How to Successfully Transition to a Blended Office

How Companies Can Successfully Transition to a Blended Work Environment

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By Rachel Pelta

For many, working at home has become the new normal. And though the pandemic continues, companies are looking toward the future and planning for the day when staff return to the office.

However, the office that employees return to will likely not be the same as the one they left. Mandatory masks, limited people allowed in the elevator, and sitting at every other table in the break room will likely only be some of the changes employees encounter when they return to their in-office jobs.

They may also find that part of their new normal is a blended office—one that combines social distancing measures with flexible hours and maybe even remote work. What will these blended offices look like, and what does a blended work environment mean to a company?

Early Results From the Coronavirus Work-at-Home Experiment

When the pandemic suddenly forced people to work from home (when they could), few companies were prepared. In the beginning, preparedness didn’t really matter, though, as many people assumed (or hoped) that the pandemic would be short-lived, and social distancing would be a temporary safety measure.

That, of course, has not been the case. Though some states are slowly reopening, others are not. Because there is no firm pandemic end date in sight, some companies are allowing staff to continue to work from home for quite some time:

Google and Facebook employees can work from home until 2021
Capital One employees will work at home until at least Labor Day—or longer
Amazon employees that can work from home will continue to through October

And, in a move that is likely to send ripple effects through HR departments, Twitter is allowing employees to work from home permanently. Furthermore, Nationwide Insurance is permanently closing five offices and switching those 4,000 employees to permanent remote work.

Challenging the Status Quo

What surprised some companies was how well working from home worked. Some companies found that there was a bump in employee productivity during March. And though that initial increase faded as lockdowns continued (likely due to quarantine fatigue and not having a remote work policy in place), most companies have been impressed with how well remote work works.

For example, the Bank of Montreal (BMO) found their long-held beliefs about where work has to happen challenged, and now 80% of employees may switch to a blended office. Letting staff work from home helps maintain business continuity and provides a safe (and arguably more productive) place to work. For example, instead of commuting, staff are talking to clients and pitching new deals, instead of sitting in traffic.

The Blended Work Environment of the Future

OSHA has published guidelines to help employers keep employees safe while working in the office during the pandemic. Some of the recommendations are physical, and some are more cultural. OSHA’s advice includes:

Encouraging workers to stay home if they are sick
Discouraging workers from sharing office equipment (like phones, desks, offices)
Requiring regular hand washing
Providing personal protective equipment to staff, and training them how to use it

The CDC recommends that employers “encourage” employees to wear cloth face masks at work. They also recommend that employers use health checks for all employees, like taking temperatures.

While these steps may help slow the spread of disease and may make employers and employees feel more comfortable, they are not perfect.

Early data shows that health checks like rapid testing or taking temperatures can result in false-negatives, missing people that may be infected. And while employers can issue face masks, how do they ensure staff wear it properly? And, what happens if a staff member refuses to wear a mask in the office?

OSHA also recommends that companies use flexible work policies to help stop the spread of coronavirus. For example:

Employees should be allowed to work from home
Employers should use staggered shifts to limit the number of staff on site
Employers should allow flexible work schedules so staff can take care of loved ones

Additional measures may include staggered seating in the break room or even scheduled lunch breaks to minimize the number of people in a single location at once. Employers may also need to maintain social distancing in elevators—effectively limiting them to one or two employees at a time.

Clearly, many things will change as offices return to in-person work. However, it’s likely that companies won’t return to an “all hands on deck” status for months or even years. So, what will the blended work environment of the future include?

Virtual Meetings and Training

The days of gathering in the conference room (or even auditorium) for staff meetings and training will probably come to a halt for longer than just the immediate future. More training and meetings will likely take place online, and while some of these meetings will be synchronous to allow for spontaneous discussion and brainstorming sessions, some may switch to asynchronous meetings, letting people learn whenever and wherever works best for them.

No More Travel

Along those same lines, business travel is also likely going by the wayside for now. Client meetings will likely happen virtually, as will office tours, interviews, and even site inspections. Conferences and events will also take place virtually for the time being.

The End of the Open Office?

Companies embraced the open office floor plan as a way to help teams collaborate and create (not to mention you could squeeze more people into less space). While the open office concept may have encouraged innovation and invention, these types of office layouts do not minimize the spread of all kinds of germs.

Employers can reconfigure offices to encourage social distancing. This can include adding plexiglass shields to cubicles, or moving cubicles so there’s enough distance in walkways for people to move around safely. And, it could also mean that more people work in private offices.

However, making these changes won’t be cheap for employers. Every change means spending money. And while it’s important to create and maintain a safe working environment for staff, in the end, it may be less expensive to have fewer people in the office on any given day than to reconfigure an entire office.

How Employers Can Make a Blended Office Work

Even partial remote work isn’t for everyone. But for the time being, employers and employees may not have a choice. No matter what the office of the future looks like, it will be up to companies and their leaders to set an example. That means making fundamental changes not just to the physical office, but the company culture as well.

Sick Leave for All

Whether it was on vacation, on maternity leave, or even when sick, many employees felt they needed to work all the time.

However, in light of the pandemic, companies may need to offer more paid sick leave to staff and let them take it without requiring a doctor’s note.

Employers will also need to recognize that to keep the company safe, there will be occasions when staff members need to take time off or work from home to care for sick family members. Encouraging staff to embrace flexible and remote work will help them feel comfortable about working from home and caring for ailing family.

Focus on Results

One of the biggest reasons companies don’t encourage flexible and remote work is that many employers focus on face-time and not hard results. However, in a blended work environment, the number of hours an employee spends onsite will no longer be a valid way to measure employee success.

Employers will need to shift their evaluation criteria. Instead of evaluating staff by how early they start or how late they stay, they’ll need to focus on how quickly, efficiently, and effectively staff accomplish their tasks. Instead of setting a goal based on how many new prospective clients someone talked to, employers may want to set a goal based on how many old clients were retained.

For more advice on measuring remote employee productivity, read:

Lead by Example

Lastly, to help the entire company make a successful shift to the new way of working, employers will have to lead their blended workplace by example.

When the boss is feeling sick, they shouldn’t come into the office or work remotely. If they can work from home, great, but if not, they should use the time to recover. Similarly, if the boss has a sick child, they should stay home and work remotely. To set the example, bosses should work flexible hours, too, only coming into the office on their assigned days.

And, all employers will need to extend patience to everyone. Changing to a flexible schedule or working remotely won’t be easy for anyone. Making a big change like this takes time and practice under normal circumstances. Making a major culture shift under these circumstances will take longer, and everyone will need even more time to adjust to the changes.

For more tips on how to manage remotely, check out:

Transitioning to a Blended Work Environment

No matter how you feel about it, a blended workforce or office may be on the horizon. It can keep your staff safe and healthy, make your customers comfortable, and keep your company going during these unusual times.

FlexJobs has been a leader in and advocate of remote work for over 13 years. We work with companies of every shape and size to provide support and advice for any business that wants to go remote. And we’ve been recognized for our company culture and remote work expertise throughout the years. Furthermore, we’ve always been a fully remote company! If you’re looking for expert guidance, get in touch with us today to discover a better way to recruit remote talent!

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How Companies Can Successfully Transition to a Blended Work Environment