articles / August 31, 2021

The Secret to Building a Hybrid
Workplace | Part I: Benefits of
the Hybrid Work Model

This article is a part of our series about building the ultimate hybrid workplace. Learn about how to leverage collaboration while working with both in-person and remote employees and how to hire hybrid employees.

Before the pandemic, remote work was starting to gain traction. But as the COVID-19 virus became a worldwide threat, it transformed into a survival tool that allowed businesses to continue operations while following quarantine protocols. Now, as herd immunity appears to be right around the corner, we’re in a new era: the hybrid workplace.

What Is a Hybrid Workplace?

A hybrid workplace is a combination of in-person working and remote working. However, unlike fully remote offices, hybrid workplaces have a physical office and location. And unlike an in-person workplace, its physical office has a smaller real estate footprint.

According to WeWork, the goal of a hybrid workplace is to: “balance the needs of individual workers with their ability to collaborate and be productive in a shared physical space.”

Because a hybrid workplace prioritizes flexibility, companies are free to customize the process according to their needs. At the same time, it empowers employees to choose where and when they work. Thus, your business can optimize labor costs, increase employee satisfaction, increase flexibility, allow for smoother collaboration, better cultural socialization, and face-to-face collaboration.

What Are the Benefits of a Hybrid Workplace?

The hybrid workplace carries the promise of being the new workplace solution in a post-pandemic world. It has the best qualities of remote and in-person work arrangements and overcomes the shortcomings of each type of office environment. We spoke with Aircall’s VP of Human Resources, Helen Cheuck, to learn more about the top ways a hybrid workplace can benefit you.

Increased Flexibility

“A hybrid workplace gives you and your team the freedom to choose how, when, and where to work,” Helen says. “At Aircall, we want to make sure our employees align with their managers and are given the flexibility they need to take care of their responsibilities both at home and at work.”

As a result of this organizational style, one person can choose to work from home three times a week and report physically to the office twice a week. Another can choose to be completely remote and only go to the office once a month.

Because there are multiple options available, your team has the flexibility to choose a work arrangement that best suits their needs and abilities. At the same time, your business can easily and quickly adapt to situations such as another pandemic or a natural disaster as your team is now ready to continue operations from wherever they are.

Better Employee Engagement and Satisfaction

80% of employees who experienced working from home at a full-time capacity want to continue the remote work arrangement at least three times per week when offices reopen. And if their workplaces don’t offer that option:

66% will continue to stay but be less happy
54% will stay but won’t go the extra mile in their work
46% will start looking for another job

“Remote work allows employees to schedule their professional lives around their personal lives. This lets them have a better work-life balance,” Helen says.

On the other hand, hybrid work helps workers build closer connections and increases collaboration with colleagues (which is much harder when employees are working fully remotely). Hybrid workplaces give employees the opportunity to have informal in-office conversations and cultivates mentorship opportunities for younger employees.

Lower costs

“Both your employees and your business will experience lower costs with a hybrid workplace,” Helen says. “You’ll pay less overhead fees such as electricity and rent because you’re no longer operating at a full-time capacity.”

On the other hand, your employees save money from commuting to work, buying meals, or paying expensive rent prices to live near their place of work.

Lower Ecological Footprint

Because you’ll require a smaller office space with some employees working from home, you’ll consume less electricity, less water, and other equipment needed for in-office work arrangements. All of which significantly reduce your overall ecological footprint.

Your employees lower their ecological footprint, too, by no longer needing to commute every day to work and ordering takeout meals for their lunch and dinner.

“One of the best ways for companies to reduce their ecological footprints is to create hybrid workplaces,” Helen says. “At Aircall, we’re always thinking of ways we can positively impact the communities we work in.”

Types of Hybrid Workplaces

There’s no one-size-fits-all type of hybrid workplace. In fact, this work arrangement is so flexible that businesses can customize it according to their needs and the needs of their employees. However, before you start implementing hybrid workplaces into your own business, you need to understand how they will serve your business and employees. Helen recommends asking yourself the following questions to get started:

1. What is the function of each team member? Does their role allow them to work remotely? Or does their job function only apply to an in-office work arrangement?

2. Where is each team member located? Do they live in the same regions or cities? Can they still meet up for work once in a while? Or do they live in different cities or countries?

3. How is your organization structured? Is your organization more hierarchical or centralized?

4. What is your company culture? Is it individual-focused or teamwork-focused?

5. How do are employee schedules set up? Do employees live in the same time zones? If not, is there a window of time that people can communicate with each other?

6. What are the different channels of internal communication? Do you have cloud-based software that integrates all communication channels? Or are your communication channels disconnected and limited?

By answering these questions, Helen says, “you’ll gain a more realistic understanding of how you can implement a hybrid work environment in your business while continuing to foster internal collaboration.”

If you are still unsure of how or where to start your hybrid workplace, here are the most common types that you can consider. However, it’s important to revisit your plans regularly to retain an effective work environment and continuous collaboration across teams.

1. Remote Hybrid Work Model

A remote hybrid work model consists of mainly remote employees who report to a physical workspace (e.g., office or coworking space) every so often. In-person meetings usually happen when discussions and collaborations are more conducive in a physical office over a digital workplace, such as during brainstorming sessions, client meetings, or team-building activities.

