Is the Worker/Leader Divide On Flexible Working Coming To A Head?

"The other interesting thing that came out of it is that many of them have been caught, and most of the time, companies really aren't bothered by the concept of coming into the office when it works for you and certain tasks that make sense," Weishaupt added. "70 percent of people who do coffee badging for our report have been caught, 84 percent of the companies really didn't care, and 16 percent forced them back in full-time."

A particularly interesting part of this story is that of the people polled that were coffee badging, 34 percent of them were individual contributors, but 47 percent of them were managers.

"This just shows the thirst for this at all levels," Weishaupt asserted. "It's not as though this is just an individual contributor concept that we're talking about here. It's up and down the organisation. This is something that really needs to get worked out between employers and all employees."

Clock Blocking—The Latest Flexible Work Trend

If coffee badging was 2023's major trend (and phrase), then this year's is even more eye-catching: clock blocking. Clock blocking is the growing pattern of workers blocking slots on their calendars to ensure their workdays aren't bloated with meetings and that they have substantial time allocated for productive work.

"I think when you're blocking your calendar, you're used to having a period of time where you were working flexibly from home," Weishaupt said. "Now that people are back in the office, you're probably getting your calendar blocked up with meetings all day. You got used to being in an environment where you could do heads-down work with maybe fewer people around or quieter, whatever the case might be for an individual."

"We're still trying to figure out how all this works," Weishaupt continued. "We know that hybrid and flexible work is important to employees, but we also know that not only navigating those return-to-office policies is important, but understanding how to set boundaries in your work environment if you are hybrid so that your office doesn't become a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week office environment, which I think is damaging. It creates burnout. It doesn't create a happy and productive employee. It creates chaos."

"I think those boundaries are starting to be created and are another one of those tent poles that need to be figured out for hybrid and flexible work to be successful."

Successful Hybrid Work Requires Advanced Tech And Shrewd, Compassionate Strategy

Naturally, technology plays a critical role in any successful hybrid work strategy, a pain point Owl Labs is pitched to address. Eighty-three percent of UK workers say good technology is an important work factor, given the challenges around hybrid meetings, such as missing visual cues, having difficulty contributing to the conversation, and disengagement. Owl Labs reports that one-fifth of employees said their office upgraded its video conferencing technology in 2024 to address this.

"Technology plays a huge role in allowing this flexibility to happen," Weishaupt said. "Without Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google 20 years ago, we never would have been able to dip our toe in the water and make video a part of our lives the way that it is every day. I think the same way about the conference room. For the remote participants to feel like they're a part of the meeting, you need to have the correct technology in place. That's what we do."

"We've recently started getting platform certifications, which validate our technology and open more access to IT buyers. We've evolved the technology to 4K, and the software has evolved into multi-device."

"While this has been a challenging time for companies to figure out their strategy, we're starting to see that they're getting closer and closer to trying to figure out that balance between in-office and work-from-anywhere. We think we're a big gateway to making that happen and making it most effective."

Does Weishaupt have any strategic or best practice recommendations around hybrid work and office culture?

"You need to figure out what works best for you," he offered. "We've seen every form come our way, including companies that require people to be back in the office full-time. We see companies that have ultimate flexibility, and they have offices. If you happen to need it, you can go in and everywhere in between."

"I can speak specifically for Owl Labs and how we look at it, which is we have a culture of accountability. As CEO, I firmly believe that I have hired great leaders to lead teams. I want them to trust and be transparent with their employees, to have an open dialogue with them about what makes the most sense for the employee to be most productive. That's what's important to me. I want the employee to have a satisfying experience here, and I want us to achieve maximum productivity."

Weishaupt outlined that Owl Labs is in the rhythm of having several offices, with those offices open for anyone to use at any time. Then, on a quarterly basis, the company brings in different working teams to work together and build relationships.

"As I said earlier, the office has a role," Weishaupt explained. "There are tasks. There's access to technology. Collaboration can be done in an office. I think the best approach is to be flexible and then try to bring teams together to do that in-person collaboration when it's appropriate. In the end, I didn't hire people so that I could watch them work. I hired employees to collectively strive towards a mission, and I trust that we have the right systems in place to make that happen."

What Is The Future Of Work?

Hybrid and flexible work is a topic that changes practically daily. It would be daunting to suggest predictions for the state of work in the next five to ten years, but do Weishaupt and Owl Labs have any thoughts on where all this is going in the long term?

"I certainly think hybrid and remote work, which are both on the rise for the state of hybrid work survey that we did this year, I think that becomes the norm," Weishaupt said. "Flexible work for a knowledge worker to work where they want when they want is, I think, the long-term vision. It was the original vision of this company. Live where you want, work where you want."

What about the rise of other work policies like the four-day workweek?

"I think the workweek will change over time," he said. "Everybody's different, and, again, it comes down to the individual and their maximum productivity. Of course, there will be overlapping periods of time when everyone needs to be available, such as all-hands meetings, staff meetings, and other interactions with customers."

"But if you look over a five—or a 10-year time horizon, I don't think that barriers of what day of the week it is and what time it is will matter," Weishaupt added. "I think the knowledge worker will have the flexibility to be where they want. There was too much of a taste for it. Employees want things that hybrid work offers that a company can't, which is time—that valuable time back from commuting—and also the money that it will cost you to be able to go and do that commute on a regular basis."

"So, if we can figure out how to create that trust, transparency, and balance, I think you will have a very happy workforce and be back into this mindset that we were in pre-2020."