The pros and cons of a hybrid work model

In theory, the hybrid work model combines the best parts of working in an office and working from home. But when it’s actually happening, is it functioning as expected?

Like everything in life, there are pros and cons to adopting a hybrid work model. Here are just a few that you might not have thought about.

Depending on where you live and work, many cities have volumes of traffic that are just unprecedented – even with many people working remotely. This means the commute on the days you go into the office may be a pain. It may even remind you why you love working remotely.

On the other hand, working remotely to avoid wasting time commuting takes away your social life at the office. For that part alone, hybrid is ideal. Seeing and interacting with your colleagues in person impacts your life tremendously, even if you’re an introvert.

Another problem with the hybrid model is that commuting in on certain days seems to be common. This means everyone is going into the city on the same days, making commuting a nightmare.

We also noticed is that unless coming in to work periodically is mandatory, people end up skipping weeks. This results in people not wanting to go in just to be the only person in the office. We found this was happening too often and ended up closing our office permanently and switching to a 100% remote model.

At the end of the day, there is no perfect option. Everyone likes something different, so whether your company is fully remote, fully in-office, optional hybrid, mandatory hybrid, and so on, the company ends up with staff for whom it works.