Over the summer, the University moved from hybrid working as a pilot project, towards a more long-term implementation of the arrangements for many colleagues.
Although most of us have made a smooth transition to hybrid working, you might still have questions or need support to get the most out of our new ways of working.
Dialogue Magazine (DM) caught up with Catherine Shield and Lizzie Amies from HR-OD to get more details about hybrid working at Durham.
DM: How have our hybrid working arrangements been developed?
Catherine: “Obviously the main initial drive behind hybrid working was the lockdown and the need to continue providing University services from home.
“That was done very quickly at the time so to give us more of an opportunity to support staff with its full implementation, we devised a pilot project to investigate and implement hybrid working in the best possible way.
Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been working with a range of stakeholders including staff, managers, University leaders, trades unions, and learning from colleagues from across the sector to help shape the medium to long-term future of hybrid working at the University.
“We listened to colleagues and took feedback from all our stakeholders to build on what we’ve done since 2020 and develop a more formalised approach to hybrid working.”
DM: What are the current arrangements?
Catherine: “The first thing to say is that we’re committed to supporting colleagues to work in a hybrid way where it’s appropriate for their role.
“As an organisation, we’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on, and developing the benefits of hybrid working for both staff and the University itself. We ran a Wellbeing Café, developed the help us to help you website, and delivered manager sessions to explore what was working well and how we could improve the hybrid arrangements.
“This helped us develop a set of hybrid working principles, guidance and FAQs on a range of topics connected to hybrid working. These principles were circulated over the summer so you might have seen them already, but you may find it useful to have another look and refresh your memory.”
(You can find the Hybrid Working Principles on the Information Hub.)
DM: Is that the end of the story?
Lizzie:
The short answer’s no! The way we work is really a story of continuous change and improvement, implementing things like new technology and responding to new opportunities.
“The pilot project helped us to examine some of these opportunities and make sure we were doing everything we could to support colleagues to make the most of them. And it won’t stop here as the future will undoubtedly bring more opportunities and change, so we have to be ready to make the most of all these potential developments to our ways of working.”
DM: What support is available for people working in a hybrid way?
Lizzie: “We’re actually launching some extra support for people who work hybridly.
“Through our discussions with colleagues over the last year, they told us that they wanted more details about a range of topics connected with hybrid working. People said they wanted to know more about things like the impact of hybrid working on wellbeing, how to tackle challenges posed by hybrid working, getting the most from technology, and better ways to communicate with others.
“To help answer this type of question, we’ve just published a summary of resources and guidance in SharePoint which provides comprehensive details about hybrid working.
“This enhanced information also gives managers and team leaders useful information to help them support colleagues in a range of different scenarios.”
(You can find this information on the Support for Hybrid Working intranet page.)
DM: Is there any more in-depth help available for people who might need a bit more support?
Lizzie: “To complement the information on the intranet page, we’ve also developed a number of open learning sessions which we’ll be delivering in November.
“These will be held online to help colleagues gain more information about hybrid and non-hybrid ways of working at the University.
“The sessions include topics on hybrid working for the longer-term, managing teams in a hybrid organisation, and managing non-hybrid teams in a hybrid organisation.
“These really informative sessions start from November and I’d urge any colleague to come along and find out more – you just need to book through Oracle Learning.”
Open learning sessions include:
- 9.30am on 29 November and 1pm on 6 December: Hybrid working for the longer-term. Workshop to examine practicalities, share what’s working and not working, and learn about getting the most from hybrid working.
- 9.30am on 17 November and 9.30am on 30 November Managing non-hybrid teams in a hybrid organisation. Teams who can’t work in a hybrid way can face different challenges. This session explores how to support your team, enable working practices and share experiences with colleagues in other departments.
- 9.30am on 22 November and 9.30am on 7 December: Managing teams in a hybrid organisation. Hybrid working requires managers to work differently, so this informal session helps you explore best practice, think about your own management style and team’s practices, learn from others, and support colleagues who may find hybrid working challenging.
DM: Do you think hybrid working’s a good thing?
Catherine: “Over the past few years, it’s become clear that hybrid working offers both opportunities and challenges for individuals and the University as a whole.
“So it’s important that everyone is aware of all the possibilities and that we continue to change and respond to make the most of our new ways of working.
“This is a constant evolution. We’re always looking at different ways to support staff and I’d encourage everyone to be open to new ideas to improve colleagues’ experience of work at the University. So get involved in the open learning sessions, and if you have any ideas or comments about hybrid working, please do get in touch.”
For more details and help with issues around hybrid working, get in touch with hr.od@durham.ac.uk or your HR Business Partner.