It’s been a long 22 months . . .
The accelerated effects of the pandemic on workplace life have, in fact, delivered a much-needed surprise — working from home.
Many companies and organizations are finding it advantageous to let their employees work from home because they have stumbled into many added benefits — productivity gains, reduced facility costs, and happier employees (who don’t have that long commute and can stay closer to their families).
As 2022 is almost upon us, management and HR are devising novel plans to embrace hybrid work so it benefits their needs and keeps their best people happy, engaged, and distant from the idea of fleeing the coop for another company.
HR departments are starting to communicate parameters of hybrid schedules to the employee population. I have one thing to say to everyone in this situation:
Do What’s Best For YOU.
Because, in the end, hybrid work is for YOU — your happiness and your productivity. So ensure your hybrid schedule benefits your situation, your productivity, your home life. It will not only ensure that you can continue with this new situation, but you can also enjoy and grow with it.
We all know that we rarely worked a full and productive 8-hour day. We filled the gaps with boring meetings, longer-than-needed phone calls, chatting with cubical colleagues, taking long lunches, etc. Just read Tim Ferriss’ first book, The Four-Hour Workweek (btw, he has an incredible podcast — catch it here).
Figure out what days are best for you to commute to the office and what days are best for you to work from home — when you’re most productive, engaged, and when it’s best for your home life, interests, and growth opportunities. Then communicate your needs (requirements) to your manager ASAP.
Again, hybrid work is for YOU — so take advantage of this new normal and make it work for you.
And maybe someday, hopefully in the near future, we might see the advent of a four-day workweek (it’s starting to happen).
We've just launched a new program: The Four Elements of Transformational Leadership where we engage managers on how to effectively communicate, motivate, educate, and delegate their teams.
It’s a series of customized timely workshops for your team to focus on growing their leadership skills over a series of months. Why months?
People learn by doing, not just attending a single 8-hour offsite — our program ensures that each candidate learns, understands, and takes action after each 60-90 minute live session.
In addition, we include one-on-one coaching sessions for each candidate to follow up on their progress, answer any questions they might have, and reinforce the right behaviors so they apply what they've learned in their day-to-day interactions.