Hybrid working: Communication is key, how do you make it happen?

Welcome back to our hybrid working blog post series 

In the final blog post in our hybrid working series, we will be exploring exactly how and why communication is key when it comes to hybrid working and how having the right communication tools and feedback solutions by your side is the best way to guarantee success. 

If you’ve missed any of the other blog posts in this series, you can read them here. So far, we have covered what hybrid working is, some of the key benefits that employers and employees are enjoying and on the other side, and the challenges that can result when we work from both home and the office. 

Understanding the impact of hybrid working on your staff 

Combining both working from the office and home has meant we have had to re-think the way we work, how to be our most efficient selves and maintain our responsibilities. 

It’s important to consider both the different experience levels of your staff alongside different personality types. Extroverts might work more productively when they’re in the office, while introverts feel most calm and focused working from home. By combining both home and office working, your team can base themselves in the place that best suits them for a proportion of the week.  

If the key challenges of hybrid working, such as technical issues and the lack of personal connection, are mitigated and worked around, hybrid working has the potential to be an effective way of working going forward.  

Key to making this way of working suit both you and your team is to ensure you’re regularly speaking to them, to discover how they feel about where they work and how to perform their role. Feelings around this can change as a result of new team members, the impact of pandemic-related restrictions, and the length of time spent working in a particular way. As always, communication is key. 

How to effectively receive feedback from your team 

Anonymous, simple, and considered surveys are the best way to get the honest feedback you need, so you can make data-led decisions that impact your team.  

For example, if your survey results show that most team members would prefer to be in the office one to two days a week, rather than three or more days, then having this data by your side will allow you to make team-wide decisions. It’s almost impossible to keep everyone happy but, with the right data, you can make informed decisions rather than guessing. 

Survey feedback can also help you uncover new ways to improve the hybrid working experience. Whether it’s weekly social work calls or perhaps introducing new benefits at work, with the right data, you’re equipped to make decisions that benefit your team. 

If the thought of regular employee surveys makes you think of time wasted, don’t worry. Our Pulse Surveys are designed to be short and sweet, which means they can easily slot into your teams’ daily or weekly schedules. At We Love Surveys, we provide solutions that allow you to collect feedback from your colleagues quickly and effectively. 

How We Love Surveys can support your business and your team 

Our team of feedback solutions experts will design a survey that takes your business, your teams and your goals into consideration. 

We understand that every business is different, with unique people, goals and objectives. A one-size survey most certainly doesn’t fit all. That is why we collaborate with each of our clients to suggest the best feedback solution and questions for them. 

You won't find generic survey questions that don’t apply to you, only customised questions aimed at helping you get the data you need to make decisions that will benefit your business and team. 

Confidential employee engagement surveys 

Our team understands that one of the best ways to collect the data and insights you need is to give your team the opportunity to offer their opinions anonymously. Confidential surveys help you get the most open and honest answers from your team. 

When feedback becomes a choice for colleagues, engagement naturally increases because colleagues give feedback when they have something to say. Not because it's a certain time of the year and the company has a target to hit! 

Final thoughts 

Our team at We Love Surveys is here to help your business by providing a tailored and bespoke feedback solution to meet your needs. 

From daily pulse surveys to longer-form feedback solutions, we’re here to support your business in getting the data you need to make data-led decisions  

What to do now 

If you have any questions about our services or are interested in working with us, get in touch with us today. 

Make sure you’re following us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram so you don’t miss the next blog post series we have in store for you, or the latest updates from our team. 

If you’re interested in catching up with our other blog posts, you can do so here. 

5 questions you need to include in your post-pandemic return to the office survey

Although not surprising, the announcement that the UK government will be delaying the easing of lockdown restrictions for another four weeks (at the minimum), will undoubtedly throw a spanner in the works for many businesses preparing an imminent return to the office. The lifting of the remaining rules was due for June 21 but is now expected no earlier than July 19. 

Among the variety of regulations that will remain in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus is the recommendation that those who are able to work from home, should continue to do so. For HR and employee engagement teams, this raises the issue of how to set out a roadmap back to the office, or even whether to do so.  

Opinion is truly divided when it comes to the best way to work going forward, from the work-from-homers on one side to the return-to-the-officers on the other, and those who seek a hybrid approach laying somewhere in between the two. The only way to understand the thoughts of those within your organisation is to ask, and to help you to do that, we’ve highlighted some questions that should be on your to-ask list.  

One important thing to note before surveying your employees is that not everyone will agree, and you likely won’t end up with one answer to suit everybody. The results of the survey will, however, help you to balance the needs of your employees, with those of the business, in a way that offers value for everyone.  

Question 1: What is your preferred way of working going forward? 

Make this question one of the first you ask, as it will set the expectation for the rest of the questions in the survey. Keeping it simple will allow you to easily analyse the results and get an overall insight into the preferences of your employees. 

It’s a great idea to offer a free text box here for people to expand upon their answers. This will help you understand why employees prefer the approach that they selected (or the reasons they have against the one they didn’t select!). There are lots of areas in a person’s life that may influence their preferred way of working. This could be childcare, living with family members, long commutes and a whole host of other things that could be easier or harder depending on where your employees are working from.   

Question 2: Is there anything you need in order to improve your working environment (whether you are working at home or the office)? 

Again, the answers to this question will provide further insight into question 1. If everyone answers that they don’t have the required resources to work from home, that could explain why everyone wants to return to the office. If they were given the equipment needed, would remote work be preferable? 

You can also identify areas for improvement and ensure your staff are well engaged with their work. As well already know, engaged employees bring a whole load of benefits.  

Question 3: How would you describe the levels of communication between your team while working from home, compared to being in the office? 

Communication is a core component for any team. Not only does it enable the completion of jobs and day-to-day operations, it also creates a sense of being part of a team.  

Employee communication is an important factor to consider when deciding on how to work in the future. Open and clear communication increases employee engagement and morale and reduces staff loneliness.  

As well as between staff members, it is important to facilitate open and honest downstream lines of communication from management teams. If you do choose to return to the office full-time, your employees are likely to have concerns. The more open your communication, the more informed your staff will feel, reducing their fears.  

Question 4: How would you describe your productivity while working from home, compared to being in the office? 

We all want productivity to be as high as possible, don’t we? Remember to talk about productivity rather than output, as a higher output isn’t always better. Employees are more likely to work longer hours while working from home, so increased output could be the result of over-working rather than productivity. 

Question 5: How comfortable do you feel discussing any concerns with your manager? 

This is always a worthwhile question in an employee survey, as it gives you an indication of how likely you are to hear about the concerns of staff, as well as the relationships between teams. In the context of evaluating future working methods, you can learn about how any issues that arise, may be raised. 

“Annie in accounts” may express her readiness to return to the office before doing so, to later discover that the change makes her anxious. The more comfortable she feels with her manager, the more likely she is to raise any concerns or worries, which can then be dealt with without Annie suffering on her own.   

There are plenty of questions you could ask, depending on what you are trying to establish, but try not to overload your employees, especially if the answers won't be used.  

When making your final decision, remember to make the preferences a top priority. For example, if everyone wants to continue working from home or in a flexible way, but they’ve also indicated they are less productive working this way, consider how to address this. Could communication be improved? Would a task management tool help?  

The return to work post-pandemic is currently a popular survey topic for We Love Survey clients. Our expertise in this area makes it easy to generate a feedback survey from a bank of available questions, which can then be tailored to each company’s individual needs. Depending on the requirements, this could be either a full survey or a shorter pulse survey. 

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We Love Surveys can create a bespoke employee survey for your business to drive your decision on how to work in the future. Get in touch to find out more.