Hybrid Work Innovation for Better Outcomes

Workplace Innovation: What is it?

Supporting innovation in a hybrid team means choosing ideas to try and assessing whether they improve the work. Leaders are put in the hot seat - leading by example, showing empowerment, and careful guidance in accordance with company morale.

Workplace innovation is the practices and cultures that allow employees to maximize their knowledge, competencies, and creativity. It is about understanding effectiveness and how to best utilize it in a way that leads to improvement in company performance and employee engagement. Innovation is important as it increases productivity, inspires development, and helps businesses solve problems. 

So… How do you stay innovative in a hybrid environment? 

Here comes the big question. It’s easy to say, “Let’s be more innovative!” and start implementing a series of activities at your workplace, crossing your fingers, hoping they turn out to be good ideas. The tricky part is figuring out what works for your team and what doesn’t, in an environment where everyone works in different locations and time zones.

Support Innovation

When it comes to implementing a hybrid work model, consider how to support innovation and what might get in the way of trying new ideas.

Hybrid work can produce positive outcomes on innovation for employees through greater flexibility and empowerment. Invite team members to share different perspectives and test promising ideas. When supporting innovation, there are three factors to consider:

1. Open-Minded Leadership

A big part of innovation stems from leadership. A Harvard Business Review study found that when leaders foster a culture of innovation, it can increase employee productivity by up to 38%. Employees look to their leaders for guidance and validation. To inspire workplace innovation, leaders should keep an open mind when it comes to accepting change, welcoming new ideas, and problem-solving. 

It is difficult to foster innovation without the involvement and full support of leadership. Employees can possess great ideas and solutions, and leaders can help them develop and test those ideas.

2. Employee Well-being and Culture

Culture acts as the backbone of every organization, and the people are what makeup culture. Thus the importance of employee well-being. A study by Gallup found that higher employee engagement tends to increase the likelihood for employees to generate new ideas. 

When it comes to the hybrid workforce, employees must have the right tools and proper guidance to succeed. It is crucial that they feel supported to come up with creative solutions and innovate, which is why employees and leaders should collaborate to achieve a culture that drives innovation.

3. Implementing New Technology 

The hybrid workforce would not even exist without the technology we have today. Therefore, it is only fair to take into consideration the implementation of new technology for workplace innovations. It is essential to understand how to properly manage and optimize the interplay between employees and technology. For example, supporting new communication and workflow tools. Technology has enabled us to collaborate and track progress on common tasks and shared projects. Some of these include cloud storage, file-sharing, desk booking, office analytics, video conferencing, and more. 

Leaders can take this opportunity to introduce practices and new interactions like cross-departmental collaboration in a virtual environment, then evaluate whether they help colleagues develop and test ideas. Game nights on Zoom and informal chats can be optional ways to connect, not evidence of innovation. Offer a shared discussion thread or written work feedback for colleagues who cannot or prefer not to join live social events. Agree communication methods and timing with the team, as recommended in Acas’s UK workplace guidance.

Let’s Recap:

Innovation in the workplace refers to organizational practices that allow employees to use and develop skills, knowledge, experience, and creativity to their fullest potential while improving business performance, engagement, and well-being. 

Use the three themes above to choose what to try, then work through a simple idea–experiment–outcome sequence:

1. Idea: Choose a practice from the leadership, culture or technology guidance and name the work problem it could address.
2. Experiment: Agree a small, time-limited test with the team. Before starting, choose a work-quality signal and record a baseline.
3. Outcome: Compare the signal with the baseline and discuss what helped or hindered the work. Decide whether to continue, adapt or stop the practice.

Hypothetical example: A hybrid team could test written suggestions before cross-departmental handoffs for two weeks. Compare the proportion of handoffs needing clarification with the previous two weeks, then discuss whether to keep or change the practice. More submissions alone would not show better work.