Hybrid, Remote, or F2F: How to choose the better work set-up for your career life

In this post-pandemic work, we are no longer new to the work-from-home setup as most of us have already readjusted our lives to this remote form of work. During the pandemic, the WFH setup is what helped so many organizations and employees survive the hurdles of the COVID-19 economic crisis.

According to Forbes‘ OnPay survey, 50% of employees will depend on a remote workforce post-pandemic, with 65% of US SME owners planning to make remote working part of their operations permanently. As both organizations and employees have seen the benefits of remote work, it is a setup that will become mainstream even after the pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic slowly begins to make its way into the past, both employees and employers debate whether to continue in a WFH setup or start trekking their way back to a F2F one.

With the emergence of WFH as a permanently viable setup, another setup surfacing is the hybrid setup, a combination of face-to-face and remote work settings. Aligned with this development, the question begs to be asked: which setup works best for you as a professional?

To help you decide, Kalibrr has listed the pros and cons in terms of communication, productivity, and sustainability of each setup in this article! Find the one that caters to your lifestyle and technique the best. This decision will significantly impact your work life, so make sure to choose the one that maximizes your job efficiency and stability!

The Traditional: Face-to-face setup

Face-to-face work is the one most of us are familiar with, our pre-pandemic realities. This setup has always been how we accomplished our work before the pandemic, from office work to client meetings. However, in a post-pandemic world, does this setup hold?

Communication: In terms of communication, a face-to-face setup takes the cake, as communication in person is still the best way to interact with our employers, colleagues, and clients. Why? You get to see and mingle with people every day in a physical office, even those not from your department, compared to just meeting them virtually when there’s a general conference or webinar. This interaction allows for a harmonious working relationship, less miscommunication, and faster response to work requests instead of just asking through emails and messages.

Furthermore, face-to-face communication is suitable for long-term business and work. Your relationship with your superiors and colleagues will help you become loyal and trust the company. This loyalty, in turn, enables you to work better as you can physically feel and see how your work impacts others. You really feel that you’re part of a team as you can talk to people easily and connect with them regarding work functions, struggles, aspirations, and even their personal lives.

Face-to-face setups also eliminate Zoom fatigue, ensuring that everyone is mentally and physically present in the meeting, unlike virtual meetings. This setup makes meetings more productive and engaging instead of causing more burnout. Indeed, nothing can replace good ol’ human interaction.

Productivity: Productivity can go different ways for people, as some work better isolated in their homes. However, some people might not have a suitable working space in their houses, allowing random distractions and noise that can obstruct work. For people who also juggle household responsibilities and chores, having a place where they are expected to do their work responsibilities only is a respite. Furthermore, the pressure of being seen in the office places a commitment to getting things done, unlike when procrastination can occur in our home’s comforts. Some employees can even use office supervision as a motivation to work more.

A 9 to 5 work schedule also allows for productivity since work is bounded within that timeframe. Since the WFH setup, having a flexible time to do outputs has been one of the benefits employees enjoyed. However, it can also be a bad thing as employees now tend to work outside working hours since they don’t fully utilize the prescribed working hours in their homes. So, having a schedule to do work in a physical setup can subconsciously move you to accomplish more.

Sustainability: Regarding lack of equipment and Internet problems, a face-to-face setup can make up for these hardware issues. While most companies allocate budgets and device provisions for their employees, such as wifi, laptops, headsets, and desktops, some of the financial responsibility for other equipment needed for work falls on the employee. So for some people with specific jobs requiring certain machinery and equipment, not only is face-to-face convenient for them, but it is also vital for their work.

However, one of the weakest points of a face-to-face setup is the exhausting toil of going to and from the office every day. The long, long hours spent on the commute is a con that would not be a problem in a WFH setting. Imagine how many hours you spent in traffic that could have been allocated to work. Moreover, there are additional costs such as fares for commuters, and parking spots, and gas fees for car drivers. Employees who have gotten used to the WFH life would have difficulty readjusting their bodies and energy to accommodate physically going out and traveling to work.

The Modern: Work from home setup

The WFH setup has revolutionized our workplace forever. It has saved us in a time of uncertainty and has become a valuable setting for most of our careers. It has also enabled new job functions that previously did not exist before the pandemic. However, now that the pandemic is ending do we still need this setup?

Communication: Technology has done so much to improve our communication over the ages. It has made our communication more instant, efficient, and accessible. In times like the COVID-19 lockdown, so many software and platforms have allowed workplace communication to continue even virtually. Because of a WFH setup, employees have even been able to apply for jobs and positions in international companies- no need for a visa and relocation! Virtual communication paves the way for efficiency in the workplace. Compared to the bulky and hassle of organizing a physical arrangement and event, it provides a direct and open line for requests, meetings, and conferences. What was once a quick meeting within the day can now be reduced to an email.

