Alexandra Samuel and I have a new piece in The Wall Street Journal: Six Signs Your Hybrid Workplace Plan Isn’t Working. We look at the data you have to think about the performance you want. In this case, we consider how people and organizations can evaluate their hybrid work strategies. 

Many organizations put new policies in place as we transitioned from COVID-19 shutdowns to our current work mode. The early shutdowns were a COF: Crisis Online Format. (Does anyone have a great name for what we’re doing now? Muddling along given the mismatch between remote opportunities and interest in remote jobs?) 

I like to ask individuals, managers, and organizational designers what they learned about their work practices during the shutdown. Most haven’t thought to track what went well and what was a challenge. People were, of necessity, acting quickly. However, now we have some time and data to help us think about what to do next. Don’t let the opportunity to learn from those difficult times go by.

Please let us know on the WSJ site or in the comments section here ⬇ about how the metrics we discuss play out in your own work:

1. Manager versus team time in the office

2. Time on video

3. Expanding work hours

4. Formal versus informal interactions

5. Pandemic nostalgia

6. Return to hardcopy practices