Microsoft Office Remains Closed Until January 2021 at The Earliest

Microsoft became the latest big player to join the party as a hybrid remote/in-office employer, allowing employees to work from home permanently.  Forbes reported yesterday that their office would not open until next year at the earliest and new guidelines will be introduced to enable Managers to approve permanent remote workers or to allow employees to work from home for a portion of their working week.

Big Brands Transition to Hybrid and Remote Models

With some of the best-known brands announcing this transition to a permanent hybrid remote workforce – including Facebook, Twitter, Square, Shopify, Slack, Uber, Google, SalesForce, Amazon and Spotify, we predict this trend will only increase, with companies needing to offer flexibility for remote in order to maintain competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining good staff.

Covid19 has catalysed this transition in a way that was utterly unthinkable just 12 months ago, but companies transitioning to remote and hybrid models permanently will need to seriously rethink their entire systems and processes.  Going remote during Covid may have taught businesses a lot, but they’re in for a rough ride if they assume they can continue with the temporary sticking-plaster solutions and work-arounds implemented during this time.

The Challenges Ahead For Hybrid Remote Work

In fact, the hybrid approach will give them far more challenges to manage and overcome than the fully-remote model.  When all your staff are working remotely, there’s an even playing field and you adopt new technologies and tools to keep the flow of communication and manage productivity.  But when some staff are in the office, some of the time – and others remote all of the time it’s all too easy to slip into old habits and communicate differently with in-person team members than those who are operating remotely and unwittingly create a two tier structure, where the fully remote employees don’t feel fully engaged or included in the business.

In recognition of these challenges, we’ll be speaking with leading experts in remote and hybrid work, over the coming months, and putting together a series of expert interviews, webinars and educational insights to help Managers understand the systems, change management processes, documentation and deliberate culture-building approaches required to effectively implement a hybrid or fully remote business model.

Free Webinar: Managing Company Culture in a Remote Working World

Join us for the first webinar in our educational series as Brett Putter, culture expert and two times author, will share 9 vital and actionable steps that will help you prepare for the inevitable changes in how we adapt to remote or flexible/hybrid work in this unchartered pandemic environment.  Register for free here:

https://www.remotework360.com/webinars/the-9-critical-actions-to-maintain-company-culture-in-a-remote-working-world/