However, as stated in the benefit of a F2F setting, it can also be limiting because it restricts communication to be work-oriented only. You cannot establish work-friendly relationships with your colleagues and employers as you cannot talk to each other like how you would be able to in an office break room, over coffee, for example. This experience results in personal isolation and detachment from the organization, making work-life purely formal and professional.

Productivity: With the flexible time allowed by remote work settings, you can balance work-life easier. You can now do meetings and projects while still spending time with your family. In fact, some people can now do vacations and take their work with them without having to file for a leave (but we will pretend we don’t know that *wink). Employees are now free to do work at their own time and their own pace. This freedom has suited many lifestyles that even full-time moms and dads, for example, can now manage to work on their career and their parenting.

People can now work during their most productive hours instead of being forced to work within a specific period. Some people are night owls, so they do most of their work at night. However, it is also at this benefit that you risk slacking off. Flexible time gives employees freedom, but they must also exercise discipline together with that privilege.

Sustainability: Concerning transportation costs, especially with the increasing gas prices today, a WFH setup is more sustainable for employees. Working in the comfort of your home saves you more financially. You can cook your food and dress in comfortable clothes compared to the hustle and bustle of getting up in work clothes to go to the office. Parents with kids do not have to pay anymore for babysitting.

You can also work on yourself professionally and personally with a more flexible working schedule. You can use some work lag time to enroll in courses that improve and add to your skills. Employees can even exercise while doing work! Indeed, we are all given better mental and physical health with all the allowances that this setup provides for our finances, schedule, and lifestyle!

The Evolved: Hybrid setup

The hybrid setup was born as a setting that meets the needs of both organizations and employees in a post-pandemic world. It accommodates both the qualms and concerns of individuals who are pro-WFH or pro-F2F by combining an in-office model with remote work. However, with the newness of this setup, will it work?

Communication: Having a hybrid setup will allow employees and employers to have the best of both worlds. For meetings that need in-depth discussions and brainstorming, companies can conduct them face-to-face. For daily work tasks and requests, employees can do it virtually. If you have clarification or an issue regarding an email you received from your co-worker, you can discuss it with them during the following office day.

You will have the opportunity to develop relationships with co-workers on the days you physically go to work. Employees can now experience work culture while, at the same time, they still have the convenience of choosing remote work for days that do not require heavy interactions. At the same time, there may be discrepancies between the employees who work from home and the employees who work at the office. Each can have misconceptions and notions about each other’s setup and working habits, which may obstruct collaboration and miscommunication. It still depends on the type of hybrid modelcompanies choose to employ: remote-first, occasional-office, or office-preferred and remote-allowed.

Productivity: The hybrid setup gives employees the option to choose whether to work in their homes or remotely. However, some positions might not be given such a decision, as companies may require specific qualifications and credentials to enable an employee to continue choosing work-from-home. Either way, the benefit of choosing what work function to do in your home and your office is still tremendous as you are the one that estimates which setup works better for your efficiency and output. Maybe you are more productive working on papers and projects in the office but would prefer to conduct virtual meetings at home. Whatever you decide, make sure to communicate that with your superior as you find the perfect F2F and WFH allocation.

Sustainability: Employees with specific job functions requiring office facilities can do so while still maintaining a balanced work-life within a hybrid setup. Transportation fees are not as costly as they would be in a daily F2F if most workdays are done remotely. However, you would have to budget money for BOTH work-from-home infrastructures and transportation costs for the days you go to the office.

A hybrid setup would also be more sustainable as it limits the risk of COVID-19 exposure while still enabling an effective workforce. This benefit is vital, especially for those employees who live with people at high stakes, such as babies, children, senior citizens, and individuals with underlying medical conditions.

All-in-all, there are good and bad sides to each setup. You just need to weigh your options and decide based on your current and foreseeable situation. Just know that there is no shortage of job opportunities for either setup, as Kalibrr and its partner companies provide jobs and positions for every kind of setup.

So as you decide on what setup to take, create an account with us today to enrich your professional life with boundless work opportunities. The right setup and the right job will find you- with Kalibrr.

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Kalibrr is a recruitment technology company that aims to transform how candidates find jobs and how companies hire talent. Placing the candidate experience at the center of everything it does, we continue to attract the best talent from all over, with more than 5.5 million professionals and counting. Kalibrr ultimately connects these talents to companies in search of their next generation of leaders.

The only end-to-end recruitment solutions provider in Southeast Asia, Kalibrr is headquartered in Makati, Philippines, with offices in San Francisco, California, and Jakarta, Indonesia. Established in 2012, it has served over 18,000 clients and is backed by some of the world’s most powerful start-up incubators and venture capitalists. These include Y Combinator, Omidyar Network, Patamar Capital, Wavemaker Partners, and Kickstart Ventures.For more tips on acing job interviews, follow Kalibrr on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tiktok.