Mastering Hybrid Work

A hybrid work policy is a flexible work arrangement document that typically outlines the guidelines, expectations, and procedures for employees. 

Under a hybrid work policy, employees may be required to spend a certain amount of time in the office each week or month while also having the flexibility to work from home or another location for the rest of the time. The exact requirements and arrangements may vary depending on the company,the nature of the work, and the chosen hybrid work model.

Hybrid work policies have potential challenges, such as collaboration issues, maintaining company culture, setting transparent legal aspects, and ensuring employees feel connected to their colleagues and the organization. However, careful planning and communication can overcome many of these challenges.

What can happen when a company doesn’t have a hybrid work policy? 

When a company doesn’t have a hybrid work policy, it can lead to confusion, uncertainty, and potential issues for employees and employers.

Here are some of the possible consequences of not having a clear hybrid work policy: 

1. Inconsistency: Without a clear policy, managers and supervisors may interpret hybrid work arrangements differently, leading to inconsistencies in work schedules, communication expectations, and performance management. 

2. Lack of clarity: Without guidelines, employees may be unclear about what is expected of them when working remotely, which can lead to misunderstandings and confusion. 

3. Decreased productivity: Without clear expectations, employees may struggle to manage their time effectively or feel disconnected from the team, leading to reduced productivity. 

4. Communication breakdowns: Without guidelines for communication, employees may have difficulty staying in touch with colleagues and supervisors, leading to miscommunications, delays, and frustration. 

5. Legal risks: Without clear policies around data security and compliance, companies may risk violating privacy laws or exposing sensitive data to security breaches. 

6. Employee dissatisfaction: Employees may become dissatisfied with the lack of clarity and consistency around remote work arrangements, leading to decreased engagement and increased turnover. 

Not having a clear hybrid work policy can lead to a range of issues for both employees and employers. A well-defined policy can help ensure everyone is on the same page, set clear expectations, and reduce the risk of miscommunications or other more serious problems.  

Overall, a hybrid work policy is an essential document for organizations looking to embrace the future of work. By clearly outlining expectations and guidelines for hybrid work, companies can create a culture of trust and collaboration that allows for flexibility and productivity. When creating your hybrid work policy, be sure to consider your organization’s unique goals, as well as the preferences and needs of your employees. By doing so, you can create a policy that works for everyone and position your organization for success in the future.  

Now, let’s get deeper into the hybrid policy and see what it should cover. We will dive into the list described in our previous chapter on the content of such policies. 

Let’s start! 

What should a hybrid work policy cover?

1.Who is eligible for hybrid work? 

Here are some questions companies will need to find answers to: 

• Do all employees in the company have hybrid work arrangements?  
• Are there special work arrangements for parents or people with disabilities? 
• What other criteria need to be met by someone working hybrid? 
• Are there specific teams needed to work from the office? Perhaps the office manager needs to be in the office. Maybe some managers must also be in the office. 
• Does the employee has hybrid working mention in the working arrangement, or does he/she need to make a request for hybrid working? 
• Will new hires be needed in the office for the first months of work? 
• Does the employee have good time management and organizational skills to meet deadlines and achieve results whilst working independently? 
• Did the employee prove good performance while working from the office? 
• Did the employee prove communication and team work skills that meet expectations? 

Below you can find some potential answers to the questions above.

• This policy applies to all employees who have a hybrid working arrangement, as opposed to an employee who works from home occasionally with agreement but is primarily office based.   
• It is the employee’s responsibility to make a request for hybrid working, and the manager’s responsibility to assess the request against the needs and requirements of the team and the business. 
• Current employees with at least 6 months tenure working in the following teams (e.g.: marketing, design, purchasing, customer support, etc) are eligible for a hybrid work arrangement 
• The decision whether a job function is suitable for hybrid work or not will be based on the answers to the following questions: 
• Can the job be carried out without frequent face to face consultation or direct supervision? 
• Does the job have clear goals and measurable outputs that are achievable within the contracted working hours in a hybrid work environment? 
• Does the position require in-person supervision? 
• Can the work be easily delivered electronically to clients, colleagues or managers?  
• Are the tasks self-sufficient in terms of administrative support or capable of being remotely serviced? 
• Can the work be completed without causing disruption to employee performance and deliverables? 
• Can the efficiency and productivity of the work be kept while working from home? 
• Can the team continue to meet project deadlines and achieve established goals? 
• Can both the company and employee keep their compliance with the Company’s Data Protection policy and data protection? 

2. Working schedule and hybrid work responsibilities 

Here are some questions companies will need to find answers to in their hybrid work policies.: 

• Are there flexible working hours?  
• Are there certain days when employees or certain teams must be in the office? 
• Must team leads and managers approve flexible working schedules for employees that request them?   
• Are there some country specific legal requirements about the work-from-home or remote schedule? 
• Can employees work only from home, or from some other place? There are specific country legislations that need to be addressed. 

