Creating effective hybrid work policies: Top tips & template

Hybrid work offers employees the best of both worlds – the flexibility of remote work and the camaraderie of in-office time. But managing a hybrid workforce is not an easy feat, which is why you need to ensure you have the right hybrid work policy.

Often, homeworkers end up working longer hours with fewer career advancement opportunities than their in-office counterparts. Additionally, a lack of a formal hybrid work policy could leave your employees anxious or demotivated. In some cases, it could also create two classes of workers, remote and in-office, with remote employees being treated as “second-class.”

‍So, once you've established your business is ready for hybrid work, you need to create a strong hybrid working policy that:

• Is equitable and fair to everyone
• Provides the right working conditions to all employees
• Outlines all available hybrid arrangements and requirements
• Sets clear rules for remote and office work, including working hours, required office presence, and communication channels and tools

We also advise you to use hybrid work software to make desk booking and attendance management easier.

Just as workplace policies or employee handbooks outline dos and don'ts for employees, hybrid working policies should lay down clear criteria and rules around hybrid work and also provide best practices for employees.

Below, you'll find a hybrid work policy template you can grab and use for free, plus our top tips on how to build a sensible flexible policy that works well for you and your employees – but first, let’s clarify what hybrid work actually is.

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Defining hybrid work

Hybrid work is a flexible work model that allows employees to divide their work time between the office and their home – or different locations, such as coworking spaces, libraries, or even coffee shops. It recognises that not all tasks require a physical presence in the office, and some can be effectively completed from a distance, especially if you provide your employees with the right communication and project management systems.

By implementing a hybrid work model, you can offer your people the freedom to choose where they work and enable them to strike a better work-life balance. This, in turn, can lead to better job satisfaction and retention – and improved employee well-being.

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Your free hybrid workplace policy template

The template below is yours to use; you can simply copy and paste it and tweak it to fit your organisation's needs. ‍

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Policy overview

Beginning [Date], [Company] will implement a hybrid work model. All employees are eligible for hybrid work. Schedules must fit within one of the models described below and be cleared by your manager.

Please read the entire policy and sign to confirm you have read it. Contact [name and email of contact person] if you have any questions.

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Hybrid work schedule

Hybrid schedules depend on your department; you have flexibility within the hybrid model below. Contact your direct supervisor with questions.

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All departments should book office space for in-office days with Officely.

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‍Key performance indicators (KPIs)

Your manager will discuss with you all relevant key performance indicators and how they might be affected by hybrid work.

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In-office amenities

Employees working at the office more than 3 days a week will have a dedicated desk, parking space, and access to the company gym or childcare services.

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Equipment and software

For all employees, the company will provide:

• Laptop
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Headset
• Cellphone

Employees working remotely more than 2 days a week will also receive stipends to cover internet costs.

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Compensation and benefits

Compensation might be subject to adjustments if relocating to a different city or area.

Employees will also receive the following additional stipends:

• Gym memberships/related health membership
• Virtual health consults
• Virtual mental health counseling
• Childcare
• [Add more benefits here]

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Communication tools and guidelines

Use the following tools for remote communication:

• Email for weekly updates, updates for clients, delivery of material to clients
• Slack for team-wide communication, client groups (if requested), quick announcements
• Google Meet for meetings, presentations, stand-ups
• Officely for updating your work location (remote or from the office) and booking desks

Prioritise the use of public channels of communication and be respectful of others’ time and show up punctually for meetings.

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Commitment to equal opportunities

We’re committed to providing a similar experience to remote and in-office employees. To ensure everyone has equal access to opportunities, managers must:

• Use public channels to announce new work opportunities and projects
• Review how often employees are promoted with respect to their work preferences

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10 tips for building a successful hybrid and remote work agreement

Below, you’ll find our top tips on how to manage the transition to a hybrid work model – and how to ensure that it works well for you and your team.

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1. Determine eligibility for hybrid work

Before you start building your hybrid policy, define the roles for which hybrid work is possible and those for which it is not.

