Hybrid workplaces are the future

When COVID-19 forced hundreds of thousands of government employees to work from home, it brought about one of the fastest changes to civil service working styles in a generation.

And while some staff are returning to the office, a mixture of remote and in-office working appears likely to remain the norm for months to come.

Although it has been disruptive, this period presents the opportunity to usher in a new way of working that combines the best of the office and working from home, something we might term ‘hybrid workplaces.’

What are hybrid workplaces and how can they help government departments?

What is a hybrid workplace?

A hybrid workplace blends together several existing types of workplace. We might normally think of the workplace in terms of:

1. Traditional open plan or cubicle offices
2. Digital workplaces – often delivered over the cloud
3. Work from home
4. Remote working anywhere there is an internet connection

A hybrid workplace is simply a workplace that combines two or more of these more established kinds of workplace. Most government departments will already have experimented with hybrid models in the past. If you have ever used a VPN to work from home for instance, you have experience in this area.

However, most central government departments have only implemented hybrid models in a disjointed or ad hoc manner. To create a genuine hybrid workplace, you need a consistent and coherent collection of policies, training and technology in order to create a genuinely hybrid experience.