For most of the working population, the days of commuting to an office to clock in at nine and out at five are long gone. A hybrid work option that involves some time in-person and some time remote has become an expectation in many industries. Although there are some challenges, flexible work arrangements can offer a much better work/life balance – a huge selling point in the workforce.
Research estimates that by 2025, 32.6 million Americans will work remotely, and currently, 98% of workers want to work remotely at least some of the time. With technological advancements, many industries can incorporate flexible working arrangements. Marketing, accounting, finance, and even the healthcare industry are among the top ten using technology to give employees more work options. With most managers noting an improvement in productivity as they adopt new ways of working, it’s easy to see why flexible work arrangements are so popular.
Understanding how these options work is essential in deciding how your company can adapt to the changing face of the office. When looking at these options, we can break them down into two fundamental groups – those primarily in-person and those that lean more toward remote or hybrid structures. It’s important to note that what is common today may change in a few years, and with technology changing rapidly, there may be new options that will become prevalent in the years to come.
Hybrid and remote flexible working examples
We’ve had the technology to make these options work for over a decade, but COVID had a massive impact on shifting these practices from fringe to mainstream. Today, most companies offer some variation of these hybrid flexible work arrangements. Let’s take a look at examples of these flexible work arrangements, their advantages, and their challenges.
1. Remote work
Definition: Remote work means working outside the traditional office setting – anywhere from home to a co-working space to a coffee shop. Generally, this is the first thing we consider when we hear about flexible work arrangements.
Advantages: The technological threshold for remote work varies greatly depending on industry and role, but for many all you need is a stable internet connection, and you are good to go. This means that your talent pool is worldwide, your employees have no commuting costs and generally have a better work-life balance.
Challenges: Maintaining a secure internet connection is difficult without extra precautions for high-security industries like the government or the medical profession. Managing hybrid teams for meetings can be tough, but you can make it work with the right tools. Building company culture and connectedness is also a challenge in that employees may never physically meet their colleagues.
2. Flexible working hours
Definition: Employees are still on a forty-hour work week but can choose where those hours fall during the week. Workers simply need to track their hours in the office and ensure it totals forty.
Advantages: This approach can increase productivity since it adapts to when workers are most productive – night owls can choose to work in the early hours of the morning. It allows workers to balance other obligations like childcare, errands, and other appointments during the day without needing to interact with management for permission.
Challenges: Setting up meetings with this option can be difficult since you can’t count on particular hours when everyone will be available. Work-life balance can also take a hit since no set ‘clock out’ time exists. Flexible working hours make it much easier to pull all-nighters or work for a twenty-hour stretch if you are up against a deadline.
3. Core working hours with flextime
Definition: This arrangement is nearly identical to flexible working hours, but includes set hours each week for people to be in the office for meetings and collaboration. The number of hours can vary from a single afternoon to three days a week, depending on company needs.
Advantages: It gives employees the benefits of flexible hours while ensuring collaboration and communication happen. Regarding employee morale and productivity, it caters to both the extroverted worker who thrives on exchanging ideas in person and the introverted worker who does their best work away from a busy office environment.
Challenges: Core work hours could be a problem for employees working around other responsibilities, like childcare. There is also the issue of determining what the core work hours are. Depending on the makeup of your team, hashing out core hours could be difficult. Luckily, there is technology like interactive displays that allow teams to stay connected whether they are in the office or not.
4. Unlimited paid time off
Definition: In this growing trend, workers don’t get a set number of days off per year or a set number of hours to work per week. Employees who meet deadlines for deliverables can work as few hours as it takes to produce quality work.
Advantages: As far as types of flexible work arrangements go, this one places a lot of trust in employees, which often creates a positive company culture. It also doesn’t punish people who work faster and encourages employees to find more efficient ways to get the work done. This arrangement also puts the focus on quality of work rather than hours spent at the office.
Challenges: It’s easier for employees to take advantage of this arrangement if the quality standards are not high. It can also be much harder for workers to delineate between vacation time and working hours. Then there is the issue of collaboration – since there is no set time for everyone to be at the office, it can be difficult to set up meetings.
