8 Strategies To Ensure Employee Productivity in a Hybrid Work Environment

What is one strategy to ensure employee productivity in a hybrid work environment?

To help you ensure employee productivity in a hybrid work environment, we asked CEOs and business leaders this question for their best ideas.

From focusing on employees’ work output to implementing an effective task management system, there are several ideas that you may work with to ensure employees working in a hybrid environment meet expected productivity targets.

How do you keep employees productive in a hybrid work environment?

Here are eight ways to ensure employee productivity in a hybrid work environment:

• Focus On Employees’ Work Output.

• Set Clear Expectations and Avoid Micromanaging.

• Keep Work Synchronized.

• Implement Checks and Balances.

• Manage Employees With Flexibility and Empathy.

• Have Deadlines for Temporary Fixes.

• Encourage Employees To Get Out When Possible.

• Implement an Effective Task Management System.

1. Focus On Employees’ Work Output

One of the hardest things for legacy managers to let go of is control. The old way of thinking that if I can’t physically see you working then you’re not is outdated.

In a hybrid environment of employees working from home and with alternative work schedules tracking employees’ every movement is impossible. This type of management style is also a waste of time and destroys employee morale. Instead, the best strategy is to focus your staff on end goals and outputs.

Every employee has daily, weekly and monthly goals to achieve so manage that. Hybrid environments have given employees more freedom of managing their day so use that to your advantage.

You can schedule meetings with them or updates when it’s convenient for them and you can manage them towards the output they need to achieve. This makes managing this group much easier and more efficient.

Mark Smith, University of Advancing Technology

2. Set Clear Expectations and Avoid Micromanaging

Employee productivity in a hybrid work environment largely comes down to leaders deducing how to communicate effectively with their specific teams and set clear expectations, while avoiding micromanagement at all costs.

It can be the natural impulse for hybrid leaders to micromanage in hopes of keeping everybody on the same page, but it can lead to employees feeling stressed, annoyed, and that they aren’t trusted, all of which tank productivity very quickly.

Hybrid work poses communication challenges, but it’s up to leaders to figure out what works best for their team: how often to check-in, what channels are best, how to communicate short and long-term goals to each employee, and more.

Crack the communication and expectations equation without micromanaging, and you’re on your way to a productive hybrid workforce.

Stephen Light, Nolah Mattress

3. Keep Work Synchronized

If employees encounter difficulties completing their work when they move between the office and their home environment, it could inhibit their productivity and heavily disrupt their workflow.

This often happens if company information is stored locally rather than on the cloud, or if employees lack the permissions needed to access this information remotely. To ensure employee productivity, take a look over each of your employees’ day-to-day responsibilities and fill any ‘permission gaps’ that may arise.

This may call for a data synchronization solution, such as Dropbox or Google Drive, or more permissions for your team if those systems are already in place.

Consider asking for the team’s feedback throughout this process, as there may be elements of their role that you could overlook. By making the necessary changes, as a result, employees will be able to work just as efficiently from wherever they are.

Aaron Gray, Agency 101

4. Implement Checks and Balances

Finding the right tools to support a system of checks and balances is essential to creating a successful hybrid working environment.

Communicating, collaborating, and keeping productivity thriving is an overarching goal at Peerlogic. Sometimes this means carving out time and updating a “heads-down” activity status on Slack to focus on a specific initiative. Other times, it means scheduling time for 1:1 check-ins and providing regular status updates across working teams or departments.

Slack is a great tool for our teams, allowing us the ability to share files and communicate at the appropriate times. Whether you work from home, go into an office each day, or work in a hybrid environment, creating a system of checks and balances is an effective way to maintain productivity.

Natalie Figueroa, Peerlogic

5. Manage Employees With Flexibility and Empathy

The biggest perk you can offer employees during these times is a flexible management style and flexible hours to work from home at their own convenience.

As long as the work gets done and employees are motivated to work from home, it serves as an incentive. I enjoy having warm relations with my staff and I am a flexible leader who exercises empathy and tolerance in the workplace. 

If you have a great committed team then incentivize their productivity with perks, compliments, and great warm relations. The perks that I offer for great productivity each month depending on what employees enjoy best.

For some it might be an online educational cause (a popular choice), eating vouchers to spend on food or wellness programs. Some employees prefer to shop online and gift vouchers are well received. It is important to get to know your team better as well as what they would love to receive as perks. I would much rather be relevant to their needs than offer perks that would not be valued.

Curran Van Waarde, CallScaler

6. Have Deadlines for Temporary Fixes

Employee turnover is one of the biggest productivity stealers out there. If an employee mentions having little bandwidth or needing more resources, it is important to look for a solution right away.

Sometimes, a temporary solution is added in the interim. But temporary fixes can lead the team to think an issue will never be fully resolved, and it may impact retention at the company.

Always place clear deadlines for temporary solutions. If the issue cannot be resolved by a certain period, it is time to reevaluate and re-align the business goals and priorities.

Carla Andre-Brown, Mailbird

7. Encourage Employees To Get Out When Possible 

For me personally, working in a remote environment can get lonely. My wife feels the same. It’s like you’re always stuck in the same house or apartment, and it’s difficult to leave it. This doesn’t help with productivity.

For the Rockstar Marketing team, I encourage them to get out whenever possible. I do the same myself – for example, I regularly work from co-working spaces, and coffee shops, and go to the gym at lunch. The team does the same. It’s a great way to ensure productivity because we’re humans, and social interactions are important for us. Always encourage this.

Ravi Davda, Rockstar Marketing

8. Implement an Effective Task Management System

In a hybrid work environment, managers must communicate clearly with their team members about the expectations and goals of the project. It is also vital for them to delegate tasks effectively and communicate their expectations with the employees.

To ensure productivity in this environment, you need to have an effective task management system in place. The success of a hybrid team depends on how well they can handle the task management process. This is why it is essential for managers in a hybrid environment to know how to delegate tasks, manage workloads, and ensure that employees are productive so that the team can reach its goals. 

Task management is the process of assigning, prioritizing, and executing tasks. It is an essential part of running a successful business because it makes sure that the work gets done promptly. Task management can be used to ensure hybrid team productivity.

Vartika Kashyap, ProofHub