Creating Flex Work Policies … When Everyone Has Different Needs | Harvard Business Review

Many firms have updated and announced their policies on flexible work during the past few months. And organizations that have not yet made these decisions will probably make them soon. But as noted in this article, “whatever any organization is doing — requiring everyone to return to the office, keeping people at home, or some mix of the two— at least a handful of people want or need something else.” The author presents six strategies to help managers “treat their people as the individuals they are without creating a chaotic mess of confusing, arbitrary exceptions.” The first strategy is the logical starting point of having managers ask employees about their current work flexibility and their ability to get work done regardless of work location. Five questions are offered to guide these conversations, including: Are there tools, information, or other kinds of support that would help you perform better? How well have you been able to arrange cross-functional collaborations? How comfortable do you feel about your current work situation? Although there are various forms of work flexibility, remote work is a dominating theme. So, if you missed it, this bonus article by McKinsey helps firms make remote work decisions by evaluating tasks and activities that can be performed remotely without losing productivity.