How to Make Hybrid Working Work
With the new CDC guidelines, there is more talk about returning to the office in the coming months. If hybrid working is in your future, I would suggest that you practice the 3 P’s: Plan, Prepare and Proactive. This way you’ll be ready when it’s time to transition to splitting your work week between two locations. I recently shared some hybrid working tips in this video and have 3 additional ones here.
Plan to move seamlessly between your work locations. To do this, all the materials that you use daily should be accessible in your office and home office. You wouldn’t want to get to your office only to find that you left the pad with important meeting notes on your desk at home. If you set up a landing/launching pad in your home office, you’ll always have those important items like these with you. At the end of the day, collect these items in this designated area in your home office so you can grab them on your way out the door in the morning.
Prepare to adapt a more mobile mindset. This means having access to your calendar, to-do list, documents and meeting notes from both work locations. If you are using a paper calendar, it may be time to shift to one of the digital scheduling tools. The same applies to your to-do list… while you may enjoy the action of crossing tasks off your list on your pad, juggling your priorities from memory because the pad isn’t with you can be stressful. If you enjoy filling up legal pads with meeting notes and their related tasks, it will be challenging to move a project forward if the pad is sitting on your other desk.
Proactive scheduling will be the key to your success. Whether it be to book time with colleagues who will be in the office on the same day as you or blocking time to tackle focused work tasks, thinking beyond today will be important. In addition to managing your calendar from a work location standpoint, proactively scheduling time and getting started on projects sooner than you might have in the past will be key. This will be true especially if you are using your in-office time more for meetings and at home time for getting the work done.
I hope that these tips are helpful as you give thought to how to make your hybrid working experience a success. If you are already splitting your time between locations, please reach out and share what’s working for you.