Getting Ready For Hybrid Working

We all know how you feel. It’s been a year of a 5-minute commute, meetings held from bed, & working days spent in your pajamas, and yet you’re being told that any day now (or perhaps it’s already happened for you) you will have to return to that altar of commercial dreams, the office.

To some it’s a moment of excitement and wonder – getting to see friends and colleagues after a year stuck isolated. For others, it’s a less enjoyable change after getting used to spending time with family and getting used to the benefits of working from home.

Regardless of which feeling the return to the office inspires in you, were here to make sure that it’s an enjoyable one. Or at least a return for which you are prepared.

First, Don’t Strip Down Your Home Office

Whilst this may seem like a counter-intuitive tip, we don’t recommend stripping down the home office. Firstly, you’ve probably gone to a lot of work to make your home office a place where you can work well, and why put all that effort to waste when it’s always great to have a spot that allows for quiet focus. But secondly, and more importantly, it’s unli kely that you’ll be returning to the office fulltime.

In fact, as time goes on, it’s expected that more and more of us will end up in a hybrid role, where we’re expected to be in the office for a few days every week. This means that your home office will still be seeing plenty of use!

In fact, if you’re one of the lucky ones who gets flexible working at their job, this goes double for you – make sure In fact, if you’re one of the lucky ones who gets flexible working at their job, this goes double for you – make sure you’re stocked up on all the essentials you need for home working. It would be a nightmare if you wanted to take the day working from home in order to help deal with that sudden and unexpected headache on a Friday morning but had completely run out of ink for your printer. 

Second, Brush Up On Your Social Skills

For most of us we’ve spent a huge amount of time sitting around indoors over the past year with barely anyone to talk to. Even the most gregarious of us will have had our soft skills be stymied by lack of practice. So, start practicing! Nobody wants to be the person stuck at the water-cooler with nothing to say, and the only way to make sure that isn’t you is practice. Figure out a few lines and questions you can ask people to get the conversation going, and make sure to focus on what the other person is trying to say rather than what your reply is going to be.

Finally, Make Sure You Work Hard!

The return to the office and some sense of normality will include a massive temptation to take your foot off the gas for a few days just to catch-up. We strongly recommend against this. Your bosses will be keeping a close eye on your productivity as you return, and this is a perfect opportunity to pull yourself further up the greasy pole whilst everyone else takes life easy.

We hope that if you follow these simple steps then you’ll be a little bit more ready for what hybrid working is going to throw at you. Don’t forget to check here if you need to purchase more printing supplies for working from home.