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Five Ways to Make Sure Productivity is Visible in the Hybrid Workplace

How to Cultivate Hustle In 

a Hybrid Workplace

Five Ways to Make Sure Productivity is Visible

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:

  1. 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. 
  1. 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!
  1. 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! 
  1. 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.
  1. 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.

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How Being Vulnerable in the Workplace Can Help with Employee Connection

If you Really Knew Me…..

How Being Vulnerable Can Inspire 

Human Connection in a Hybrid Workplace

What started as a simple warm up exercise to encourage co-worker connection during the pandemic is gaining traction on reigniting human connection in a hybrid workplace.

Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach, keynote speaker and author of “Courage to Connect”, works to restore focus and bring digital wellbeing to organizations battling a growing sense of disconnection. 

He began using an icebreaker exercise called ‘If You Really Knew Me’ to help encourage social connection when employees worked remotely. Ostach begins the exercise by sharing personal insight about himself to the group such as, “If you really knew me, you would know….I have two kids, I experience seasonal depression, and I’m a huge Kenny G fan :)” The statements he shares range from being more informational to being more vulnerable.

18 months later, Ostach is amazed by the effectiveness and momentum of the exercise. He often receives feedback by former participants about how sharing things that are vulnerable in nature has brought them closer with their coworkers, some of whom they’ve never met in person.

“ ’If You Really Knew Me’ is like an icebreaker on steroids,” says Ostach. “It will take time for employees to get back in person and to connect beyond the surface. The exercise sparks virtual vulnerability and gets people connected right out of the gate. Inspiring connection in a hybrid workplace is key for fostering a culture of connection and helping employees learn to handle their stress in a healthy manner. 

It is critical for managers to demonstrate empathy for the changes employees are going through and understand ways to restore energy and team member interaction.”

Ostach adds the exercise is also good for managers to take some time to be more relational in their connections as opposed to being transactional with our interactions when we only focus on the task at hand. He stresses leaders need to be intentional with creating space for connection.

“I love witnessing leaders be vulnerable and connect with courage! I believe fostering ways to encourage social connection is going to be the most important skill as we move forward with the hybrid workplace. It also allows people to get to know each other more meaningfully. It’s a great supplement for the type of conversations that tend to happen at the water cooler or over a working lunch.” 

Ostach observes when the pandemic began in spring 2020, employees adapted to learning, living, and leading from home. While this has created flexibility and autonomy among teams, this can also create a sense of disconnection and isolation.

Responses from employees at Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurial startups included:

If You Really Knew Me You’d Know That…

  • I’m trying to approach middle age gracefully!
  • I was recently diagnosed with severe sleep apnea.
  • My mother died last month and I’m struggling to get out of bed.
  • I’ve been estranged from my brother for the past 20 years
  • I have 2 overweight cats that sleep by my home office while I work all day 

“The most impactful time spent facilitating virtual meetings is watching employees be more vulnerable and share their emotions,” shares Ostach. “ I’ve seen C-Level executives offer information in a global meeting that puts them in a place of trust and vulnerability as they’ve shared the recent passing of a parent. I’ve seen new hires get to know their team in short order by learning about personal facts through the ‘If you really knew me’ exercise. 

Ostah adds that, “If you really knew me, you’d know that It’s been such a joy to witness social connection through this exercise!”

Ostach helps people find the courage to connect—with themselves, their purpose, and with the people in their lives—both online and offline. 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 locally with organizations like DTE, Quicken Loans, Consumers, MEDC, & Honigman and nationally with global companies like BASF,  AllState, HItachi, and others. 

He’s on a mission to teach people healthy digital habits so they can improve their digital wellness and create deeper connections with things in life that matter most.

Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach in the News:

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Three Ways to Prevent Doom Scrolling

Here We Go Again: Doomsday Scrolling

Overwhelmed by Discourse On COVID-19 Masks & Vaccinations 

and Afghanistan?  

Three Ways to Protect Your Digital Health 

Do you have the feeling of “here we go again” with the latest negative news and it is causing you doomsday scroll, leaving you mentally exhausted? 

As developments in Afghanistan continue and the Delta Variant fueling a spike in Covid cases dominate the news cycle, many are doomsday scrolling. Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach reminds us to take a step back and set boundaries with social media.

“Dooms day scrolling is the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening or depressing,” says Ostach. ”It nudges us to an exaggeration of gloom and doom, which can impact your digital wellness and mental health.”

According to Ostach, who wrote the book “Courage to Connect, Stories that encourage meaningful connection in your life” , digital wellness is a way to view the content in which you are exposed to and how it fits into your overall wellness. He compares digital wellness to our physical wellness.

“If you look at physical calories or a food pyramid, you know to eat your basic food groups and not to eat too many carbohydrates or too many sugars,” says Ostach. “Ideally, you’re maintaining your weight, feeling like you have a good level of energy and exercising. We need to start viewing our content through the lens of digital calories. If you’re feeling bloated from the news headlines, those digital calories often leave us feeling more sluggish and hungrier for more just moments later.” 

Some people chose to take a break from social media all together.

“I don’t think anyone really notices if you were to take a digital fast from social media,” adds Ostach. “As you navigate your day on social media, just realize that everything you consume has a digital caloric value. If the digital calories you consume are headlines from a national news network and inflammatory posts from the “friends” in which you follow, these things often leave you feeling digitally bloated and malnourished (digitally speaking). If you can’t commit to stepping away from social media, then try to be more mindful of what you are consuming.”

Ostach Offers Three Ways to Improve your Digital Health:

  1. No digital gadgets at meal time or an hour before bed.
  2. Sleep device free. Get a real alarm clock! 
  3. Take a digital fast at least one hour a day. 

His best tip? Go outside & get some fresh air! Even if it’s taking a few extra moments on your porch when you get the mail.

Ostach helps people find the courage to connect—with themselves, their purpose, and with the people in their lives—both online and offline. 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 locally with organizations like DTE, Quicken Loans, Consumers, MEDC, & Honigman. Nationally, Ostach has worked with global companies like BASF, AllState, HItachi, and others. 

He’s on a mission to teach people healthy digital habits so they can improve their digital wellness and create deeper connections with things in life that matter most.

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