The future of work is hybrid. Remote-first cultures are possible, but still rare. Fully in-person workplaces are a requirement in some sectors, but will be an albatross for those who mandate it without a compelling reason. Conventional wisdom at this point is that most companies will adopt, or will be forced to adopt, a hybrid model for their workplaces. Companies that do not risk the ire of their employees, and a loss of competitive advantage in hiring.

While the above may be true, it’s not easy. And it’s not obvious to most how to do hybrid right. Organizations of all kinds are rolling out policies now, some patterned after the marketplace, some determined by fiat. For the organization considering a hybrid approach now, there are some emerging best practices to consider.

1. Be as flexible as possible.
   • Avoid fixed days. Every team and employee is different, with different lives and needs. If you can, let them choose when they are in office and when they are remote. Airbnb’s policy offers the most laissez-faire approach seen so far, and is sure to be wildly popular. Can you go that far? If your answer is no, be sure you can explain why.
   • Batch days for efficiency. Make sure that in-office days and remote-optional days are clustered, not broken up. This gives employees flexibility to batch their tasks, to work-and-travel, and to shift modes without constant change and turmoil. Apple is being harangued by it’s employees for selecting an every-other-day approach. Employees are given very little opportunity to take advantage of consecutive remote work days, and will find themselves shifting between commute-mode and remote-mode so often that no real habits can form.
   • Offer choices. As I said, every person and every team is different. The best policy is to let each team decide for themselves; individual choice risks creating chaos and hobbling diversity. The safest choice is to let managers of each team decide what’s best for their group, after consulting with their reports and peers.
     Does this reduce IRL collaboration across teams? It might. Leaders who are worried about this can provide guardrails, like setting minimum number of days in office, or asking leaders of collaborative functions to work together to select their team’s schedules.
     For some teams, fully-remote will not only be possible, but preferable. Decide now if you will allow that, in what cases, and how it will be decided. Perhaps the team leader or head of function must request it, and all team employees must vote. Remember that individual preferences will vary; consider the potential differences between a middle-aged working parent and a just-out-of-college person living with roommates.
   • Offer a default for teams that don’t have specific needs. Some team’s needs will be clear; Monday is for reading reports and should be remote, Wednesday is launch day so should be in person, etc. Many won’t be that obvious. For any team without a workflow-related rational, offer a default. For example: “All teams will default to Tuesday through Thursday in-office, unless team workflow benefits from a different schedule.”
2. Apply first principals.
   • Start with your corporate purpose and values. What does your organization care about? What, if any, working style do those values require? An organization that is highly collaborative in it’s decision-making will organize key milestones in the office; a company that takes a top-down approach to decisions will offer more flexibility at a team or function level; a sales-driven organization might find itself questioning whether any fixed days in office are necessary. Creating a policy that is in-line with your company culture and values will feel intrinsically correct to your employees, even if they would prefer something different.
3. Determine what work needs to be done together.
   • Not all work needs to be done in person. In a hybrid work environment, much work will default to Zoom. There’s no greater fear for employees than driving into the office to sit at a desk all day on conference calls. It behooves leaders to decide up front what work should be done in person and what work can be done remote. Deciding this now will create more clarity for everyone down the road, and allow employees to make smarter choices about how they manage their time.
     This can be a challenge for executive and HR teams making policy – when work requirements differ by team or function, reach down in the organization for feedback. Policymakers should ask team leaders, and in some cases end-line employees, what work they think needs to be done in person. Chances are most can be – remember that employees spent the last 2 years figuring that out, often with little guidance from above. Respect that autonomy, and honor their expertise.
   • Set clear guidelines on meetings. An unintended outcome of pandemic-driven remote work was virtual meeting creep. Be aware of this, and set clear policies or best practices for teams re-thinking their workflows. Provide digital tools for asynchronous work, and encourage it through corporate communications, and by modeling the use of those tools at an executive level. A C-suite leader who is comfortable using Slack or providing feedback within a workflow tool sets a powerful example to others in the organization, and immediately undermines prima donna leaders who might otherwise refuse.
4. Work at least as hard at making remote culture as you did at making it IRL.
   • How did you create culture before? Happy hours? Offer them, but on common office days. Retreats or Quarterly meetings? Those can be required office days. Free lunch or a buzzy cafeteria? Consider offering virtual seminars or interesting talks during lunch time.
   • Set up associate resource groups. You should already be doing this as part of your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work, but take the opportunity to set them up now if you haven’t. Giving employees a time and space to connect with others in similar situations, or with similar interests, can natively replace the cross-connections formed in the workplace.
   • Create digital water coolers. Work with your IT team to set up channels and digital spaces for casual, non-work related chatter. And be sure you honor and respect employee autonomy by not moderating those spaces beyond the required minimum to deter bullying and divisive language. You weren’t listening to your employees in the elevator or the bathroom, so don’t make a habit of it on Slack.
   • Encourage team leaders to create regular digital connection. Weekly all-team meetings can be burdensome but rewarding if done right. Regular recognition moments or opportunities for employees working in all modes to share and take credit for their work are beneficial too.
   • Ensure leadership participates in these things as well; most employees like to see and be seen by the executive team, so be sure they have a presence in these spaces, or supplement with other replacements for hallway interaction, like leadership meet-and-greets.
   • Leaders should be on the lookout for emerging digital culture – teams are incredibly adaptable, and will find a way to make anything their own. Leaders should be listening and soliciting input from all levels to understand how employee behaviors are changing, and adopt and roll out best practices quickly.
     As an example, a team I was part of naturally took over the chat during key meetings, not only for side discussion but for light-hearted conversation – amplifying or agreeing with a point that was made, offering a funny joke or gif as commentary, or simply voicing their support with emoji. These things were not strictly work, but they quickly created a positive digital culture, and the casual, friendly nature of them encouraged more people to chime in.
5. Question your decisions.
   • Leaders abhor change. Like it or not, most are reluctant to consider working styles or methods that differ from their own experience. Senior executives do not think the same way end-line employees do. Before rolling out any specific policy, ask employees for feedback, and be willing to take it.
6. Watch your language.
   • Communicating any policy change is a challenging endeavor. Hybrid work rules are about 1,000 times more fraught than most. Whatever message you lead with will be taken as gospel; and the least-flexible part of your policy will be the headline, no matter what else you say. Ensure your communication leads with principals, and choices. Put autonomy and flexibility front and center.
   • Clearly communicate the executive and leadership team’s decisions and schedules. This is both walk the walk moment, and a chance to create clarity around access and visibility. Many teams rely on access to executive leaders, and will try to structure their work around the availability of those leaders. Accept that fact and be up front. And be sure to highlight – and support – leader’s willingness to work digitally or remotely to maintain access.

All of the policies being rolled out now are tests against a central hypothesis – that we must interact in person in some unknown amount to truly collaborate and sustain culture. Is it true? And if so, what model is most efficient at producing results, and most equitable with employee time? Only time will tell how this experiment goes, but the companies that put their employee experience at the center of their decision-making have the most to gain.