Since the COVID-19 pandemic proved that law firms could operate effectively with a remote workforce, many law firms have implemented flexible work-from-home or hybrid arrangements for both attorneys and staff.
The benefits of providing remote or hybrid work options include increased flexibility, improved productivity, greater work-life balance, cost savings for both the firm (reduced space costs) and for the individual (reduced or eliminated commuting costs) and better retention rates.
But there are potential cons to these models as well. Overseeing a hybrid workforce brings unique challenges that may impede the success of flexible policies if not addressed thoughtfully. These include isolation of remote workers, potential for burnout when remote workers have difficulty drawing the line between work and home, or are “always working,” and some increased up-front costs, particularly investments in technology.
With a hybrid workforce, the informal interactions that naturally happen in an office––passing one another in the hallway, chatting at the coffee station bumping into each other by the elevators or in the cafeteria––disappear for remote workers. As a result, managers need to be more purposeful in how they communicate with hybrid and remote employees to ensure robust collaboration, team building and camaraderie.
When some team members are in the office while others are remote, unintentional favoritism toward in-person staff can occur easily; the saying “out of sight, out of mind” often applies. Managers may unintentionally default to on-site employees for work assignments or interact more with in-office staff given their physical presence.
Communication, transparency and trust are essential for hybrid or remote work policies to succeed. Building this trust, developing appropriate channels of communication and creating transparency require forethought and an additional investment of time, but that investment can pay dividends.
Following are things to think about when overseeing a hybrid workforce at a law firm.
When moving from a fully in-person environment to a hybrid environment, it is important to set expectations for all workers, regardless of where they spend their working time. Create a hybrid work policy that sets out the scope, requirements and eligibility for remote or hybrid work.
Be clear about expectations for:
When all employees are working in the office, it is often easy to determine whether someone is busy or available; you can see whether they are in their office, whether their door is open or closed, etc. But with remote employees, it isn’t always as obvious whether an employee is available or not. This becomes even more complicated if the employee is working on a flexible work schedule.
With hybrid employees, it is important to develop a method for communicating the employee’s regular work schedule and hours so that others in the firm can tell right away when that person is available.
Some recommendations include:
Protocols should be created so that everyone utilizes these features consistently to prevent confusion.
When working with a hybrid workforce, the quality of your technology will have a significant impact on the success of your interactions with remote colleagues. It's important to evaluate both the technology utilized within the firm and the tools leveraged by remote workers.
There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to hear or see what is happening during a meeting. When conducting hybrid meetings, the goal should be that every attendee is able to participate equally. That means being able to hear and see all participants equally well.
High-quality microphones are a must in any conference room where hybrid meetings will be conducted, as are cameras that can display all of the participants in the room. Intelligent cameras are available now that will shift to focus on the individual speaking, providing remote participants with the best possible experience. For example, Zoom’s Smart Gallery feature displays multiple video feeds from a single conference room, allowing remote participants to see each person in the conference room in their own Zoom window.
For the remote worker, an up-to-date camera and microphone, as well as good lighting are vital to ensure that other participants can see and hear their contributions. Purchasing a good webcam with an integrated microphone and adding a light source behind the camera to light the subject’s face can help.
Remote workers should also have access to similar equipment to what is made available for in-person workers. That may mean supplying remote workers not only with a computer, but possibly also multiple monitors, a high-quality scanner and printer.
To prevent remote employees from feeling disconnected from the team and the firm, you will need to make sure that you communicate as often with them as you do with in-person workers, and that the quality of your interactions with them doesn’t suffer.
With so many options for communication, from email to text messages to Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Slack, instant messaging and telephone calls, keeping up with colleagues and clients can become overwhelming.
Create communication policies for your firm and team. Determine appropriate methods and tools based on the communication type, including whether exchanges should be real-time or asynchronous, individual or group based. Identify when communication can occur externally to standard meetings, and how information will be shared––via firm intranet, case management folders, etc.
Some questions to consider when developing your communications policies include:
Make time for one-on-one communication with each direct report or team member, regardless of whether they are office-based or remote. Schedule regular virtual check-ins. Develop community with remote workers by creating virtual events, as well as in-person events. Celebrate wins both virtually and in person so all personnel have an opportunity to share in each other’s successes. Solicit input from both virtual and in-person workers through surveys and other feedback channels.
Conduct regular team meetings, preferably with a set agenda, at a predetermined time so that everyone knows to keep that time free on their calendar. This helps the team brainstorm, solve problems together and understand what each member of the team is working on, while also providing some time for social interaction. Start meetings with an icebreaker, introduce a non-work–related topic, or conclude meetings a few minutes early to allow for casual interaction without remote participants missing out.
Some additional meeting tips:
