Dr. Arin Reeves, a leading researcher, author, and advisor in the fields of leadership and inclusion, examines the necessary tools and mindset for managing a hybrid workplace.

As we emerge from the social distancing constraints of the pandemic into the evolving definitions of a “workplace,” the term “hybrid workplace” has become a ubiquitous part of our “return to work” conversations. As I have been researching the different dynamics of “hybrid workplaces” and speaking with leaders of various types of organizations on what the term means to them, I have discovered a few insights that can help leaders navigate their new realities and guide their workforces in smoothly transitioning to new ways of thinking, connecting and working.

1. Hybrid Workplaces Are Not New Inventions

Talking about our evolving ways of working as different versions of how we have been working for a long time prevents some of the anxiety and stress of transitioning back (fully or partially) to traditional workspaces. If you have ever taken a work call on your commute into work, checked email from home, responded to a colleague’s text while on vacation, or caught up on some necessary reading while on a flight, you have experienced working in a hybrid workplace. Even work such as treating patients in a hospital or teaching elementary school children – work that has traditionally been seen as anchored in specific locations – has aspects such as researching a medical issue or grading papers that are not tied to any particular location.

Work is the set of physical, cognitive, emotional, and creative activities in which we engage to execute the responsibilities and expectations of our jobs. A workplace is where we engage in these activities. Most jobs in today’s technology-fueled information economy involve activities that can be done in and from a multitude of places, and every job has its own unique blend of work that is anchored to a particular place and work that can be done from anywhere.

Hybrid workplaces are not new inventions, but the pandemic dramatically shifted the percentage of work in many jobs that was no longer anchored to a particular place since those places of work were no longer available to most of us due to social distancing constraints. Reminding people that the majority of the changes in 2020, 2021, and beyond are not related to what we do, but where we do what we do, decreases the anxiety and stress levels, given how exhausted many of us are with all the changes we have experienced over the past year. Distinguishing between what the work is and where the work can be done also allows for more productive conversations on the benefits and challenges of creating effective hybrid models of how we can work together better as we go forward.

2. Hybrid Workplaces Do Not Have Universal Positives or Challenges for Everyone

Asking people about their perspectives on where they work allows leaders to create transition policies and expectations that are more effectively and enthusiastically adopted. I have seen a lot of media coverage on the pros and cons of working remotely, working in a common space, and working in a hybrid model, but what I am consistently hearing across all industries, organizations, job types, and seniority levels is that there is no universal set of positives and or challenges that apply to everyone. Every person’s unique combination of life circumstances, personality, learning styles, communication preferences, and a variety of other factors leads to variances in how people assess the options of where they do their work.

People in the same organization, in the same job category, and even on the same team may see drastically different pros and cons of working remotely vs. common space vs. hybrid based on their family’s needs, their commuting time, their health concerns, their working styles, etc.

Leaders who approach workplace transitions by first asking people’s perspectives on where they work end up creating policies and expectations that are adopted more effectively and enthusiastically by the people they are leading.

3. Hybrid Workplaces Work Best When Defined in “Contextually Effective” Ways

The more specific managers can be as to when it is and is not important to work together in a collective space, the more likely it is that teams maximize the full potential of a hybrid workplace.

Modern workplaces have evolved through a chaotic process of globalization, technological advances, commuting mobility, demands for specialized talents, and a myriad of other factors, but they have always started from the default position that people working together in collective locations was preferrable to people working from multiple individualized locations. In other words, organizations start with the assumptive norm that everyone must work from the collective office space, and exceptions could be made for those who chose otherwise for whatever reason.

The pandemic in 2020 cracked this assumptive norm wide open, and we now have an amazing opportunity to create new norms based on what actually works, instead of relying on how things have evolved. We now have the unique opportunity to step back and think about which contexts work best to achieve which types of results and design our workplaces accordingly.

In every work environment, there are certain types of work products that are more effectively and efficiently generated when people are in the same collective space, and there are other types of work products that are more effectively and efficiently generated when people work independently. Contextually effective workspaces are intentionally designed to maximize time spent by people in collective and independent workspaces alike. For example, creating a draft for the team to review is best done independently by an individual, but the discussion of the draft is best done collaboratively in a collective space. Catching up on emails, notes, reading, etc. is best done independently, but discussing notes and actions to move forward is best done collaboratively in collective spaces.

Hybrid workplaces work best when leaders take the time to think through contextually effective ways to organize a hybrid workplace. If a hybrid workplace is created without regard to context of the work being done, an individual may be in the office when they are doing independent work and working remotely when collaborative work is necessary.

When leaders take the time to think through the work they are asking their teams to do and contextualize hybrid workplace arrangements to maximize the time spent in collective spaces, workplaces become spaces where work is done more effectively, efficiently, and with greater engagement from all.

4. Hybrid Workplaces Work Best When People Managers Have Flexible Management Skills

Leadership, management, communication, conflict resolution, and other skills necessary for people managers need to be developed in ways that are flexible and contextually appropriate.

In working with leaders over the past year, I have been surprised at how few people recognize that new realities require new skills, not just slight tweaks to existing skills. Hybrid workplaces cannot work well if leaders simply modify their existing skill sets for virtual settings. As we transition to these new evolutions of hybrid workplaces, leaders need hybrid skill sets in team building, performance evaluations, mentoring conversations and other critical leadership activities.

One thing that people managers can do is create a list of people management activities they engage in regularly such as leading meetings, having one-on-one conversations, evaluating performance, etc., and identify the best ways to conduct those activities in-person, virtually, and in a hybrid situation where some people may be in person and others may be participating virtually. These lists should be reviewed and reflected upon frequently to better understand what is working and what can be done better and where skills can be enhanced through various learning opportunities.

The transition out of the pandemic’s constraints is an opportunity to create workspaces that work better for whatever work you do, and that opportunity can be maximized if the transition is viewed through the lens of creating a new reality intentionally, instead of taking old realities and squeezing them into a hybrid workplace.