Why We Believe in a Hybrid Model of Office-Remote Work
Part of the alignment between the company’s leadership and the members of the team is figuring out the balance between office and remote work.
Last two years, everything in our lives changed significantly.
Working life could not be an exception.
Thanks to Covid-19, we were forced to adapt to a new reality, called remote work. This brought up both positive and negative issues for companies around the world, mainly concerning its overall operability, bonding and culture inside the team and efficiency.
There is also more free, personal time for employees, as they are able to work from anywhere and spend increased quality time outside the office.
One of the main challenges is figuring out the balance between remote benefits and office benefits (ex. team bonding).
So, we brought forth the hybrid model.
We have successfully adopted the hybrid working model, strengthening self-management for each member — both in terms of security against the pandemic and in having more free time for our personal lives — while also solidifying trust inside the team.
It’s not the efficiency itself that gives rise to concerns but team bonding, as in how it can be achieved when people work together from different places.
To do that, the team stays informed about its members’ schedule. If someone wants to switch to remote, they just notify the team on a special newsfeed.
Even at 1:47am.
Yup, that’s my record (for now).
What led us here
Nobody was adequately and necessarily prepared for this new condition.
In Greece, until and before the pandemic, remote work was not widely known as a concept, so no one was exactly sure how this situation could work out.
This created many concerns for both employers and employees, who hadn’t figured out how to keep their productivity levels high. However, it’s not the efficiency itself that gives rise to concerns but team bonding, as in how it can be achieved when people work together from different places.
That’s one of the most important factors to consider.
During the early days of remote work, there were significant issues that needed to be resolved, such as mood affected by isolation. Technical issues — lack of necessary equipment, poor Wi-Fi connection.
As a result, we started daydreaming about the office.
The importance of team bonding and direct communication were combined with everyday personal time and saving money, more quality time with family and friends and the flexibility to work from anywhere you want.
Quick sidenote.
I had a conversation the other day about how fully remote work tends to lead to a blur between our personal and professional lives.
Hybrid, doesn’t seem to do that.
How we maintain it
To achieve a balance between office and remote and to cover any gaps that can occur from this new way of working together, we use tools.
One of them is Slack.
We also use Google Meet for calls and have handy G Meet links available on our #team Slack channel (ex. For People Bored at Home).
Sometimes we eat together on a call.
We also say good morning and good afternoon — almost everyday — to keep that balance.
We even set a Discord server to tune in to the same songs.
The key to successfully adapting to this model is to keep the whole team informed about each member’s working schedule and availability.
It gives everyone an extra sense of self-management combined with the independence of other team members as a whole.
Back to the top
There are companies in the US and Europe that have entirely abandoned their skyscrapers and 1000 square foot offices for the greener pastures of fully remote work. There are cases where they went fully back to the office.
We believe, the answer is always meeting halfway.
We need the flexibility of remote work, as the workplace advances to a next era of self-management and independence, but we also need an office presence to avoid losing Smurfs in the forest.
That’s why we need to embrace confidence and trust in our teams as a united community, consisted of individual and independent members.
Hybrid should be a flexible choice.
Here’s how I would sum-up Covid-19 and what happened:
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
— Winston Churchill
Questions or feedback?
Feel free to reach out to Maria Kanaki, one of our Delivery Associates.