Here are some examples:

• Roles suitable for hybrid work: Most roles in project management, software development, design, marketing, finance, accounting, and admin
• Roles that require mostly in-office presence: Front desk and customer-facing roles, field staff managers, facility management staff, any role involving physical work

You might still want to offer employees in the second category some flexibility, for example by providing occasional WFH days. You might even have team members from other departments like marketing or finance cover office-based roles like the front desk from time to time to allow for more equitable access to remote work.

If your team has been working remotely but you'd like to switch to a hybrid work schedule, use an employee return-to-work survey to uncover potential concerns.

Make sure to consider resource utilisation and how exactly you'll manage your office space. One of the best ways to do that is with the help of desk booking software.

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2. Define the right hybrid work model and schedule

Hybrid work isn’t one-size-fits-all. 

Your hybrid work model might be remote-first, where employees are allowed to work remotely most of the time, or lean toward more in-office presence.

Because the term "hybrid" can mean so many things, outline the number of remote workdays allowed in your office and the advantages for each preference. For example:

• Remote 1-2 days per week: Because these employees are in the office more frequently, consider offering them a dedicated office or desk and parking space.
• Remote 3-5 days per week: Employees might have to surrender dedicated office desks but will be provided a hot desk or common area to work in the office. They may be eligible for visitor parking.
• Fully remote: These employees don’t have dedicated workspaces and may be eligible for visitor parking. They might visit the office on occasion for a few hours or a day and reserve a hot desk when they do. 

Desk booking software like Officely can make it easy to manage different schedules and give everyone the visibility they need to organise their work – and come to the office when others are there.

If you offer fully remote roles, specify if these roles are based out of specific countries, states, or cities. If you need remote employees to come to the office occasionally for client meetings and events, you might prefer to hire in your city or region.

For employees choosing hybrid work arrangements, specify if they'll set their own flexible schedule or if schedules will be manager-led. Employee-led hybrid work schedules usually provide better results, because employees know best where and how they work best.

Whatever style you choose, define when you'd expect team members to be available for work-related communication. Certain roles like customer support might need to work specific hours, even remotely.

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3. Review employee compensation

Be clear about how an employee’s location and work preference (in-office, remote, hybrid) affect their compensation and benefits, so employees can weigh the pros and cons of their choice.  

For example, if you have 100% remote positions with the option to relocate to another city or country, you might consider adjusting employee salaries to the cost of living – or decide against it. Or you could provide in-office or hybrid workers with a commute allowance.

Remote-first company Buffer has shared their salary calculator publicly, and you might want to use a cost of living calculator when defining salary ranges. However, you need to make sure you're not penalizing employees who opt for a hybrid model or those who choose to work remotely.

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4. Expand wellness and health benefits

Hybrid work offers ample flexibility, but it also has a few downsides. Employees who often work remotely might feel more isolated and some might need additional support to avoid burnout.

Here are some ways to safeguard employee health and mental wellbeing in remote and flexible working arrangements:

• Offer virtual health consultations on platforms like Teladoc and Wellthy and provide access to mental health services like Talkspace and Lyra Health
• Provide a few hours of free mental health counseling in addition to virtual consulting, if they’re not part of your Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
• Normalise taking time off not just for vacation but also for mental health and to care for family
• Offer stipends for exclusive in-office perks like childcare and gyms
• Encourage managers to make video optional during some meetings and reduce the number of mandatory calls per week

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5. Make sure you know the legal requirements for hybrid work

Ask your legal counsel or HR department about all local and national laws you should comply with in relation to hybrid work. Explain how you’ll fulfill legal requirements in your flexible work policy.

Here are some questions to get you started:

• Where is your business legally allowed to operate? This might affect the locations from which employees can work remotely.
• Do you need to reimburse employees for home office equipment? In states like California, laws require employers to reimburse employees for office equipment like computers, laptops, and desks. 
• Do you need to reimburse employees for office travel? While daily commutes are generally not reimbursable, for employees who work primarily from home, you might need to reimburse office travel.
• Do you need to pay overtime? Federal US laws require employers to pay overtime if employees work for more than 40 hours in a week, or in some states, more than 8 hours a day. If such laws apply in your country or state, you’ll need to define how you'll track time and whether employees require manager approval to work extra hours.

