each other, or standing at coffee coolers together.

Fact 4 -Technology upskilling is a must

The fourth one is people want to have companies upskill them on technology, because as the company introduces more and more technology, the employees might not have all the necessary skills. So, they do expect (A) the technology to be implemented and (B) for themselves to be upskilled.

Fact 5 -Career opportunities

Fifth is that employees still want to have the same career opportunities in the hybrid workplace. So, they still want to advance in an organisation, even though they do not come to the company or the organisation and engage with their team.

Fact 6 -Digital communication platforms

Seventh, people want to have different technology systems to communicate with their peers, be it through different intranet systems, online digital systems, company systems. But employees want to not lose communication in the digital world. However, they need one system that they need to work with.

Fact 7 -Redundancy of hot seats

And the last one is that employees like to keep their own devices such as a laptop. They don’t want to be sharing a hot seat. They want to always keep their own items. These things might sound trivial, but for people it does matter in the hybrid workplace.

There is no one-size-fits-all here for you to establish what will work for your team or not. What is critical is for you to have conversations with your team. What will make them feel safe in the hybrid workplace, and how it will help them to continuously enhance performance and productivity? Hence, you need to have continuous conversations and establish your own little way of working together.

Of course you can read about it like many people did in the Y2K scenario. You can find our best situations in other companies, but at the end, you’ve got to look at your team and the culture and what works for them. Enjoy putting your hybrid workplace together.

Thank you for listening and I look forward to connecting with you in the next one.

Over to you for sharing your comments and experiences.

What hygiene factors have you changed in your workplace?