The world of work will never be the same after the extreme creativity and flexibility exercised during the pandemic shut down. In case you’re tempted to go back to old ways, please first consider the data:

• 87% of professionals would like to continue with a flexible work arrangement—61% prefer to work from home two to three days per week, and 27% want to work remotely all the time (Harvard Business Review)

• Working from home increases productivity by 13% and decreases attrition by 50% (Stanford study)

• 88% of employees agree that flexibility to choose between working from home or the office has increased their job satisfaction (Ergotron)

• Remote and hybrid employees are 22% happier and report lower levels of stress (Owl Labs)

• The top three reasons current job seekers are looking for a new opportunity include: greater pay, better career opportunities and—you guessed it—more flexible work arrangements (McKinsey)

  
  

The case for continuing with a flexible work model is clear, but the perfect design is not black and white. Here are six strategies to consider as you aim to design the ideal structure for your team.

1. Survey your team.

Flexibility preferences vary across generations, industries, locations, and more. Take generational preferences, for example: almost 20% of 55-64 year-olds decline the opportunity to work remotely compared with only 12% of younger employees (McKinsey).

Rather than make assumptions, why not ask your people for input? I recommend the following approach:

• Conduct an anonymous survey to gather data on work arrangement preferences

• Share the data with the entire team so they can gain greater awareness of different preferences and (hopefully) empathize with alternative perspectives

• Use the data to influence decisions on an ideal design for your team

2. Provide guardrails, not prescriptions.

Whenever possible, allow individual teams within the organization—and even individual employees—to exercise ownership in designing their unique work rhythms. Now, I realize 100% freedom-to-choose may result in varying arrangements that feel unfair (i.e., some managers may lean toward much more flexibility than others).

To minimize this risk, provide company-wide guardrails within which each manager must work. Aiming for guardrails, rather than prescriptions across the org, will provide a healthy blend of consistency and flexibility.

3. Test. Learn. Adjust. Repeat.

The last few years have been an experiment in exploring new work models, but the experiment isn’t over. We don’t have to deliver an unwavering, perfect work arrangement policy right now. Instead, let your team know that you’re going to try a new approach for four to six months. After the trial, you’ll pause to evaluate what went well and what could be approved. Involve them in this analysis, then leverage new insights to make adjustments and run another trial.

While ambiguity and changing conditions can feel stressful to the human brain, you can minimize this stress by over-communicating throughout the process and providing clear timelines for trials and updates.

4. Ensure equal access to information, recognition, and professional development.

Distance bias causes our brains to naturally pay more attention to and place more value on people that are nearby. So, if you’re leading from the office, distance bias may cause you to favor ideas and contributions from in-office employees over remote employees without even realizing it. Or, that in-office employee may come to mind first for development opportunities, while it will take a little more processing to consider employees who you don’t see as often.

As you design an effective hybrid model, consider practices and structures that will help ensure all employees—regardless of location—receive consistent access to information, professional development, and recognition.

5. Create communication bursts.

Research conducted by Riedl and Woolley tells us that the most successful remote teams communicate in bursts. We tend to worry that virtual work will cause us to miss the creativity and connection that comes from continuous interactions in a physical office, but their research suggests that this creativity and connection can be just as—if not more—effective through “bursty virtual communication”.

To accomplish this, avoid ongoing, asynchronous collaboration, where team members continuously send messages and emails throughout the day. Instead, create intentional silent periods where team members can engage in deep work and form individual ideas, then schedule focused collaboration time where the team comes together to share ideas, make decisions, and solve challenges together. This rapid, full-focused time together paired with stretches of individual working time leads to higher performance.

6. Measure results, not seat time.

I get to work with a lot of high performers. One of the most consistent frustrations I hear is the fact that they can complete their work faster than most, yet are expected to wait until 5:00 to clock out. Not much demotivates them more than a “bum-in-seat” time requirement.

New work models are not just about location flexibility, they’re also about time flexibility. In your redesign, aim to measure performance based on outputs and results, rather than hours worked.

Give clear expectations—including well-defined success measures and timelines—then trust employees to work when and where they want in pursuit of these results. Nine times out of ten, you’ll see them motivated to deliver above and beyond.

Bottom line: whatever you do, please don’t simply return to 2019 norms with no good reason. You will see attrition. You will see a dip in motivation. You will see lower performance.

Instead, leverage the incredible adaptability showcased over the last few years to redesign a work model that serves your team well. Stretch your leadership comfort zone. Value your people. Think creatively. We have one of the biggest and best opportunities right now to redesign new working norms that give employees better balance, freedom, and health; and simultaneously give businesses better productivity and performance. I see a win-win, folks.

What other ideas have you tried with your team? I’d love to hear your thoughts and lessons learned in the comments below!