Barriers to making hybrid working work

When moving to a hybrid model, it’s essential organizations balance their business strategy with employee preferences for where and how they work. One without the other is a recipe for failure. Achieving this, of course, is easier said than done.

Organizations aren’t simply a collection of boxes on an org chart. They’re complex systems with many moving parts and interdependencies, constantly changing and evolving. Getting a grip on these systems requires a detailed understanding of the work being done, how it gets done and by who.

Designing and implementing an effective hybrid working strategy for your business must go well beyond basic policies that set boundaries and guide behavior. It should be a blueprint to inform your entire organizational design.

Hybrid working will change how your business operates, how you attract talent and how you profitably ride the waves of disruptive change. Anything less will leave significant value on the table.

Five steps to an effective hybrid working strategy

At its heart, hybrid working is an organizational design question. As such, your business will face many obstacles as you formulate, refine and evolve your approach.

In our experience, there are five core steps that can make or break a hybrid working strategy, each building on the previous one:


Developing a clear understanding of what a hybrid working model would achieve for your business and your employees


Gaining a detailed perspective on how your organization functions in practice, not just what it looks like on an org chart


Getting a clear view of all roles across your business, the core activities of each role and how much time is spent on each activity


Understanding the location and time dependencies of those activities


Profiling roles against these dependencies, so you can balance business requirements and employee preferences through role design


In the following sections, we’re going to look at each of these steps in turn and explore how your organization can achieve an effective hybrid working strategy.