The challenges of hybrid and remote working

Part 1 Establishing the challenges

I ran a session with a business recently to help them to think about how the shift to remote and hybrid work has affected them individually and as a business and to think about what they might try to mitigate some of the challenges.

I ran the session remotely using Microsoft Teams, a polling tool and an online whiteboard. I started with some questions to establish how they were feeling about the changes and where we should focus our efforts.

The business has clearly made efforts to give people flexibility, to encourage conversation and to support people.

I asked what was good about working from home

Flexibility, the ability to concentrate and no travel

I asked what was challenging about being remote and about being in the office while others are remote

Missing the social interaction, response times from others and interruptions

Poor audio or video, not the same interaction and connecting as humans

The challenges selected to discuss were as follows

The day is filled with meetings and there is no time for any other type of work
Too many video meetings
I don't have time for breaks
I don't get to chat to colleagues
I work longer hours or find it difficult to switch off outside of working hours
I have tech problems
I find it difficult to get help quickly
I find it difficult due to the lack of non verbal interactions
I find being at home very distracting
I find others being at home very distracting
I find it more difficult when collaborating with others
I find it difficult brainstorming when not in the same room

It is very important to begin with to understand the actual problem

For example 'Too many video meetings' could be a problem because:

it is tiring being at a screen all day
it is uncomfortable being on camera all day
the meetings are not a good use of your time
it does not allow you time to do other work
you find yourself working long hours to get things done
you do not have time between meetings to have a break, get a drink, go to the bathroom, think about the previous meeting, process your email or other messages

In part 2 I will share some of the ideas we discussed.

If you would like to have a conversation about how I might be able to help your team to build new approaches to hybrid and remote working please contact me via email or directly book a 30 minute call. I look forward to hearing from you. Or you could take a look at how I can help or some testimonials.