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6. Implement the right tech to uphold your new policy

The success of your hybrid work policy depends on the tools you use. Hybrid work software like Officely makes desk booking simple – and gives your employees and admin staff visibility into office attendance, making it easier to manage hybrid schedules and resources effectively.

With Officely, employees can easily reserve desks, see who’s in the office, and plan their workdays for better collaboration or focused work, all directly within Slack or Microsoft Teams. 

Other tools you should consider include: 

• Project management platforms like Asana or ClickUp
• Video conferencing software like Zoom, MS Teams, or Google Meet
• Knowledge sharing platforms like Confluence or Notion

For more ideas, check out our article on the best productivity tools for hybrid work.

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7. Set up information security measures for hybrid work

In your office, you're in control of all security measures like firewalls, virtual private networks (VPNs), on-premise servers, data centres, antivirus software, and authorised company equipment. And, while you can replicate most of these measures in a remote setting, your employees might need extra guidance to comply with data security measures.

When drafting your hybrid workplace policy, outline best practices for employees to keep your data safe, like:

• Set strong passwords and update them regularly
• Install security and software updates on a regular basis
• Avoid downloading suspicious, illegal, or unauthorised software
• Block suspicious websites and report any phishing attempts
• Use only work devices for work, and not their personal computers or smartphones
• Report any loss of equipment or information immediately
• Use a VPN as needed

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8. Create clear communication guidelines

Clear guidelines help eliminate communication silos. For hybrid teams, defaulting to remote-first online communication works best because it's equally accessible to in-office and remote employees.

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In your hybrid workplace policy, mention:

• Channels or tools for meetings, quick messages, updates, stand-ups, announcements, and reports
• Expected response time for internal emails, client emails, and Slack messages
• Internal knowledge base tools for looking up company-related information, processes, and policies
• Who to get in touch with for common issues

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9. Track employee performance

In a traditional work environment, time spent in the office was often used as one of the measures of performance and engagement, although we could probably all agree that it's a horribly inaccurate one. In a hybrid workplace, the need for setting clear key performance indicators (KPIs) is even more obvious.

Define what success looks like for different roles. For instance, “Success as a sales manager means contacting X leads per month, a X% of closed deals, and $XX in revenue.”

You can also set goals for employee attendance specially for roles that benefit from in-person collaboration, and use dedicated software like Officely to measure that.

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10. Foster equity between employees working from home or in the office

Proximity bias is one of the most common challenges of hybrid work, or the tendency to favour in-office employees. Team members working from home might miss out on important work-related talks and decisions if they happen in ad hoc meetings or in the hallway.

To provide equal opportunities to all employees, irrespective of the specific hybrid or remote work arrangement they opt for, you might decide to:

• Measure speed of promotion by employees’ work preference to avoid bias
• Announce new work opportunities and challenges using online channels like Slack or email instead of in-person meetings
• Hold virtual ask-me-anything sessions with leadership where employees can voice concerns and ask questions
• Run anonymous employee surveys to gauge employee sentiments
• Make hybrid meetings the norm, so all employees can participate regardless of their location

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The benefits of hybrid work

Hybrid work is a smart way to balance flexibility with productivity. Here’s how embracing a hybrid model can benefit your team and your business.

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Improved work-life balance

By giving employees the freedom to split their time between home and the office, you help them to better manage their personal responsibilities and commitments while staying productive. 

Additionally, you enable them to design their own work environment based on their preferences and needs – and still share time with others in the office whenever they need to work together on specific projects. 

This balance can lead to happier, healthier, and more engaged team members.

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Better collaboration and focus

Hybrid work allows employees to work together in person when it matters most and focus on deep work at home or in dedicated office areas without distractions. Finding the right balance between collaboration and individual work will depend on each person and role, but giving the possibility to switch between the two will help improve teamwork and individual productivity.

