Study shows that hybrid working models are in demand also in Switzerland
What challenges does the company face and how can successful implementation be achieved?
Over the past two years, the way we work has been turned upside down. Countless employees had to start working from home overnight. This was also a major challenge for companies. Never before has the way we work changed as quickly and radically as it has during this time. A study conducted by the University of St. Gallen in collaboration with Novu Office and HR Campus found that this has led to a major shift in thinking among most of the Swiss companies surveyed. Although the trend toward more flexible work models is not exactly new, many companies were still hesitant to change their existing ways of working before the pandemic. Now, however, 83 percent of the employers surveyed have concluded that the transition to remote work has been a success for their companies.
There has also been some shift among employees: only 12 per cent want to return to the office full time after the Corona crisis, while 88 per cent want a new working model with at least one day working from home. At the same time, 62 percent prefer a hybrid work model, while 26 percent would like to work completely on a remote basis.
Hybrid work models combine traditional, office-based work with the flexibility of remote work. While 35 percent of Swiss companies surveyed were using hybrid work models or at least planning to implement them before the pandemic, that figure has now risen to 77 percent across all company sizes and industries. However, most companies are still in the development phase of such models, because even though hybrid work offers numerous advantages for employers and employees, there are still some challenges to overcome.
For example, 89 percent of business leaders see maintaining an inclusive corporate culture as the biggest challenge, and 71 percent cite difficulties in effective teamwork. This means there must be new ways and tools to bring employees together equally, whether they’re in the office or working from home.
So if hybrid working models are going to be used more in the future, new ways are also needed in project management. Therefore, here are three tips to help organise remote work effectively:
1. Set a framework
Without a concrete framework, it is often difficult for employees to work from homein a home office. For example, many employees feel obliged to be available throughout the day and no longer have a separation between work and private life. Therefore, it is important that working hours are precisely defined. Remote work can also have advantages for employees who need to attend private appointments during working hours. In such cases, however, strict attention should be paid to maintaining one’s own calendar so that colleagues check whether one is available.
2. Focus on communication
Communication can cause some difficulties in working from home, because a brief exchange in the coffee kitchen or clarifying a question across the desk is no longer possible. Colleagues are not always available by phone and e‑mails are not usually answered immediately. Online meetings are not always the best solution either, as they quickly tempt employees to do other work on the side. In order to keep everyone involved in the project up to date at all times, a different kind of communication is needed. Besides daily, short coordination meetings, a project management system can optimally support you in not spending too much time with e‑mails, in video conferences or with telephone calls. In a project management software you can manage tasks and progress and thus call up the current status of a project at any time.
3. Try out new methods
Every project and every project team has its own requirements and needs. Therefore, a solution that worked very well for one project may not necessarily work for another. For this reason, you should be open to new approaches, solutions and possibilities. For example, did you previously rely on classic project management? Then it may now help you to test an agile or hybrid approach. Such a self-organised way of working in small steps can, for example, promote communication between team members as well as their productivity.
To the study: https://novuoffice.com/hybrid-work-compass/
We would be happy to show you in a personal meeting how a suitable project management system can look under such conditions, especially for a hybrid use of classic and agile project management.