Ways of Working Audit

Still Struggling with Hybrid Working? Get Clarity with OE Cam’s Ways of Working Audit (WOWA)

After the Pandemic sparked the largest workplace experiment in modern history, hybrid work emerged as the great compromise, offering promises of flexibility, productivity, and balance.  It was seen as a utopia for both employers and employees.  Yet, half a decade later, many organisations are still struggling with what ‘hybrid’ truly means — and the extent to which it actually works in practice.

Does it just mean two or three days in the office every week?  Or is it a free-for-all?  Should we leave it up to individual teams, or impose company-wide guidelines?  These are questions many organisations are still grappling with.

OE Cam has been working with clients to navigate this ambiguity from the start.  What we’ve learned in the past five years is that a successful approach to the way we work isn’t about policies or tech — it’s about understanding people, roles, and the desired outcomes.  In order to do that, organisations need to take a step back, reflect, and audit their ways of working in greater depth than that afforded by a standard culture survey.

Why are we still struggling with Hybrid and other approaches?

In practice, many organisations have fallen into one of two traps:

1. Rigid rules that undermine flexibility – Many companies have tried to impose structure by mandating where, and how we work — “at least two days a week in the office” is a common refrain. While well-intentioned, these guidelines often feel arbitrary and breed resentment.  They contradict the very flexibility hybrid working was supposed to offer.  Which two days?  Can I choose my days so to avoid my annoying co-worker?  If I come into the office but spend the whole day shut away in an office on my own, does that count? (and if so, why?!).  What if it makes more sense for me to be in four days this week, and zero next week to best achieve my outcomes?  Overspecification and arbitrary rules are almost certainly not the answer, and simply exacerbate the view that these are pointless rules.
2. Chaos disguised as freedom – On the flip side, some organisations have embraced a “do whatever works for you” mentality. While this may sound liberating, the definition of ‘what works for you’ is too limited in scope.  Sure, I can deliver my role remotely, but what is lost in doing so?  What other elements of organisational life do I miss out on by not being present and interacting with co-workers?  And what do they miss out on by me not being present?

The Role Outcomes Debate

One of the biggest challenges with establishing our ways of working is defining what success looks like.  For years, organisations have focused on ‘hard’ outcomes – hitting targets, delivering projects, increasing revenues.  These are, of course, critical.  But they’re not the whole picture.

What’s often missing are the ‘soft’ outcomes: contributions to culture, mentoring others, fostering team spirit, and being a role model.  These intangible elements are harder to define and measure but just as essential for long-term success.

For example, junior employees learn by observing senior leaders.  They pick up on subtle cues – the tone of a conversation, the way a decision is made, or how a difficult situation is handled.  These moments rarely happen on Zoom or Teams.  They happen when people are physically co-located, in the gaps between meetings, or during spontaneous interactions.

If organisations define role outcomes too narrowly – focusing only on the tangible deliverables – they risk losing the social glue that holds teams together.  Broadening the definition of roles to include both hard and soft outcomes shifts the emphasis more from “what works for you” to “what works for the organisation as a whole”, and that’s when organisations start to find the right balance of how and where people work.

Broadening the definition of roles to include both hard and soft outcomes shifts the emphasis more from “what works for you” to “what works for the organisation as a whole”, and that’s when organisations start to find the right balance of how and where people work.

Test, Learn, Adapt

It’s worth remembering that hybrid isn’t the destination – it’s a tool.  The goal isn’t to perfect hybrid working for its own sake but to create an environment where people and organisations can thrive.

Achieving this means regularly checking in with your people to understand what’s working and what’s not.  Our new ways of working are essentially experiments that work in some situations, but fail to deliver in others.  And like any experiment, they require a mindset of test, learn, and adapt.

The Ways of Working Audit: A Tool for Clarity

OE Cam has developed a Ways of Working Audit (WOWA) to help organisations take stock of their current approach and identify what’s working – and what isn’t.  WOWA evaluates the effectiveness of whatever approach you have opted for across four key dimensions:

1. Culture: Are you fostering a sense of belonging and collaboration? How well are you maintaining your organisational identity with your current approach?
2. Talent: Are you attracting and retaining the right people? Is your approach enabling development and career progression?
3. Performance: Are teams delivering the outcomes they need to? Are you balancing hard and soft role expectations?
4. Well-being: Are your people thriving, or are they burned out? How well does your approach support mental and emotional health?

The process includes a mix of quantitative surveys, qualitative interviews, and workshops to help leadership teams uncover blind spots, set priorities, and create actionable strategies.  It’s not about imposing rigid rules but about understanding the optimum approach for your specific organisation and adapting accordingly.  By regularly auditing your ways of working, you can create a working model that truly works for your people and your business.

If you’re still grappling with the challenges of hybrid, our Ways of Working Audit can help you find clarity and chart a path forward.  Because five years on, it’s not about having all the answers – it’s about asking the right questions.

mike.thackray@oecam.com