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Cost savings for everyone

Hybrid work enables businesses to downsize office space strategically and therefore reduce its associated costs (rent, utilities, and equipment), while employees save time and money on commuting and office lunches. 

Plus, it can also help reduce the environmental impact of your company.

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Steps to implement a hybrid work policy

Now that you have a policy template at your disposal and know what benefits hybrid work can offer, let’s see exactly how you can shift to this model, step by step. 

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1. Assess your company's needs

Before switching to hybrid work and flexible work hours, take the time to assess your company's needs and challenges. 

Consider factors like job roles, team dynamics, and client expectations. Identify potential roadblocks and develop strategies to address them.

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2. Draft the policy

Once you have a clear understanding of your company's needs, it's time to draft your hybrid policy. You can use the template above as your starting point and refine it as necessary. 

Involve HR, managers, and employees in the policy development process and make sure it aligns with both the company’s needs and your team’s preferences. 

Make sure the policy is comprehensive and easy to understand. Clearly define eligibility criteria, expectations, and guidelines for remote and hybrid work. Address issues like scheduling, time tracking, and performance evaluation.

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3. Share the policy with employees

Once the policy is ready, share it with everyone. Be transparent and address any concerns or questions others may have. Provide training and resources to ensure that employees can navigate the hybrid work environment easily. 

Regularly review and update the policy based on feedback and your team’s needs.

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Overcoming challenges in hybrid work arrangements

Now, let’s look into some of the problems you might face and see how you can tackle them. 

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Maintaining team cohesion

One of the biggest challenges of hybrid work is maintaining team cohesion and collaboration and reducing silos. 

Encourage regular team meetings, both in-person and virtually, to build strong relationships. Use collaboration tools to simplify knowledge sharing and manage projects efficiently. 

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Ensuring accountability and productivity

Remote and hybrid work may bring up concerns about accountability and productivity – but empowering employees to take ownership of their work usually yields much better results than micromanaging them.

Define clear expectations, goals, and KPIs for each role, along with metrics to measure performance. Give regular feedback and celebrate wins to keep employees motivated and engaged, and ensure they know what to do whenever they face challenges that might impact their work. 

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Addressing technical issues

Not all remote or hybrid employees will be sufficiently tech-savvy to tackle all technical issues on their own, so ensure that employees have access to IT support when needed. 

To maintain airtight security for your data and systems, you might also consider setting up regular maintenance checks for all company-provided equipment. Encourage employees to use secure internet connections and back up their work regularly.

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Boost your hybrid success with help from Officely 

Hybrid work policies help you build a work environment that's centred around your employees' well-being and work-life balance, which will help you improve productivity and attract top talent.

To implement this successfully, you need the right hybrid work policy template, which you can find above, along with the right software tools. Here's a sample tech stack to get you started:

• Communication platforms such as Slack, Google Meet, or MS Teams
• Productivity and project management apps such as Asana, ClickUp, or Monday.com
• Desk booking software such as Officely

Officely simplifies hybrid work and makes it easier for employees to reserve desks and know the best days to go into the office. Book a free demo to see how easy it can be to build a strong flexible work policy with the right software at hand – and check out Officely’s Complete Guide to Office Management in Flexible Workplaces for more ideas on how to make hybrid work work for everyone. 

Schedule flexibility 101: The meaning of a flexible work schedule

A flexible schedule is a work arrangement that gives employees control over when they start and finish their workdays.

This usually doesn't mean they have full freedom over when to work; workers still have to take part in calls and client meetings, cover core hours, meet all due dates, and complete their to-dos on time. They can, however, change their working hours within the limits defined in the company's flextime policy.

And, given that 90% of workers value flexibility, it's one of the most impactful benefits you can offer without compromising productivity or the quality of work.

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The evolution of work schedules

Work schedules have come a long way since the days of the Industrial Revolution. Back then, a typical workday consisted of long hours of manual labor in factories, with little regard for work-life balance.

