Transitioning from one task to another can be challenging regardless of whether you work on-site or remotely. With a good work culture and shared team best practices, this can be mitigated to some extent, but if not considered, can quickly lead to burnout and stress.

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In office days can feel extra long because of this very transition. It takes more time to get to and from work, stealing more of your energy than remote days. Meetings often don’t account for buffer time to move from open to closed spaces. Heads down time can be interrupted with office distractions, making it challenging to focus. And whether you’re at home or in the office, the back to back meetings make it often impossible to take a breath to move from one task to the next. These are challenges of hybrid, not in office versus remote, as they each can encounter similar struggles. Ultimately, employees lack the much needed pause to absorb information or really immerse themselves properly into their workloads when jumping from one thing to the next.

This is where management needs to observe what’s happening in their hybrid teams, introduce those best practices, and speak up to walk the talk on making them stick.

So, what are these best practices? Well, here are a few:

1. Set clear expectations and priorities – Communicate clear expectations about tasks and priorities to help employees stay focused and organized. Provide a clear roadmap or to-do list to help employees know what they should be working on and in what order. I do this every Monday with a week look ahead in our team channel.

2. Schedule buffer time – Avoid scheduling meetings back-to-back, and allow employees to have some buffer time in between to catch up on emails, prepare for the next meeting, or simply take a short break to refresh their mind. I also automatically have my calendar schedule meetings 5 minutes after the hour and encourage my team to do the same

3. Encourage regular breaks and movement throughout the day. This can help prevent burnout, boost productivity, and make it easier to transition between tasks. I flag audio only agendas to encourage walking meetings.

4. Set hybrid best practices when working on site – Does your office have collaborative versus quiet zones? Promote them. Encourage closed door spaces for calls and conversations. Equip team members and/or encourage tools to help minimize disruptions.

5. Support work-life balance – Encourage work-life balance by setting clear boundaries between work and personal time. Avoid expecting employees to be always available and encourage them to take time off when needed to recharge.

By implementing these best practices, managers can create a supportive work environment that encourages productivity, reduces stress, and helps employees transition more easily between tasks and meetings.