What Is a Hybrid Work Schedule? Plus, Benefits and Examples

Hybrid work schedules have been growing in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic made remote work all but mandatory and businesses saw that employees could still be productive working from home.

But is it right for your team?

In this article, we discuss the benefits of the hybrid work schedule and various examples to help you find the one that works best for your team and your business.

What is a hybrid work schedule?
Benefits of a hybrid work schedule
Hybrid schedule examples

What is a hybrid work schedule?

A hybrid work schedule is an organizational system in which employees split their time between on-site (in-office) and off-site (remote) work.

As you’ll see later, there are many options to choose from. The variety allows you to:

Set the plan that works best for your business
Let your team choose what works best for them
Combine business needs and individual choice into the perfect hybrid work schedule

Keep in mind that the right system for your business may be dramatically different from the system that’s right for another business — even one that is similar to yours.

That’s because the hybrid work schedule can be customized to fit the unique needs of your employees and the way your business operates.

Benefits of a hybrid work schedule

Productivity

In many cases, employees may feel that a hybrid work schedule can help them improve their overall productivity both at work and at home.

Much research is being done on employee productivity in the new hybrid model, but one theory (among many) is that team members have more control over when and where they work and, so, can choose times when their energy and focus are highest.

To get a feel for how a hybrid work schedule may be able to improve productivity in your business, talk to your team members — both individually and as a group — and get their opinion on the subject before making any changes to your staff rota.

Flexibility

As businesses emerge from the COVID-19 years, flexibility is becoming more and more important for overall team — and organizational — success.

Such flexibility gives your employees more control over their work and personal activities and allows them to decide when they need to collaborate with their coworkers in person or work online for uninterrupted focus time.

A hybrid schedule can help your business find ways to provide the flexibility your employees need while still giving your customers the quality service they deserve.

Reduced risk of burnout

The fast-paced nature of life and work these days may result in your employees experiencing burnout — a mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion that can lead to a lack of enthusiasm, decreased motivation, and a general sense of displeasure with their job.

A hybrid schedule may be able to help your business reduce the risk of burnout by allowing employees to cut down on many of the most stressful components of their work life (e.g., commuting, child care, and family obligations).

This doesn’t guarantee that your team’s enthusiasm and motivation will stay high day in and day out, but it can help them recharge their batteries by giving them the option of working from home a few days a week.

Balanced collaboration and individual work

To do their best work, many employees need time for both collaboration and individual work. But on-site work often falls more heavily on the collaboration end of the spectrum, while off-site work falls more heavily on the individual end of the spectrum.

A hybrid work schedule gives your team members the opportunity to balance both of those important activities in a way that works best for them.

Employees may also find the hybrid system more balanced because they know what to expect when they work on-site and when they work off-site.

Employee satisfaction

These benefits (along with others) may lead to a further benefit that can help keep your business on the road to success — employee satisfaction.

When you give your team members more control over their schedule and the ability to balance collaboration and individual work, you help reinforce the overall good feelings that can take your team’s productivity, motivation, and happiness to the next level.

Hybrid schedule examples

1) Three days in-office, two days remote

In this schedule, employees work three days on-site and two days remote.

In-office days could be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with Tuesday and Thursday being remote. Or in-office days could be Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with Thursday and Friday being remote.

It all depends on what works best for each employee, the team, and your business.

2) Two days in-office, three days remote

Another option is to have employees work two days in-office and three days remote.

As with the previous plan, you can decide which days are in-office and which are remote, or you can give your employees the opportunity to choose for themselves which days they would like to work in-office and which days they would like to work remotely.

3) Half-day in-office, half-day remote

Some businesses have found success with a half-day in-office/half-day remote hybrid work schedule.

Depending on the commute to and from the in-office portion of the workday and the number of hours you ask your team to be on the job, employees may have to work past the “normal” 5 p.m. end-of-day, but they may gain flexibility when it matters most.

4) Fully flexible hybrid work schedule

With a fully flexible hybrid work schedule, your business would allow employees to choose when and where they work with no restrictions.

This plan may help employees and managers find the right balance for the team so everyone involved enjoys the benefits mentioned earlier.

5) Alternating weeks

With an alternating-weeks hybrid schedule, employees spend a full week working in-office followed by a full week working remotely.

This plan gives employees flexibility while still ensuring that your team has plenty of in-person collaboration time.

The full week of remote work can also help your business save money that would have gone to “keeping the lights on” while everyone was working in the office.

6) Team rotation

In the team rotation model, a specified group of employees (Team A) works in the office for

a set period of time (usually, a week, two weeks, or a month) while another specified group of employees (Team B) works remotely.

At the end of the set time period, the two teams switch so that Team A now works remotely and Team B works in the office.

Restaurants and the hybrid work schedule

While the hybrid work schedule may implement nicely into an office environment, it is often less successful in customer-focused, direct-contact businesses, like restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops.

When you create a schedule for these types of businesses, you need your employees to report on time and work on-site for the number of hours you specify. If they don’t, your business may suffer.

Instead of implementing a hybrid schedule in your restaurant, consider allowing your team to self-schedule. This gives them more control and the ability to balance their work and personal life without taking away from your business’s ability to field an effective team every shift.

For more information on this subject, check out these articles from the Sling blog:

The hybrid work schedule made easy

Regardless of the type of hybrid work schedule you choose, a big part of implementing it successfully is organizing and tracking when each employee will work on-site or off.

That’s where Sling can help.

The Sling software suite gives busy managers the power to organize and optimize a workforce of any size and location with tools such as:

Advanced employee scheduling
Shift swapping and availability
Labor cost management
Integrated mobile and on-site time clock
Comprehensive communication
Flexible task management
Efficient labor compliance
And much more

Try Sling for free today to experience firsthand how the workforce management app can help you create and manage the hybrid work schedule that’s right for your team and your business.

This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for specific advice.

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