Then, with the growing prevalence of office work in the 20th century, workdays became shorter, but not really flexible (yet): The 9-to-5 work schedule became the norm, with employees expected to clock in and out at the same time every day.

In the 70s and 80s, companies slowly started recognizing the importance of employee well-being and work-life balance, and flexible hours became accessible, albeit only to a select few. That is, until the era of personal computers and mobile phones, which made schedule flexibility a reality for many office workers – and until Covid-19 completely changed the way we think about productivity and work.

Today, flextime, remote work, hybrid work, compressed workweeks, and job sharing are becoming more and more common – and have opened up exciting possibilities for employees and businesses.

Additionally, technology has enabled the rise of gig economy platforms like Fiverr and Upwork where freelancers can take on short- or long-term projects on their own terms and choose when and where they work.

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What types of flextime arrangements can you offer?

Now that we know what flex schedules are and how they made their way into the way we think about work today, let's see what kinds of flexible work options you can offer to your team.

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Flextime

Let your team pick their own start and end times within a set range. It helps employees match their work hours with their personal schedules and peak productivity.

Flextime can easily be combined with time zone flexibility: Thanks to video calls and instant messaging, it's now super easy for teams in different time zones to work together smoothly. 'Follow-the-sun' schedules are also becoming more popular, where teams in different parts of the world pass tasks to each other as they finish their workdays.

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Staggered hours

This is very similar to the first arrangement, but is usually implemented team-wide, on a more fixed schedule, where different team members have the same start and finish times.

Staggered hours can help you extend your business hours without overworking anyone and is ideal for customer support teams.

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Compressed workweeks

There are two ways to do compressed workweeks:

• Offer the same number of hours but spread over fewer days, like four 10-hour days. This way, team members can get an extra day off each week.
• Reduce the number of hours employees work (for example, by a half or full day), without reducing their pay.

Efficiency might suffer if employees are often working for 10 hours or more, and the risk of burnout is higher. So, in the long run, you might consider the second option.

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Asynchronous work

This is a more radical type of flextime, where you give your people complete freedom to decide when to work, without covering any specific core hours. There are a few things you need to consider:

• Will employees need to communicate their planned schedule every week or month, or will they have full freedom to change it?
• Will you track their time spent working on different projects or will you only focus on results?
• What would be the legal implications of this type of flex time?

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Job sharing

Have two or more people share the responsibilities of one full-time role. This enables you to retain part-time workers while ensuring full coverage of the job.

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Part-time work

Part-time jobs are nothing new, but weren't common for office roles. This flexibility can help you attract people who cannot commit to a full-time role, like caretakers or students.

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Annualized hours

You could have employees work a set number of hours over the year rather than per week. This enables your team to handle busy periods and slower times better. Check local labor laws to see if and how you can do that.

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Phased retirement

Gradually reduce hours for employees nearing retirement to make the transition smoother for everyone. Obviously, you need to do this in a way that respects your employees' wishes.

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Results-only work environment (ROWE)

Focus on the results of team members rather than the hours they work.

This method gives employees full control over their schedules and boosts employee happiness but might not be suitable for all roles.

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Remote or hybrid work

Those two work models are related to location freedom rather than flex schedules, but  you can combine them with any other flextime arrangement.

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The key elements of a flexible schedule

A flexible schedule is has a few key components that make it so appealing to employees:

1. The ability to choose when to work, within reasonable limits. This empowers employees to match work hours with their peak productivity times and work when they're at their best.
2. An emphasis on outcomes rather than time spent on work. Flexible schedules help you focus on tasks, goals, and deadlines rather than the strict number of hours worked. If your goal is efficiency, that's exactly how you promote it: by giving your people freedom to do their jobs in the way that works best for them.
3. Better work-life integration, as team members get to engage in activities that make them feel happy and fulfilled without sacrificing work commitments and taking time off.
4. Open communication and collaboration, which are key for making sure everyone is on the same page. Use regular check-ins, virtual meetings, and different communication platforms to make sure the team stays connected.