• Employees are required to work from the office at least 3 days a week. 
• Employees can work from home maximum 10 days a month. 
• Hybrid work arrangements will have a three month trial.  
• Employees taking part in the company’s hybrid work arrangement are expected to be available during 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., for at least 8 hours. The lunch break can last between 15 and 60 minutes, on top of the 8 hours. 
• Employees will continue to be available for meetings considered necessary by the team leaders or managers. If in-person meetings are needed on a day when the employee would normally work remotely, it is expected they will attend face-to-face and work remotely another day. 
• Employees must have reliable access to internet in order to conduct their work properly. In the case of power failure or internet problems that last more than an hour, they must come to the office and perform their tasks. 
• We reserve the right to revoke remote working rights in cases of repeated problems. 
• Employees schedule should not adversely affect the ability of other colleagues and teams to perform their jobs. 
• It is the team member’s responsibility to ensure they have a suitable work area set up.  
• Employees will notify their team when they need to step away for an extended period of time during the work day and mention how that time will be recovered.  

3. The resources available to employees (monitors, laptops, headphones, etc.) 

Here are some questions companies will need to find answers to: 

• How are the office resources being managed so that hybrid workers can have equal access to them? 
• If some employees need some extra equipment at home, how can they proceed? 
• Are there any payments made by the company to cover electricity, gas, or internet bills? Some countries might have some statements related to his in their labor law. 

• We supply our employees with laptops that can be remotely connected to our server. Employees operating hybrid working must ensure that our IT policies are respected. 
• The company provides monthly stipend of {…} to fully remote team members based on the country they’re in to support some of the cost associated with the work-from-home setup. 

4. Rules for communication 

Here are some questions companies will need to find answers to: 

• How are meetings being held? 
• Which tools are going to be used for team communication, project management, meetings? 

• Meetings will happen online using Zoom, to make sure each participant has a consistent experience. The output of meetings will be shared in OneDrive.
• Each team will use Teams/Slack as means of communication. 
• The teams will use Monday/ for project management. 
• Each team is supported and encouraged to set up their own working practices for effective and inclusive communication within their own team. 
• The company encourages the use of video calls as we strongly believe this helps boost social and team interaction. 

5. The roles and responsibilities for hybrid workers and their team leads and managers 

Here are some questions companies will need to find answers to: 

• Who is going to monitor task management and delivery when it comes to hybrid employees? 
• Who is responsible of checking the working hours and patterns of any remote based employees. 
• Are there specific responsibilities for remote workers that need to be addressed? 

• Each team lead will monitor task management and also conduct 360 employee evaluations. 
• Employees working remotely are expected to work their full contractual hours; therefore, undertaking non-work related activities during their working hours are prohibited. 
• Employees must ensure that their work is not distracted by domestic concerns. 

6. How is performance being measured? 

Here are some questions companies will need to find answers to: 

• How will employees and managers deliver feedback when dealing with hybrid teams? 
• How can productivity be measured to ensure equal treatment of in-office and remote employees? 
• How to set proper set up goals?

• If the company or the employee feel that the arrangement is not working satisfactorily, a return to earlier working arrangements can happen. 
• The teams will use the planned to done work metric, in order to assess individual employee performance, critical to hybrid work productivity. 

7. Safety and security rules 

Here are some questions companies will need to find answers to: 

• Do employees need any other equipment to ensure their safety and IT security while working remotely or from home?  

• A risk assessment will be undertaken to ensure the employees working remotely follow the current health and safety legislation and requirements. This will include fire safety, first aid provision, ergonomic considerations, adequate space, safety considerations, insurance, etc. 
• All employees whose working arrangements include working from home will have to install a smoke alarm and one fire extinguisher. 
• Remote employees will be provided with a first aid kit. 
• It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy work environment.  
• No other persons present in the employee’s office, should be allowed to access the laptop or computer used for the work, or any printed documents. 

8. The tools and tech stack used to manage hybrid desks 

If the company has reduced office space, because the office is no longer accommodating all its employees daily, then, it might use a hot desking system to manage hybrid employees. 

The company should inform all employees about the chosen tool for that. Will you manage hot desks in a spreadsheet or an app? 

Now, with the Tidaro hot desking app companies can ditch spreadsheets and allow employees to book a desk with ease. Onboarding and full setup will be provided by the Tidaro team. 

As we are concluding with our chapter on hybrid work policies, we want to leave you two examples of policies from real companies: Dell and GitLab. 

Good luck with your own hybrid work policy! 

And don’t forget: these policies are subject to change. They will need to adjusted and refined based on internal feedback.