Maximizing Productivity and Flexibility: The Power of a Hybrid Work Schedule

If you’re considering switching up your work schedule to make it more effective, then you should give hybrid model a go! Hybrid work means combining remote and on-site work, so you can make the most of your day. But how does this schedule even work, and how can you make it work for you? Let’s get into it.

How Hybrid Work Benefits Employees

Working from home has become super popular lately, with many businesses now offering hybrid work options for their employees. The Hybrid work environment provides employees with the flexibility to work remotely while still being able to come into the office for important meetings or events. It’s an excellent setup for both employers and employees.

• Employers save on overhead costs and still have access to a talented pool of workers.
  
• Employees can work when and where they want but still have a chance to collaborate and connect with their colleagues in person.
  

That’s not all – hybrid work can also increase employee engagement by providing more work-life balance. 

Here is a breakdown of why hybrid word schedules are a win-win for everyone.

Efficient work schedules for parents

Hybrid work schedules offer much flexibility by letting employees decide when and where they desire to work. They can schedule their work tasks during the hours of the day that they feel most energized, and choose whether to spend their office time working from home or in the office. 

In this way, hybrid work policies are especially helpful for employees who are parents. Parents can schedule work around their parental duties, whether it is making their children breakfast in the morning or picking them up from school in the afternoon. With a hybrid working model, they don’t need to sacrifice their work or time with their little ones. 

From an employer’s perspective, this freedom for parents benefits them by reducing the hours that their employees take time off from work for parental responsibilities. Imagine the number of sick days and PTO hours remote workers can save by using a couple of hours to handle urgent matters instead of taking entire days off from work. Remote employees can be managed properly through EOR services, which can further streamline this process. Overall, having the freedom of flexible schedules in a hybrid work model offers employees the opportunity to be more present and productive in their work while also maintaining a better work-life balance.

The freedom to choose where and when you work

The hybrid work environment provides employees with the flexibility to align their life tasks with work tasks while also enabling them to choose when and where they work best, catering to their employee preferences.

If you have personal life responsibilities, hybrid work schedules can be a great way to balance them with work obligations. Whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, hybrid schedules allow you to choose the hours that work best for you. Plus, employees can pick the best work environment for them – at home, in the office, or out and about. This can be a great way to allow employees time to get out, feel more inspired, and enjoy their work. Those who work remotely may even relocate elsewhere. To ensure relocation is within your budget, don’t forget to estimate your moving costs.

Offering flexible work schedules and a portable job allows employees to work while completing their daily tasks, such as attending their nephew’s baseball practice, doing household chores, or finding inspiration in community gardens. Having this much control over their work substantially improves their productivity, minimizes burnout, and helps your company reach its goals. Highly productive employees can create a website planning worksheet, build marketing strategies, and complete other tasks.

Our PDF Reader is a valuable tool for remote work in a hybrid environment, allowing users to work with their digital documents anytime and anywhere. Whether you’re working from a cafe, the beach, or wherever your heart desires, this app will help you stay organized and productive. With features such as annotation, highlighting, and form filling, our PDF Reader is the perfect companion for working on the go. Moreover, PDF Reader provides secure remote desktop access, including PDF encryption, password protection, and watermark, to ensure that your work and private data are safe from prying eyes.

Increased team collaboration

Finding time to schedule a team meeting that fits everyone’s schedule can be challenging. For example, someone may have to leave the office early because they need to beat the traffic to pick up their children from school on time. Another employee may need to come in later due to the public transportation schedule. Whatever the reason, something always gets in the way of team members getting together to collaborate.

With a hybrid work schedule, companies are discovering that not all meetings require in-person attendance, and virtual meetings like conference calls and video conferences can be just as effective. This level of flexibility in team communication allows all important team members to participate from wherever they are, without any disruptions.

Hybrid Work Scheduling Cons To Consider

Scheduling work tasks can be intimidating even without having to consider who’s in the office versus who’s working remotely. So, here are some things potential cons to consider when mapping out your company’s new hybrid work schedule.

Less access to technical support

Many companies have an IT team on site who is ready to assist you with whatever technical issues you’ll experience. When working remotely, getting the technical help you need is more challenging. If switching to hybrid work, companies should consider offering remote IT support services and may need to pay international contractors to access a global pool of professionals, ensuring employees receive technical support from anywhere and across different time zones.

Remote IT support services can significantly enhance the employee experience by allowing them to receive technical assistance through phone, email, or chat. This can be especially helpful if employees have issues setting up their home office or troubleshooting a software issue. The company should also be sure to track whose equipment needs maintenance and when they’ll be in the office to turn in their equipment. 

Most importantly, companies may need to provide additional equipment and training to those who might not have the proper tools and knowledge to work remotely – something they wouldn’t have to think about before.

At Kdan Mobile, our customers experience excellent technical support whenever they have an issue with PDF Reader. With our product being an intuitive app, there’s no equipment to distribute and hardly any training is required. So, though having less access to technical support is a potential con to a hybrid work schedule, we mitigate that with effective tools and a compassionate support team.

Feeling less connected to the organization’s culture

Think about all the candid conversations you’ve had with coworkers you ran into during your work. Whether a conversation over a lunch break or getting together for drinks after work, these spontaneous moments reinforce human connection and strengthen company culture. 

Not all is lost, however! There are many ways to stay connected virtually while keeping in touch with your company’s culture.

• Body doubling: Meet in a virtual conference call to do your work. No actual engagement is necessary. Think of it as a virtual cubicle.
• Gaming apps: Many gaming apps, such as Plato, give you the ability to meet with friends online to play popular games like Uno, Chess, and more!
• Scheduled Team Bonding: Schedule some time for in-person team bonding, work, and play! Have a few in-person meetings then take your employees out for dinner and drinks. Weekly or monthly in-person gatherings give your team the best of both worlds in hybrid working. 

