The pandemic has opened our eyes to many truths that earlier felt unanswerable. One of which is, if a hybrid work arrangement is an effective work model or not. Due to the disrupted work schedule and millions of people working from their home, researchers have found that despite the sudden shift to remote and hybrid work schedules, the productivity of employees has not decreased and in fact, people feel less burdened with work pressure. It does seem that a hybrid work model is effective, but let’s take a look at what it really means and all its pros and cons here!
WHAT IS A HYBRID WORK ARRANGEMENT?
When a traditional in-office work schedule and remote work schedule are combined together, they are called a hybrid work arrangement. In a hybrid work arrangement, people work remotely and have to be in the office for a decided time period. They have a flexible work schedule and are convenient to people who can’t afford to be in the office for 6 hours every day. It is becoming more and more popular and many enterprises and individuals are opting for a hybrid work model. So let’s take a look at all the pros and cons of this form of work environment.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A HYBRID WORK ARRANGEMENT?
A hybrid work environment, above all things, is very flexible and non-hazardous for people. Here are all the reasons why hybrid work arrangements are beneficial for enterprises and entrepreneurs:
1. It is a convenient work arrangement that benefits employees, especially people that are not very social and do not like traditional work environments where you have to interact with people around you all day.
2. It gives autonomy to employees and individuals to work on their own time and convenience. It is not a conservative schedule and can be moulded into whatever time you feel you can do productive work in and don’t force you into a cubicle for long working hours
3. Many people might argue that remote work culture negates the point of in-office jobs as there is little to no interaction and exposure, but hybrid work can allow you to interact with people while having flexible working hours.
4. It saves a lot of money and time if the work schedule is devised efficiently. As less people work in office hours, you can do your work in a smaller space as well without laying off any employees.
5. It allows employees to be more productive and helps in reducing work pressure that can affect their mental health. Having flexible hours has proven to be a much more effective way of increasing productivity than having a rigid schedule, especially for creative industries.
WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS OF A HYBRID WORK ARRANGEMENT?
Like everything else in the world, hybrid work arrangements have their own limitations as well. There are many pros of a hybrid work schedule, but there can be just as many cons if not more. So let’s take a look at some of the limitations of a hybrid work arrangement:
1. In a hybrid work model, it is difficult to communicate effectively if you have many employees in different teams. Naturally, every team or department would have different in-office hours which can be an obstacle in community building within the enterprise at large.
2. In an office, you can offer the best technologies and equipment to your employees, but in a hybrid work schedule, it becomes difficult to find and implement technologies that your employees can efficiently use at their homes as well.
3. The most debated con of a hybrid work schedule is data security. In an office, your employees work on designated desktops that are backed up and secure, but while working from their home computers the risk of data security increases largely.
4. Hybrid work models require a lot of effort, work, and training from both the enterprise and the employees. Since the interaction is limited, it becomes hard to manage all your employees across different teams and departments. It can cause a lot of miscommunication or problems in fraternizing and teamwork.
5. Many employees may face difficulty with working at home and working with new technologies and software on their own. In an in-office work schedule, any time you face difficulty you can turn to the IT department, but at home, it can be even harder to work with new technology.
CONCLUSION
A hybrid work schedule is a very beneficial and effective work schedule. In a hybrid work schedule, you get the best of the traditional models and remote models. You have interaction with people in a professional setting, but it is limited and is not a rigid schedule. The matter of concern at large is data security and the introduction of new technology as some employees may have a hard time being acquainted with new technology. But this is something that can be improved over time with effective communication.
