Hybrid jobs are still on the rise in the charity sector. The CharityJob Salary Report 2025 revealed that the proportion of hybrid roles posted on the CharityJob site increased from 45% in 2023 to 50% in 2024. But what is hybrid working exactly? What are the benefits of hybrid working and how can you get the best from it?
What is hybrid working?
Hybrid working is a blend of working in an office and working remotely, usually from home. The split could be anything from one day a week at home, to one day per quarter in the office, and this may be fixed or flexible. If the requirements are set but they don’t work for your situation, then you can still make a flexible working request.
What are the pros and cons of hybrid working?
One of the main benefits of hybrid working is flexibility, especially if you’re able to have some control over when you work where. The mix can allow you to get the best out of working in the office – collaboration with colleagues, building relationships and easier communication, with the advantages of working from home – no commute, a relaxed environment and additional time in your day. This allows for a better work/life balance and increased wellbeing and happiness at work. On a more practical level, it also allows personal cost savings and a decrease in carbon footprint from not commuting every day.
On the other side of things, the cons of hybrid working include being less visible, so your hard work can be less noticed if you’re not in the office all the time. It’s also harder to get to know colleagues naturally when you don’t see them in person regularly, particularly if different teams are in on different days. You also might find yourself over-reliant on technology to keep connected when you’re working from home, which, as we all learnt in the pandemic, isn’t without its glitches! Some charities have also reduced their office size in recent years, meaning they don’t have space for everyone at once, so you may have to book a desk on a first come, first served basis, reducing your flexibility.
Top Tips for Hybrid Working
Spending some days each week in the office and some days working from home can give more flexibility and freedom about how you work. But how can you make the best from it? Here are our top tips for hybrid working.
Understand your own needs
You need to be clear what your charity expects of you when it comes to hybrid working, but it’s also important to understand your own needs and strengths and weaknesses.
Are you easily distracted when working from home and prefer working in the office? Ask if going in more often is a possibility. If you find you can only do ‘deep’ work when you’re at home, then plan your week around that. Or if you’re more productive with the background noise you get from working in an office, then try replicating this at home with a noise generator like Calm Office.
If you understand your own needs and the ideal conditions to produce your best work, then you can really use hybrid working to your advantage.
Try to keep to the same routine
If you can, get into good habits and try to wake up and go to bed at the same time on days that you’re in the office and days when you’re working from home. This will cause you less stress when you need to be awake two hours earlier than you did the day before! On days you don’t need to commute you can use the extra time for exercise, hobbies or relaxation.
If you’re in the office the next day then you could use your evening ‘commute’ time to prepare. Pack up your laptop, make your lunch and plan your day, so you’re as ready to go as possible in the morning.
Set up a proper home workspace
It’s important to establish a proper workspace at home, even if it’s just at your dining table. Consistency helps our brains to focus, so make things as easy as possible by replicating your office setup in any way that you can. For example, if you have a list of contact numbers stuck to your desk at work, do the same at home.
Reduce stress by developing a system to make sure everything is in the place you need it to be. If you’re carrying a laptop between the office and home, then have a dedicated bag to pack everything into when you log off each night. Consider getting duplicates of things like laptop chargers to limit what you have to carry around (or could accidentally leave in the wrong place!). And it goes without saying to be as paperless as possible.
Plan your time around your work locations
When you spend different days in different locations it can be even more important to plan your time effectively.
Do you prefer to have meetings in person, or video calls from home? While this may not be fully in your control, it can help to state your preferences. Some charities will have a ‘virtual first’ meeting strategy, meaning if one person in the meeting is working remotely then everyone should be on a video call. This can be tricky in a noisy, open-plan office, so think about how to make it more manageable. Perhaps you need to get some headphones, or move to a quieter space to take the call.
If you have more meetings when you’re in the office and you’re also spending time catching up with colleagues, then you may not get as many tasks ticked off your to-do list. This is still very valuable and productive time, but it means you need to have realistic expectations about what you can achieve on your office days and plan your week accordingly.
And don’t forget that you may need to go into the office on different days some weeks or months, so don’t be too rigid in your schedule. Flexibility works both ways!
Look after your wellbeing and stay connected
It’s been a hot topic since the pandemic, but don’t forget to prioritise your wellbeing, especially on the days you work from home. Don’t feel you need to work longer hours than you do in the office and make sure you fully switch-off and recharge when you’re not working.
It’s also important for your wellbeing to build relationships at work. If your charity has a policy of hotdesking and you don’t have a dedicated desk in the office, then try to sit with different people on different days, so you can get to know more of your colleagues in real life.
It makes sense to catch up with people face-to-face where you can, so book in lunches, coffees and one-to-ones when you’re in the office, but don’t forget to keep in touch on days you’re at home as well. Use team chat to stay connected so you can really feel the benefit of the relationships you’ve built.
Hybrid working is a brilliant opportunity to improve your work/life balance and take the best bits from both working from home and working with others in the office. Follow the tips above and you can truly make sure you have the best of both worlds.
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