Remember, plenty of communication is lost when we aren’t physically near each other. In addition, misunderstandings can quickly become exacerbated with remote work, so make a more significant effort to seek to understand and reach out to those working remotely to minimize the possibility of impairing work relationships.

Possible delayed feedback due to internet issues, different time zones, etc

The time it takes to walk over to a colleague’s desk to share some information is minimal compared to sending an email that might not be opened until the next business day because they’re 3 hours ahead of you. This could disrupt work processes by creating unwanted delays. Oh, and let’s hope the internet connection isn’t spotty; no one likes the spinning wheel of death.

This is where work culture becomes very important. Ensuring everyone is setting time aside to check messages regularly can help reduce the chances of overlooking important messages. Setting up mobile work numbers to contact team members regarding urgent matters is also helpful. Additionally, using a WhatsApp shared inbox can significantly enhance team communication efficiency.

Our PDF Reader’s live editing tools, such as the ability to comment, highlight and annotate, allow for both in-time and asynchronous teamwork. With Kdan, working together on documents could not be any easier. Plus, with our cloud-based solution, documents are always accessible from any device and from anywhere.

Types Of Hybrid Work Schedules

Employers and employees alike are looking for flexible, cost-effective ways to work, and hybrid work schedules are an excellent option. However, a hybrid work schedule might differ in different industries. That’s why knowing precisely these varied work schedules is essential before accepting an offer. 

Hybrid at-will

Employees have the flexibility to pick and choose what days they come into the office. For example, a worker may come in on a Monday one week but Tuesday and Wednesday the next. There’s no set rule as to what days they must show up.

Hybrid split-week

A hybrid split-week is a mix of a traditional and variable work schedule. For example, you work a certain amount of hours during the first half of the week, then the same amount during the second half. The hours are defined by the company at large.

Hybrid manager-scheduling

This is just like the split-week schedule, except the scheduling is left to the manager. But, again, this makes sense for larger companies where the managers have a genuine reason for the actual needs and everyone’s capabilities, being that they’re close to the team.

Hybrid mix

This is a mix of all types of hybrid scheduling. What that looks like depends on your company’s goals. For example, some employees may have an at-will schedule while others have a split week.

Questions To Ask About Hybrid Work During A Job Interview

The pandemic has changed so much about how we work, and many companies are considering integrating hybrid schedules into their business models. But before you jump right in, it’s essential to ask yourself some key questions. Here’s what you should consider before switching to a hybrid work model.

How much time will it take to manage each type of schedule?

You’ll need to make sure that you’ve got the right software in place to track your employees’ hours and make sure they’re logging their time correctly. Plus, it’s important to make sure your employees understand how the hours will be tracked and what’s expected of them before you switch.

Will this schedule support both the employees’ preferences and the company’s goals?

Knowing your employees’ preferences when it comes to scheduling is critical. Being flexible with their schedule is something they’ll appreciate, and it can help them get and keep the best talent. In addition, a good schedule can help your employees and the company stay competitive and productive.

What workplace tools do you have to implement to support a new schedule?

When setting up a hybrid work schedule, you must think about the tools you need to make it happen. For example, you’ll need a time recording system to track employee time and new workflows for your employees to follow. You also need to think about communication channels, so your teams can stay in touch with each other and customers. This might mean using a tool like PDF Reader to process agreements. You can also make your own app to address specific requirements, making communication and file sharing even more efficient. It’s a lot to consider, but ensuring you have the proper setup for your new schedule and that everyone knows how to use the latest tools is vital.

What kind of schedule can your office space support?

Deciding which hybrid work schedule to go with can be tricky, especially working with a small team. A hybrid might be a good choice if you don’t need your employees to be in the office every day. On the other hand, there might be some team members who must be on-site, which means a hybrid schedule would only work for some of the team.

Just make sure you think it through and choose the right option for your company, employees, and office. Then, imagine what each scenario would look like in detail to help you make the best decision.

Implementing Your Hybrid Schedule

Now that you’ve decided which hybrid work schedule melds well with your company, it’s time to develop a good implementation plan.

Send out an employee survey

The best way to know what your team wants and needs is to ask them. Send out a survey to see who’s interested in a hybrid work schedule, when they would prefer to work in the office versus from home, and how this new schedule would help them maintain productivity.

Get your workplace tools set up

Setting up your entire team for success is paramount. Not only will your hybrid members need a way to effectively work remotely (i.e., laptops, internet, PDF Reader for digital documents, etc.), your stationary team will need to adjust to fewer people available in the office. As a result, new lines of communication might be necessary and adjusted protocols to account for when key members aren’t in the office.

Run a trial with a test group

Before changing company-wide, try the new schedule with a test group to see if they can handle a hybrid work schedule. This will also highlight how your company would benefit from it.

Introduce your hybrid policy to the larger team

Now that you’ve collected data on how the hybrid work schedule benefits the company, you can pitch it to the team at large. This would also be an opportunity for more team members to participate as intermittent remote employees.

Start leveraging hybrid work schedules

Hybrid work is getting increasingly popular with employers and employees – it offers more flexibility and a better balance between work and life. However, hybrid work is more than just a one-size-fits-all solution. As with any organizational change, you’ll need to think about the pros and cons before you jump in. But, if it works in your organization, it can be a real game changer for everyone involved. When you decide to make the change, remember to implement PDF Reader into your toolkit for your paperless processes.