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What are the benefits of flexible schedules?

We've already covered the benefits of flextime in detail, but here's a quick recap:

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Increased productivity and efficiency

When employees have control over their work schedule, they're able to align different tasks with their own productivity patterns.

As Laura Mae Martin, Google's Executive Productivity Advisor, has pointed out in her book "Uptime", not every task requires the same level of concentration; often, adjusting our schedules to fit our natural patterns helps us move faster, stay focused, and be more efficient.

Faster turnaround times and higher-quality work, do we need to say more?

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Improved work-life balance

Not everybody thrives with flexible work hours: Some people prefer the predictability and structure of a 9-to-5 job. However, even for them, a flexible schedule helps integrate their personal and professional lives without compromising either.

It allows parents to attend their children's school activities, gym goers to hit the gym during non-peak hours, runners to go for a midday run, pet owners to go to the vet during working hours, and so forth. In short, you're showing your employees that they don't need to sacrifice their personal responsibilities or career goals – they can have both.

A flexible schedule enables your employees to take better care of themselves and others and feel fulfilled at their jobs. Which helps you keep them around for longer and boost employee happiness.

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Reduced stress and burnout

While compressed workweeks might not be for everyone – some might clearly not like working longer hours to take a day off – other forms of flexibility and freedom are something that the vast majority of workers love.

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And, indeed, when you place a healthy work-life balance front and center and create a supportive hybrid environment, this helps reduce stress and burnout among employees.

How to implement a flexible schedule in your workplace: Officely's top 5 tips

Convinced that a flexible schedule can help you build a more positive workplace culture but don't know where to start? In this section, we'll provide you with our top tips on how to get started.

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1. Evaluate your needs

Every workplace has its unique dynamics and needs, which you'll need to assess before you start making changes.

Consider the following:

• Customer support needs
• Employee preferences
• Key meetings everyone needs to attend
• Teams' responsibilities

This will help you decide whether you need everyone to be present during fixed core hours or if some roles allow for total freedom. (But make sure you propose work arrangements that are fair to everyone!)

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2. Set clear expectations and boundaries

Creating a flexible work environment goes hand in hand with setting clear goals and limits for your team. What you need is a clear flextime policy where you define the rules, and managers who implement them fairly and impartially.

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3. Use the right tech

Implement tools for time tracking, desk booking, communication, and project management to ensure everyone stays connected, even when working different hours and at different locations.

If you've made the switch to a hybrid work model, you need to make sure employees still have an incentive to come to the office, rather than just always work from home. Officely shows employees when's the best time to come to the office, enables them to book desks or meeting rooms, and helps you organize social events. 

The app enables your team members to see who’s working and where they are working from, whether that be the office, at home or at a beach on the other side of the world.

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4. Set regular check-ins

Flexible work options will likely mean that you get to meet employees face to face less often. To counter this, schedule regular meetings with them to chat about their workload, progress, and any challenges they might be facing. To build trust, make sure you act on the feedback you receive.

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5. Consider the legal aspects of flexible work and flex schedules

Standard flexible hours, where employees come in and leave earlier or later, probably don't require updating contracts.

However, if you're offering asynchronous work, compressed workweeks, job sharing, or phased retirement, you definitely need to consult with HR and make sure all legal or logistical concerns are taken care of.

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Flexible work arrangements are a great way to give your people more freedom without compromising results or quality

There are many types of flexible schedules you can try out. Even if fully asynchronous work is impractical or impossible for your business, flexible working hours most likely aren't. And, while not all positions are ROWE-friendly (ROWE is short for results-only work environment), some might be, and it might be well worth it to give this option a try.

In all cases, you'll need the right tech to make sure everyone's in sync and on the same page, like project management and communication tools. And, if you're trialing a hybrid work environment, you'll also need the right desk booking software to optimize office space and make sure everyone can book a spot and work comfortably when they come in.

Book a free demo to see how Officely can help you keep track of office attendance and enable employees to book desks with a single click, directly from Slack or MS Teams.

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