When it comes to working locations, there are three main options for most businesses: fully office-based, fully remote, or hybrid.
What are the pros and cons of office working?
Working in an office offers a routine for employees as they usually have to start and leave at a certain time. Office settings are more conducive to open dialogue between colleagues. Team meetings/briefings are easier to arrange and conduct, which means that workers can be kept abreast of developments/changes. Office environments allow for close relationships to form as many employees will spend hundreds of hours each year with their co-workers.
Having everyone in one central office makes things easier from a technology point of view. Networks can be linked and managed locally, and troubleshooting is only needed in one location.
The downsides to office working are that it can restrict people physically and force them to stay inside, there can be distractions with politics and office gossip and people moving around, and workers may feel restricted by the office rules.
What are the pros and cons of remote working?
Flexibility is a key advantage – and applies to employees and employers alike. Employees can choose to work from home, the local coffee shop, or elsewhere. Employers can use the added flexibility to ensure all necessary hours are covered.
There are considerable financial benefits to remote working. For employees, there are savings on travel and food, whilst employers can save money on office space.
Offering remote working options enables employers to recruit from a wider pool of talent. This may be people who need to work from home or those in other countries/time zones.
Remote workers are more productive than traditional office-based employees.
The main negative points of remote working relate to communication and lack of social interaction, which can make management and relationship-building trickier. Additionally, there can be issues with isolation, distractions, cyber-security, privacy, technology, monitoring of work/output, and supervision.
Is hybrid the happy medium?
Hybrid working usually means a mixture of office, remote, and home working. It provides structure and sociability on one hand, with flexibility and independence on the other.
For employees, there is time and money to be saved on reduced commuting and potentially an improved work/life balance.
For employers, reduced rental expenditure is an attractive benefit as is the access to a wider talent pool and increased employee satisfaction and well-being, leading to improved productivity and efficiency.
The negatives are issues with communications, technology, and building/maintaining working relationships.
One of the recognised issues with remote or hybrid working is that communication and line management can be more challenging than in a traditional office environment. This may lead to tension between employers and managers.
If you feel that you have been coerced into an unwanted working situation and that you may have grounds for a constructive dismissal claim, you can discover more about your options at sites such as https://www.employmentlawfriend.co.uk/constructive-dismissal. A constructive dismissal claim is usually made once an employee has resigned due to unreasonable behaviour on the part of the employer.
There is insufficient evidence yet to know conclusively which of the office, remote, or hybrid setups are the most efficient. However, hybrid working arrangements appear to offer the best of both worlds.
