As summer draws to a close, teachers, parents, and students are once again refocusing their attention on the back to school season. While an exciting and anticipatory time for many, it also brings with it mixed emotions. With the rapid progression of the Delta variant of COVID-19, questions arise as to the implications this might have on the country’s (and world’s) workforce and school systems. 

A return to school for students, also means a return to office for many parents, who had, up until the fall, been working from home. A return to office offers companies a chance to reset and implement and embrace hybrid strategies as a workplace option. 

Many companies are delaying their employees’ return to in-office operations until 2022. This grants them more time to adapt to hybrid office set-ups and provides more flexibility depending on childcare decisions that have yet to be made.

Let’s explore what the return to school means for those returning to the office, which companies are getting it right when it comes to flexible workplace policies, and how hybrid technology will continue to support those in their transition.

Hesitancy in the Return to the Office

After prolonged periods of working from home, many employees feel a sense of hesitancy when it comes to in-person operations starting back up again. 

While 75% of participants in a recent survey believed that their employer will work to create safe and healthy working conditions, 50% of professionals stated they are fearful of the imminent return to work as a result of the current health climate. 

The return to the office in many respects is like opening Pandora's box. While many companies are aiming to have employees back in-office after Labor Day, questions arise as to how smoothly this transition will go. It will also stand as the ultimate test of strength and legitimacy for many companies’ newly implemented hybrid working strategies. 

For those companies having already transitioned back to in-person operations, some are facing frustrated employees and rethinking their return to office planning in favor of a more flexible, hybrid approach. Familiar with the comforts and processes of working from home, employees at select companies were met with inflexible working conditions upon their return, as well as ambiguous policies regarding mask-wearing and vaccination statuses.

Despite many companies encouraging, but not requiring, the vaccination of employees, others are making it mandatory that they report their vaccination status, such as Goldman Sachs.

Delta Variant in the Workplace

The Delta variant also has many employees voicing concerns regarding its higher rates of infection and transmissibility, and what this might mean for workplace interactions. Not to mention the percentage of unvaccinated individuals also returning to the in-office workforce, and how this scenario might play out.

In Owl Labs’ 2020 State of Remote Work Report, 77% of full time adults surveyed stated that after COVID-19, being able to work from home would make them happier, and expect to be able to work from home at least three times per week. This may explain why companies have expressed difficulty in getting their workforces, which now find working from home all too familiar, once again ready for company and office culture. 

Companies Embracing Flexible Work

Many companies have selected post-Labor Day for their return to work. Apple is delaying its employees’ return to work until October 2021, while Facebook has indicated its workforce will work remotely until 2022, citing rising COVID-19 case numbers and COVID-related shutdowns. Further companies have also pushed this return date well into 2022, while others have not even set a hard return date. 

In late July 2021, Montreal-based software company GSoft completed the final stages of adopting its 100 percent flexible employment model. This model offers employees the opportunity to work abroad up to 150 days in a calendar year.

Microsoft is offering a plethora of options when it comes to flexible work. Employees can continue working from home for less than 50% of their work week, or choose part-time work from home hours, as approved by their team leads. They may also have the option to permanently work from home—  an option which Square and Twitter have had implemented in their workplace policies for over a year.

Unlike Twitter and Square, Uber is not offering a permanent work from home option. Instead it’s offering its employees a hybrid model come September 2021, with three days a week working in the office, and two days a week working from home, if they so choose.

Download our Remote Management Guide and take better charge of your remote employees and flexible workplace policies.

Hybrid Work Policies Call for Hybrid Technology 

While hybrid technologies have allowed for many workers to efficiently complete tasks while working from home, hybrid tech will also prove essential in the imminent return to the office. These tools create opportunities for engagement and innovation, and prove beneficial in making teams and classes feel like one unit, whether they’re  working from home, the office, or the classroom. 

Continuing to equip team members with hybrid technology is equally important when it comes to implementing hybrid work policies come September 2021 and beyond.

Cloud-based File Sharing

Asynchronous, flexible tools such as Google Docs allows for multiple team members to edit and contribute to projects no matter their location. This will become even more pertinent as employees begin to adapt to hybrid work schedules, working in office and from home at varying times and days of the week.

Instant Messaging vs. Project Management + Streamlining

Slack and Google chat offer asynchronous instant messaging among team members, with 43% of professionals stating they frequently used these forms of online communication throughout the pandemic. Alternatively, pipeline software such as Asana or Monday.com allows for team leads to keep track of their team members' progress and completion of tasks as part of larger projects. 

Indicating which forms of communication should be used for specific tasks and establishing communication norms, also means less chance of wires being crossed among team members spread throughout various locations.

Video Technology for Hybrid Meetings

In-office meetings will also benefit from hybrid technology upon employees’ return to work. Equipping the workplace with designated digital whiteboards as well as smart video cameras like the Meeting Owl Pro, creates a more collaborative, inclusive, and creative environment for all team members involved. This also allows for team leads to steer clear of dry meetings reminiscent of pre-COVID conference room styles.

Space Management Tools

Hybrid technology might also involve implementing enhanced space management tools for employees looking to book hybrid meeting rooms, or spaces. Robin offers team leads the opportunity to manage flexible seating arrangements, book meeting rooms, and design full office scenarios for socially distanced workspaces. 

Envoy allows team leads to make smarter decisions regarding the use of office space, allocate designated sections for departments and team projects, and ensures the hybrid workplace continues to run like clockwork.

The return to the office marks a fantastic opportunity to review and perform maintenance on current procedures surrounding office technology and equipment, as well as office design.

Return to the Office Equals Return to School and Campus

The return to school produces many positives and negatives for parents returning to the office at the same time. One third of employees with children 18 and under, reported more difficulties in balancing work and family duties while working from home, than prior to the pandemic. In this regard, a return to school may bring more balance back into the lives of parents, as well as re-introducing weekday routines for families.

However, a return to school also creates enclosed environments for children to potentially contract and spread the virus, which can then be passed on to parents and their coworkers.

A return to school also means continued hybrid classrooms for many students and teachers, offering educational environments encouraging both in-person and remote teachings. Incorporating a hybrid classroom culture that includes all students, no matter their location, will continue to make them feel part of the school community.

Advances in education technology have made hybrid lectures and class times fun, educational, and collaborative like the Meeting Owl Pro, our premium 360-degree smart camera. Shop the complete line-up of Owl Labs products here.

At the post-secondary level, universities and colleges across the country have been rethinking the way lectures are taught in-person and online for much of the pandemic. As many institutions prepare for a return to campus in the fall, they have established hybrid campuses that refocus attention on student collaboration and participation independent of location.

How Schools and Companies Can Support Students + Employees

The return to the office and school in Fall 2021 will bring with it a return to normalcy that we haven’t experienced since the pandemic started. Even then, this new normal will come with anxieties and stressors as people re-enter office and school environments, some for the first time in over two years.

Companies and their managers or department heads can help to support employees during these trying times by having in place hybrid workplace strategies. These sort of policies will allow for workers to experience a blend of in-office operations while continuing to work from home. Likewise, students of all ages can be supported by schools, colleges, and universities through the implementation of both hybrid lectures and in-person classes.

A strategic return will allow for transparency and communication during the  adjustment to being around peers and colleagues, rather than rushing the process without employee feedback. Hybrid technology will continue to create spaces for collaboration, partnership, and understanding while also granting those working or studying from home the peace of mind that they won’t be left behind in work or school tasks.