The COVID-19 pandemic greatly changed the way many Americans work. The exponential increase in remote work opportunities and the number of people that work from home was unlike anything most of us have seen in our lifetimes. And now, as the access to safe and effective vaccines increases and the U.S. begins to return to “normal,” it’s understandable that our work situations would once again start to evolve. While some companies are continuing to allow their employees to work from home full-time, and others are requiring workers to return to a more typical office environment, many companies are choosing something in between the two: in other words, a hybrid work model.

The concept is simple. It involves allowing employees to be flexible in their choices of where they want to work. Since many companies have already provided the technology for their staff to work remotely, it only makes sense to continue to offer that opportunity to them in a post-pandemic world. And as businesses begin to sort through the possibilities and decide what works best for them, four hybrid models have surfaced as the most common offered by employers:

• Remote work on an “as-needed” basis – Some managers allow their employees to work from home whenever they need to and on any given day. This doesn’t mean that the worker doesn’t come into the office on a regular basis, only that he or she is given the opportunity to work remotely when they feel the need to do so – such as when they’re completing a project on a tight deadline and need a quiet place to work.
• Part-time remote work – Some managers find it easier to allow employees to plan ahead for when they will be working from the office and when they’ll be working from home. In these situations, staff members are allowed to work remotely on certain days of the week and work from the office on the other days.
• Alternating weeks – Particularly useful for companies that employ teams to work on large-scale projects, allowing employees to alternate between working from home some weeks and working in the office on other weeks is an ideal way to give these staff members the space and time to focus on their individual tasks while working from home and to return to the office environment with the rest of the team on weeks when they’ll be working together.
• Hybrid shift work – Although less common than other hybrid models, hybrid shift work is a good compromise for some companies. This model allows employees to work from home for part of their workday, then return to the workplace for the remainder (or vice-versa). Employers might provide this opportunity to staff members who work night shifts, for example, and/or need to arrange for childcare during hours when they’re not at home.

Whether you’re allowing your employees to remain full-time telecommuters or choosing any of these hybrid models, MySammy can help you to manage your work-from-home staff. Our cloud-based software allows you to measure productivity levels of remote workers, and we do so without blocking websites or utilizing “spyware” that invades the privacy of your staff. In fact, MySammy is designed to be used with the full knowledge of your remote workers and can even be useful in encouraging them to become more productive during the workday. To find out more about MySammy, check out our website, then sign up for your free trial today!