Across my network, I’m seeing a great shift in how open organisations have become to explore hybrid working and what this means for marketing functions. Very publicly tech giants like Apple and Microsoft have discussed hybrid working - offering their employees the choice to work from home a few days a week – but less publicly, it is happening at companies of all sizes.
To provide some context, the Marketing teams I support value and thrive off of collaboration, real-life conversations, and creative teamwork. The initial thought of reducing face time and fewer office-based brainstorms felt catastrophic for many - but in reality, hybrid working is not right for everyone, but it definitely has the potential to help redefine roles.
From a talent perspective, Social Media Managers have never been more in demand. Having been forced into remote ways of working, many companies through necessity or opportunity, invested in their social media presence and looked for ways to innovate digitally. Marketers from tech-focused backgrounds or industries that were already open to hybrid and remote working, and have experience of managing people outside of a traditional office environment are in hot demand.
So how can a Social Media Manager use hybrid working to flourish? I’ve been asking my network and here are just a few of the reasons why:
Easier to be online and ‘live’ when your audience is active
Increased production efforts without distraction
More time for private research into industry trends
Individual upskilling in software and social media platforms
Weekly office time to use for planning and projecting
Ability to balance meeting and event attendance alongside being home
Ensuring teams get that all-important personal development and training in office
For many of my network, it provides the perfect blend - the time to focus on production, planning and strategy without losing the much-needed collaboration time with their teams. Technically speaking, it also makes little difference as the main tools and platforms are cloud-based; from the Adobe Suite to Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and the vast range of analytics and scheduling tools. As long as you have a strong internet connection!
Is hybrid working exciting you, are you desperate to get back to an office or planning to work remotely? I’d love to know
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We recently prepared a complete guide on returning to the office - where we discussed how to effectively implement a hybrid model that supports your people. Find out more here.