How can you ensure hustle is cultivated in your hybrid workplace? CEOs have raised concerns about remote workers embracing a hustle mentality but Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach said there are ways managers and their remote employees can work to create an arrangement that encompasses hustle in a hybrid office.

Companies are taking different approaches in moving to a hybrid workplace. Some employees divide their work week between the office and home. Ostach, author of  Courage to Connect™, works with business leadership to create a culture of connection in a hybrid workplace. According to Ostach, there are five ways to promote hustle in a hybrid workplace.

“There is a stigma that remote employees are not ambitious and productive,” said Ostach. “The keys to building the hustle into a hybrid office is adapting a ‘moments that matter’ approach. Working in a hybrid office requires more planning and care. If your sales team is trying to close a deal, the priority should be for them to hold a face-to-face meeting. If your creative team is planning to launch a campaign, they should hold the first meeting in person. It comes down to planning ahead and being strategic for key moments that matter.” 

Five Ways to Cultivate Hustle in the Hybrid Workplace:

• Prepare for Key Moments: Managers and remote employees should work together to develop a strategy to handle key moments. Sometimes a Zoom call will be sufficient but there will be bigger moments when a face-to-face meeting may be necessary.
• Establish a flexible work routine: Flexibility is key for connection. Make sure your expectations are clear and performance is sustained while you stay flexible. Plans are likely to evolve over the next month and throughout the next year so anything set in stone is likely to be etched out. Managers and remote employees should determine a work routine that fits for both parties. A standard 9-to-5 work day in-person may look different for remote workers. Stay flexible!
• Provide visibility of your work schedule: While remote employees may feel their lack of presence at the office may be determinantal, they should not burden their manager about every doctor appointment and errand they run. It is best to map out their week and write a summary about the gaps in their schedule and provide frequent check-ins. The key is to keep the check-ins concise and proactive in nature!
• Be active on Mondays and Friday: It is no surprise that most remote employees prefer to work from home on Mondays and Fridays. To many managers, most sick days and person time occurs on Mondays and Fridays. For remote employees, it is important to manage perceptions that they are working on Mondays and Fridays from home. It is recommended for remote employees to respond to emails promptly, be responsive and proactive.
• Ask for Feedback: Managers should work hard to provide feedback regularly to remote employees. The best way to reduce friction is to keep in tune with your manager. If not, the remote employee should take the initiative and schedule time on their manager’s schedule. And remember, feedback is a gift!

Ostach added that a workplace needs to compel people to want to return. The space needs to inspire collaboration, connection, creativity and a sense of belonging that people may have lost this past year.

About Mark Ostach

Ostach’s goal is to restore energy and focus to organizations battling modern life’s non-stop pace and growing sense of disconnection. He’s done this with organizations that include Universal Studios, Detroit Pistons, Rocket Mortgage, Comerica, Detroit Regional Partnership, DTE, Consumers, Michigan Economic Development Corp (MEDC), & Honigman, LLP, Thermo Fisher Scientific, BASF, Allstate, HItachi, and others.