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Running remote and hybrid teams, one habit at a time

Hybrid work policy: what to include and what to leave to teams

·6 mins
Policies & Hybrid Hybrid Work Hr Policy Office Days Templates
Table of Contents

Hybrid looks simpler than fully remote on paper. Everyone has an office, everyone also has a home desk, and people mix the two. In practice it’s harder to run, because you now have two ways of working that have to fit together, and most of the friction lives in the seams: the meeting where half the room forgets the people on screen, the office day when nobody from your team turns up, the promotion that somehow goes to whoever was in most.

A good hybrid work policy deals with the seams. This page covers what to put in it, what to leave to individual teams, and an outline you can adapt. If you’re fully remote, our remote work policy template is the better starting point.

Not legal advice: rules on flexible working, expenses and health and safety vary by country, so check local employment law before you adopt any of this.

Decide the model before you write

Hybrid policies fail when they try to avoid choosing. Pick one of these, or a clear mix, and say so in the first paragraph:

Model How it works Works well when Watch out for
Fixed anchor days Everyone in on set days (e.g. Tuesday and Thursday) Collaboration needs whole-team overlap Office crowding on anchor days, empty on others
Team-set days Each team picks its own in-office days Teams work mostly within themselves Cross-team meetings get awkward
Minimum days, flexible X days a month, any days Roles vary a lot within teams Teams rarely overlap in person
Office optional Office available, attendance not required Office is a perk, not a requirement Treat it as remote-first in every other respect

There’s no universally right answer. The useful question is what the office is for. If it’s for collaboration, anchor or team-set days make sense, because an office day spent on video calls with colleagues at home is a commute for nothing.

The sections a hybrid policy needs

Purpose of office time. One or two sentences on what in-person days are for (planning, onboarding, workshops, social time). This guides every other decision and helps teams resist filling office days with solo work.

Attendance expectations. The model, the number of days, and who can vary it. Be specific about whether attendance is tracked and how. If you plan to use badge data or desk booking records to monitor attendance, tell people in the policy; in the UK, data protection rules on monitoring workers expect openness about what’s collected and why.

Who decides what. Separate the company-level rules from the team-level ones. A common split: the company sets the minimum and the core rules; teams choose which days and how they run them; individuals agree exceptions with their manager.

Requests and exceptions. Explain how to ask for a different pattern and who responds. In the UK, employees can make a statutory flexible working request, including about where they work, from their first day, and employers must handle it reasonably and decide within two months unless longer is agreed. Acas has guidance on requesting home or hybrid working, including where a disability is involved. Your policy should point to the process rather than restate the law.

Desks and space. Booking system or first come, first served; whether there are team zones; what to do on crowded days. Keep this practical and short.

Meetings. This is where hybrid gets most of its bad reputation, so it deserves its own section (below).

Equipment and costs. What’s provided at home, what’s provided at the office, and whether you contribute to either commuting or home costs. People with two workstations need both to be usable. In the UK, employers can pay up to £6 a week towards additional household costs for homeworkers without needing evidence; check the rules for your own country.

Health and safety. In Great Britain, HSE guidance on managing home workers covers people who routinely split their time between the workplace and home, and says employers have the same health and safety responsibilities for them as for other workers. Include the home workstation self-assessment in the policy.

Fairness and progression. A sentence committing to assess performance on outcomes, not visibility, and to give remote days and office days equal standing for development and promotion. Then back it up in how reviews actually work.

Review date. Hybrid arrangements need adjusting. Commit to a review after six months and yearly after that.

Make hybrid meetings fair

The classic failure: eight people in a meeting room, three on a screen at the end of the table, side conversations nobody remote can hear, a whiteboard nobody remote can see. The remote three stop contributing within ten minutes.

Rules that fix most of it:

  • One person, one screen. If anyone joins remotely, everyone joins from their own laptop, even in the office (with headphones, or with the room audio handled properly). The meeting happens on the call, not in the room.
  • A digital whiteboard, not a physical one. Anything written down is written where everyone can see it.
  • Remote voices first. The chair asks remote participants for input before the room, since they can’t break in as easily.
  • Chat is part of the meeting. Someone in the room watches the chat and raises points from it.
  • Decisions are posted afterwards in the usual written place, so the people who weren’t there aren’t left out either.

For the general habits that make hybrid communication work, see remote team communication strategies and async communication for remote work.

Leave these to teams

Company policy shouldn’t try to cover everything. Leave to teams:

  • Which days (within the company model).
  • What happens on in-office days.
  • Team rituals, such as a monthly lunch or quarterly planning day.
  • How they handle the occasional need to swap days.

A short team working agreement handles these better than policy does; our guide on managing remote teams without micromanaging includes a template.

Hybrid policy outline to adapt

Not legal advice. Check local employment law in every country where you employ people.

[COMPANY] HYBRID WORK POLICY
Owner: [role]   Version: [x]   Effective: [date]   Review: [date + 6 months]

1. Why we work hybrid
   Office time is for: [planning, onboarding, workshops, team time].
   Solo focus work is best done wherever suits you.

2. Our model
   [Anchor days: Tue + Thu] / [Team-set: 2 days a week] /
   [Minimum: 6 days a month] / [Office optional]

3. Who decides
   Company: the model and these rules.
   Teams: which days and how they're used (written in team agreement).
   Individuals: exceptions agreed with their manager.

4. Requests and exceptions
   Ask [role] in writing. We reply within [x] weeks and within any legal
   time limit where you work. Reasonable adjustments are handled via [route].

5. Attendance records
   We [do not track attendance / use desk booking data for space planning
   only / ...]. Questions about personal data: [contact].

6. Desks and space
   Booking via [system]. Team zones: [yes/no]. Crowded days: [rule].

7. Meetings
   If anyone is remote, everyone joins from their own device.
   Shared digital whiteboard. Remote voices first. Decisions posted after.

8. Equipment and costs
   Home: [kit provided / allowance]. Office: [standard setup].
   Commuting: [not reimbursed / ...]. Home costs: [allowance / none].

9. Health and safety
   Home workstation self-assessment within [x] days and after any move.

10. Fairness
    Performance is judged on outcomes. Remote and office days carry equal
    weight for development and promotion.

11. Review
    Reviewed after 6 months, then yearly, with input from staff.