Hybrid work is a type of work setup where one can work at certain amount of days or hours in the office, at home or anywhere.
I recently met up with my former colleagues at work. We had worked between 2-3 years together in our field – Workforce Management. More than a decade had passed since we parted and gone our separate ways chasing our own dreams. Along the way, we all learned a lot and had progressed very significantly in our careers.
One of my them became a VP for a division in his company. I will not say where he works or what his projects are. The fact that I do not fully understand it makes me reluctant to discuss it. Aside from that, well, there might be some company secret that I could not divulge.
Anyway, during the course of our conversation, he mentioned that his work setup is hybrid. He works in the office three times a week while the remaining two days are done at home. He setup a small office in their house to get away from any noise and distractions. He also said that he has a place sort of zen where he goes to chill and destress.
But, this is when it confused me. On the days he works at home, he said that for major and heavy meetings, he stays in his home office. For the light ones, he goes to his place of zen or have the meeting while eating.
This I totally disagree. I had said my piece to him.
Hybrid Work May Not Be Effective
Hybrid work is a work setup that provides one to work either in the office, at home, or anywhere for a certain amount of days or hours. This is done with following a line of thinking that meeting people personally or face-to-face helps form and solidify relationships. Thus, it is also encouraged by many businesses and companies to foster good working relationship and boost productivity and effectiveness.
However, this setup does not apply to all.
One of the former colleagues I met up with said he gets more work done when he is in the office. I asked him why is that the case given that there a lot of people in the office that would go to him, get his attention, and distract him. He said that there are more distractions at home than in the office. In the office, there are very few people since they are on hybrid so they do not see each other at the same time or day. At home, his family is there constantly moving and speaking. This is not to mention that access to things like TV and food takes his attention too. In effect, he is more distracted at home and he is not able to complete what he needed to.
This is a typical setup here in the Philippines. Since most of us live with our immediate families (parents and siblings or even extended family) our household is usually busy. With our close family ties culture, our homes are a bustling noise and love of people we care about. This is good for anyone, but not for work.
Therefore, some prefer to work in the office to get away from the distractions at home. With the now sometimes half-empty offices, there is less noise and bustle which creates a better environment for focus work.
Hybrid work didn’t work for me.
Working from home
It is said that to work effectively at home, a separation of workplace and others things should be created. One can create a home office in an empty or unused room or even just an area in the house where no one, or at least minimal, can disturb you. Here in the Philippines where most remote work is done at night because we are the center of the BPO industry, working from home at night while everybody sleeps already creates that separation.
For my former colleague who mixes up his work with his zen place, while he said it works for him, it does not for everyone. I told him to stop doing that because the brain needs time to reset and make new connections (neuroplasticity). If he continues to do the same thing regardless of the location in the house or the intensity of the work, the brain is still bombarded by the same amount of stress. This is never good.
What can be done, and this is what I do, is to really separate work. If it is time to take a break, take it and do something else. I take regular breaks and use that time to smoke, have coffee, and watch something on Netflix. By the time the break is over, new ideas are forming in my head that make me dive into the work immediately and do it.
When I was doing hybrid work, whenever I went to the office, I felt it was a waste of my time. The idea behind going to the office is to meet people face-to-face. Surprisingly, since we have different schedules for going to the office, most of the people I work with are at home. So, work is still done online that can be done at home instead of the office. Even if we are all in the office, most of us are facing our laptops, back to each other, and still talking in chatrooms. I guess that is Gen Z culture.
Make Hybrid Work For You
The other colleague I met up with structured his scheduled days in the office when he knew there were a lot of things to accomplish. That makes him focus more and finish it. The other one stays at home so he doesn’t spend much time commuting and instead, uses that time to get more work done.
I, on the other hand, went to the office whenever bosses were there. To me, it is just presence. As long as they regularly see me on site, that is enough for me. Anyway, our work is all remote so regardless of where I was, the work still progressed and completed.
Hybrid work can work and it all depends on the person. How can one utilize it to his advantage and be more productive is up to him. It should not be treated as something that works for everyone. It is, just like any other, a flexible solution to the changing demand of the workplace
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