2. Mixed Hybrid Work Model

A mixed hybrid work model is when a portion of your staff works fully in-office while the remainder works fully remotely. It often occurs when businesses have employees that can only fulfill their job in a physical workspace, such as surgeons and construction workers.

3. In-Person Hybrid Work Model

Opposite to the remote hybrid work model, an in-person hybrid model consists of employees who report to a physical workplace but have the option of working remotely. Some employees may prefer this model as they don’t have to worry about having stable internet connections and access to technology and knowledge that they need for work. It’s also favorable for the younger employees who need more guidance and mentorship.

4. Split Hybrid Work Model

A split hybrid work model is when your team members work in shifts. One part of your team reports to a home office on a set number of days, and the other part reports on the other days. For example, 50% of your team might go to your physical workspace Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but works remotely on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The other 50% would report to the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays but work remotely Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Leverage the Right Tools for a Fully Collaborative Hybrid Workspace

A hybrid workspace is the future of work, as it supersedes the shortcomings of both in-person and remote work arrangements.

However, a hybrid workspace doesn’t come without its weaknesses. To overcome these, encourage a culture of collaboration by empowering and supporting your employees with the right tools.

Aircall understands the challenges of collaborating and aligning teams with various work settings, which is why we don’t provide just any calling tool. We provide a calling tool that allows you to record and transcribe meetings in real-time so you gain full transparency even if you’re not attending the meeting. Plus, it has Business Hours Features that help employees maintain a work-life balance while having an optimized employee scheduling. Most of all, Aircall integrates with over 80 tools that help improve communication, streamlines team workflows, and more.

A hybrid workplace requires you to rewrite the systems and proceduresof your current business.

Thus, you can’t fully enact hybrid work without the knowledge and acceptance of team and business leaders. To do this, make sure that you:

Clarify your objectives
Align them with business goals and vision
Outline concrete steps you need to take to make it possible

It’s also effective to have realignment meetings every quarter so you can review what hybrid workplace strategies were effective and what needs improvement.

5. Ensure You Have the Right Tools for Both In-Person and Remote Employees

Remote workers face the extra challenge of gaining the right tools that allow them to work effectively at home. They face poor internet connection, technological limitations, and other such tools that are easily available in an in-office setting. As a result, they often feel left behind in terms of work and left out in terms of social events.

One way to solve this is to have team-building activities, so employees become more comfortable interacting with each other even when working remotely. Another is to provide tools such as a company laptop and allowance for internet connectivity, whether at home or at a nearby coworking space.

6. Incorporate Social Opportunities Into the Remote Experience

One of the shortcomings of remote work is that workers who aren’t in-office miss out on valuable social opportunities. One way to eliminate this problem is to employ tools that allow for private messaging between coworkers and group messaging across teams. This way, employees can interact with everyone without needing to connect work with their private and personal accounts.

Another is to leverage software that has breakout rooms so employees can still have private conversations during meetings. It also allows employees to have ice breaker sessions at the start of every meeting to establish better relationships and better future collaborations.

A hybrid workspace is the future of work, as it supersedes the shortcomings of both in-person and remote work arrangements.

However, a hybrid workspace doesn’t come without its weaknesses. To overcome these, encourage a culture of collaboration by empowering and supporting your employees with the right tools.

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Ashe Salon Owner, Salon Harlow
We rely on Voipy for our day to day operation and customer service lines. The team are extremely knowledgable and the business has saved a lot of money.

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I could not recommend any more highly, the professional and efficient way that Dean & Michael manage our account. Their efficiency in resolving any issues for us is outstanding in every aspect of our needs. Their service is also not limited simply to Monday-Friday business hours, with our often need for resolution to Data add-on's taking place over the weekend for international travel within our company.

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Our customers have spoken

Whether your business is Upsizing or downsizing, on the move to a new space or modernising the one your in, Voipy has your back. Market-leading, flexible products, fast & seamless setup, affordable pricing, local and responsive support.

The Salon Harlow team absolutely love our new Voipy phone system, we got rid of our "traditional" desk phones that took up room and cost me a fortune & now all my staff have the app on their mobile phone. Voipy has saved me money and made the business more efficient as we do not miss calls anymore.

AsheSalon Owner, Salon Harlow

We rely on Voipy for our day to day operation and customer service lines. The team are extremely knowledgable and the business has saved a lot of money.

AndyDirector, SiteFinder

I could not recommend any more highly, the professional and efficient way that Dean & Michael manage our account. Their efficiency in resolving any issues for us is outstanding in every aspect of our needs. Their service is also not limited simply to Monday-Friday business hours, with our often need for resolution to Data add-on's taking place over the weekend for international travel within our company.

TinaCFO, Austral Air Conditioning Services

Where to start ... shopped around, got promised the world and let down time and time again, until we spoke with Mick from Voipy, they were Located in Australia had access to apps with great integrations both domestic and from around the world, they helped us get set up and trained the team. Voipy has great knowledge of their industry and we can't recommend it highly enough, plus they also got us a great deal on our Internet and Mobiles

JamesOperations Director, Collective Weight Loss

Our customers have spoken

Whether your business is Upsizing or downsizing, on the move to a new space or modernising the one your in, Voipy has your back. Market-leading, flexible products, fast & seamless setup, affordable pricing, local and responsive support.

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