5. Voluntary work from home
Definition: Employees have the option to work remotely whenever they like as long as managers grant them permission.
Advantages: Like other flexible arrangements, this style appeals to a wider talent pool, and less people in the office means lower overhead and commuting expenses. There is also the added advantage of having workers in the office for much of the work week, which makes collaboration easier.
Challenges: Just like with fully remote work, you need to ensure that the employee has access to the technology they need to work from home. Since they are in the office most of the time, they need to be able to seamlessly integrate with those still working in the office during their time away. It is important for managers to be aware of any biases when it comes to their remote team members. There is the potential for unconsciously favoring of those they see in-person more frequently.
Primarily in-person flexible working examples
Some industries require in-person workers. You need a construction worker on site to build the building, an MRI technologist to run the MRI machine, and a chef in the kitchen to cook. While companies constantly adapt to the changing workforce, technology, and economics, many still need their office workers on-site. Still, these types of flexible work schedules can give workers quite a few options even when they need to be on-site.
6. Phased retirement
Definition: Gradually cutting back the hours of an experienced employee moving towards retirement while gradually increasing the hours of their replacement.
Advantages: Perhaps one of the best possible ways to train new workers. The employee heading towards retirement can mentor the incoming employee almost like an apprenticeship. When the experienced worker reaches full retirement, their replacement has received months or years of advanced training. This reduces training costs and benefits the outgoing employee by extending their paychecks into retirement years.
Challenges: One of the biggest challenges is reaching a 40 hour work week for the incoming replacement. Fewer hours means a lower paycheck, and in many companies, lower than 40 hours means you are not eligible for benefits. You also need the right personalities for this kind of arrangement. Two people technically holding the same position means it’s easy to muddle lines of authority. Finally, it can be impractical for certain industries that don’t require much training.
7. Job sharing
Definition: Splitting a full-time job between multiple part-time employees who work together to delegate responsibilities. This saw a major increase during the pandemic and is impacting many industries.
Advantages: Gives employees a more manageable workload and allows companies to tap into growing pools of freelance and contract workers. Part-time workers mean companies don’t have to provide benefits, leading to significant financial savings.
Challenges: Clear communication about the delegation of responsibilities is imperative. Miscommunication here leads to project delays and employee conflict. Consistency can be an issue since part-time workers have varying skill levels. Part-time workers are also more likely to leave the company and need replacement, leading to ongoing hiring searches.
8. Compressed workweek
Definition: Steadily increasing in popularity, a compressed workweek means maintaining a 40-hour workweek in the office but taking longer weekends. For example, instead of five days working nine to five, you might have four days working from eight to six with a few makeup hours as needed.
Advantages: Long weekends help a lot with work-life balance and afford workers the opportunity to travel. This method also keeps the advantage of in-office work, like team building and ease of communication.
Challenges: Depending on the industry, working a twelve-hour shift can be a big ask. Careful workload management is also key because deadlines are often more difficult to meet with fewer days on site.
9. Shift work
Definition: Working eight-hour shifts but starting at alternative times to the traditional nine a.m., Monday through Friday. While certainly not a new development, shift work has changed somewhat with the advent of globalization.
Advantages: If your business needs to meet remotely with international companies regularly, shift work allows a team to be the ones who adjust to the time difference. Shift work can also let employees attend to other personal responsibilities during standard working hours.
Challenges: Altering sleep schedules impacts everyone, so your workers will likely experience some degree of exhaustion. It can also upset work-life balance if they have a family that is on a different schedule.
Flexible working practices and your company
Given the statistics, there’s a very good chance that your company is already using some of these flexible work arrangements. That said, it’s worth considering how you can improve your current practices and what other flexible work options could benefit your workplace. Employee makeup, type of industry, and your already existing office culture can significantly impact the success of flexible work arrangements.
It’s important to remember that with major leaps in technology, managing hybrid teams is becoming easier and easier. You might have options you’ve never even considered.
Want to see how interactive technology can reshape your workplace?
Request a free demo of the ActivPanel Pro or ActivPanel LX to see how it can help you manage hybrid teams and offer more flexible work arrangements.
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