The COVID-19 global pandemic forced many organizations to have their employees work and manage teams remotely and as a growing number of them return to onsite, leaders are faced with tough decisions on the best way to get the most out of their teams in a hybrid work environment. The three main approaches in consideration are as follows:
- Company-wide decision on which teams and sets of employees get to work from home
- Team managers decide who gets to work from home
- Employees select which days they get to work from home
Many senior leaders across different companies have evolved their views on remote workers and are trying to implement a hybrid approach because of benefits such as:
- Better innovation emanating from collaboration within centralized teams
- Development of an office culture
- Increased productivity and job satisfaction
- Improved work-life balance
The hybrid approach considerations all have specific aspects that need to be considered especially by PMOs and Product Management teams that need to work with resources from other teams. If different teams or different sets of employees go to the office on days that the PMO or Product teams are working remotely, it could result in challenges whereby you have one team that is sitting together in a conference room whereas the other team(s) is dialed in through a virtual tool. Some companies have made attempts to address this by making all participants join a meeting virtually even when most of the team members are in the office just to avoid communication breakdown that could inevitably jeopardize the success of projects and product developments. Cross-functional teams that consistently work together – or will soon need to collaborate on a project or product – would need to align their hybrid models so that they are all in the office on the same days.
The best recommendation for which models to use are the company-wide and team-based models – these options offer the best flexibility and allows companies to adapt to changing environmental factors given there may still be a lot of unknowns with regards to the effects of the pandemic to the workplace over the coming years. Furthermore, the global workforce has rebounded from layoffs that impacted many companies and this has led to strong competition for talent. The absence of a hybrid model could be a deterrent for top talent to join a company; it should be implemented and used as a competitive advantage by PMOs and Product teams to ensure they retain top performers and lure in talented individuals to join them.
At PM Imperative, we cover the latest trends in Project Management and Product Management. As PM practitioners, we understand the value the Project Managers and Product Managers bring to each organization and that’s why we focus on the most practical strategies that Project and Product Managers can implement immediately. If you found this post useful, be sure to check out our latest book: The PM Imperative – Guide for Leading & Managing Projects, People & Delivering Value. https://pmimperative.com/shop/
About Author
