Hybrid Work Digest: Apple backpedals on office return, HP releases hardware for hybrid work, tech teams revisit office attendance rules

Over the last week, a lot has happened in hybrid work adoption. On the one hand, a surge in COVID-19 cases might slow it down if not halt it altogether.

On the other hand, most companies are adamant about bringing employees back to offices, and hardware providers are betting on hybrid work more aggressively than ever before.

In this episode of the hybrid work digest, we are making sense of the latest news, ideas, and practices team leaders adopt to make the most out of hybrid work.

You will discover:

• Why Apple is postponing its three-day office return policy
• Why the rules that used to regulate hybrid work are no longer impactful
• How hybrid work can help team leaders in ASEAN retain talent
• What three fundamental ideas hybrid team leaders have to get right

We publish new hybrid work digest episodes every week — follow the blog to stay up to date.

Latest hybrid work news

Apple delays the plan to have employees in offices three days a week

To the backlash of its employees, Apple has recently announced a 3-day-a-week R.T.O policy. It looks like there could be a change of plans due to a surge in COVID cases across most US states.

HP unveils its vision for a perfect hybrid working setup

The tech hardware giant is helping hybrid teams stay connected by rolling out a lot of hybrid-themed products — laptops, workstations, and more.

Hybrid work in the Bay Area: data suggests region hearing is the new normal

Bay Area is seeing a lot of changes in its approach to hybrid work — from coming to the office once a month to full office renovations. All of this is done with a single goal in mind — keeping employees engaged and productive.

Tech companies are struggling to navigate hybrid work. Here’s why sorting it out will take time

During the pandemic, a lot of American workers discovered the benefits of working remotely for the first time. That’s why team leaders may have a hard time re-introducing offices and transitioning to hybrid work.

Thoughts and opinions

The Rules for Hybrid Work Were Always Made Up

Before the pandemic, most remote-first companies had a 3-day-a-week office attendance policy which seemed like a luxury to many employees. Now, teams are questioning whether spending so much time at the office makes sense and come to the conclusion it does not.

Hybrid work: 3 technology questions CIOs should be asking

For a successful adoption of hybrid work, CIOs should look for optimal ways to use office spaces, tools that will empower and connect hybrid employees, and ways to improve online meetings and communication.

Why hybrid work may be the key to retaining talent in ASEAN

The ASEAN market responded to the adoption of hybrid work really well — most workers report improved quality of life and productivity gains. For managers, advocating for full-scale office return is no longer an option — instead, they have to re-invent processes and adapt to remote-first work styles.

The biggest challenges for hybrid work and ways to overcome them

On the surface level, hybrid work seems to be the middle ground between in-office and remote work, bringing out the strong suits of both approaches. Practically speaking, there are a lot of challenges managers have to face: employee equality, building trust, ensuring alignment, and more.

Best practices and tips

How to make hybrid work work

The team at Cisco, a leading provider of hybrid work solutions, shares their take on adapting to hybrid work. They bet heavily on flexibility and shift the focus from location-centric to user-centric approaches to hybrid transition.

Hybrid work: 3 new rules for enabling your workforce

For most team leaders, a shift to remote work was so abrupt there was no time to get it right. Now that there’s more room for reflection, managers can let go of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset and create a scalable, thought-out approach to hybrid work.

Want to win at hybrid work? Get these three things right

Right now, every third American works in either remote or a hybrid environment. Over the last two years, telecommuting has stood the test of time but there’s room for improvement. This piece from Salesforce shares a few ways to optimize hybrid work by focusing on the right tools, training, and team building.

How to make a successful transition to a hybrid work schedule

Thinking of hybrid work, most managers still try to find a 50–50 balance between remote and office work or even have the latter prevail. This ambition fails for most — employees want to keep their flexibility and have the right to work remotely. While offices are still helpful, their role in the post-pandemic hybrid environment will change. This trend should be reflected in return-to-office policies and plans.

This digest is brought by oVice — a virtual office platform designed to connect hybrid work teams and create a platform where teammates can come together, collaborate and enjoy water cooler conversations.

Our goal is to bring the best of physical offices — ease of management, accessibility, and belonging, to the digital workplace.

At the moment, over 20,000 companies use oVice to build strong organizational cultures and communicate productively without having to share a physical workspace. Find out how our platform helps improve their productivity.