The Next Great Disruption is Hybrid Work -- Are We Ready? (2021)

[amoralesg001]

The Next Great Disruption is Hybrid Work -- Are We Ready?

Summary

In this article, Hybrid work is through the lens of a post-covid pandemic. It is defined as a "blended model where some employees return to the workplace and others continue to work from home". This article wishes to show that traditional work is now evolving, so we need to shift with it. Additionally, it provides findings of collaboration trends in Microsoft 365 surveys between February 2020 and February 2021.

Key Points

• Because of the pandemic, most people are working virtual. This has provided a sense of inclusion since their was no separation between in-person and virtual members of the team. However, we are seeing traditional work evolve into hybrid work as we look forward into the post-pandemic lifestyle. Therefore, Hybrid work will involve companies to invest in tools that allows any person, whether virtual or in-person, to contribute in whatever way possible.
• Meetings in Microsoft teams have more than doubled globally (2.5X) and continue to increase (148% for teams meetings)
• 40.6 Billion increase in emails from February 2021 compare to February 2020.
• They observed difficulties in the Gen Z population to adjust to virtual work. The demographic respondents of Gen Z showed 60 percent of them saying they are surviving or struggling right now. Some possible reasons that reflect these findings is that networking becomes more intimidating since everything is remote -- especially for a young generation that are prioritizing networking as they become introduced to new careers. This is reflected through their findings that Gen Z respondents found more difficulties when compared to older generations about feeling engaged or excited about work, getting a word in during meetings, and bringing new ideas to the table. This analysis is important since Gen Z are the new generation of the workforce and will be the first to be properly introduced to hybrid work. Enabling a sense of purpose for the younger generations with virtual work may be a beneficial avenue to begin the shift of hybrid work.
• Isolation due to the pandemic is shrinking networks which endangered innovation: "our analysis shows that interaction with our close networks at work increased, while interactions with our distant networks diminished. This suggests that, as a we shifted into lockdown, we clung to our immediate teams for support and let our broader network fall to the wayside... the trend shows even these close team interactions have started to diminish over time". Losing connections could decrease forms of innovation and increase the likelihood of groupthink. One possible solution is hybrid work -- countries such as South Korea and New Zealand saw an increase in communication with distant networks when country lockdowns were eased. Another possible solution is for teams to be intentional about their social capital, cross-team collaboration, and spontaneous idea-sharing.

mental model to embrace extreme flexibility:

1. create a plan to empower people for extreme flexibility

• how are people doing?
• what do people need?
• who will be able to work remotely, and who might have to come in? and how often?

2. invest in space and technology to bridge the physical and digital worlds

• how does the company equip all employers with tools they need to equally contribute?
• physical spaces should be nice so that workers want to commute and work. A place that includes a mix of collaboration and focus areas.

3. combat digital exhaustion from the top

• address digital exhaustion
• encourage breaks and respect it
• embrace asynchronous and synchronous collaboration

4. prioritize rebuilding social capital and culture
5. rethink employee experience to compete for the best and most diverse talent.

[maherou]

Thanks for this excellent summary!

[elaineraybourn]

👍