Recent years have shown that we no longer have to be chained to our offices. Particularly for those who do everything on a computer, remote working has brought welcome changes, and many people have adapted well to this new environment. Adopting hybrid arrangements, people can get the best of both worlds, and FreeAgent is an excellent showcase of workplace flexibility. Coming into my FreeAgent internship as a student accustomed to the online capabilities recently introduced at universities, I had some idea of what to expect.

University vs FreeAgent

Unfortunately, my well-practised university system of sleeping through sociable working hours and catching up online under the cover of night didn’t prove to be appropriate to FreeAgent. That said, hours are quite flexible, particularly when remote.

Interestingly, though I generally feel more efficient at home for university work, during my internship I’ve found myself operating at my best in the office. The FreeAgent office is a structured, neat environment in which everyone around you is contributing to the same product. There’s a collective goal and it’s easier to stay focused, not to mention it’s harder to get distracted by my phone for several hours!

Conversely, as I’m sure any fellow students can agree, other students can be very distracting. Sequestering yourself in the library is often the best way to avoid interruptions like a surprise encounter with someone you don’t quite remember, or perhaps a robotics project trundling past. The library works great for some, though it can lack that sense of community direction and motivation. Of course the real kicker has to be a crushing absence of tea/coffee-making facilities. If you’re anything like me, convenience and familiarity in a working environment are indispensable.

Why not always be in the office?

You may be wondering at this point: if the office environment is so great, why would I ever work from home? It can’t be denied that FreeAgent provides enviable perks to entice employees into the office. Free drinks, fruit, Friday lunches, and – most importantly – free biscuits. Well, working remotely has its own perks.

First and foremost has to be the commute. Even for a fairly short journey, the difference between travelling and rolling out of bed directly into your office chair can feel large, especially if you happen to be a night owl. The temptation of that little bit of extra sleep might just keep you remote for the day…

Another benefit is convenience. Make drinks from your personal stash of extremely specific coffee. Stockpile whichever snacks you prefer. Eat what you want at lunch instead of preparing it in advance or buying it on the fly. Even small conveniences like being available whenever a delivery is due to arrive can make working from home helpful. The environment is familiar, and can be set up however you like. Clearly both locations come with their individual benefits and there are some tradeoffs. But there are also distinct advantages to having both.

Balance

Quite simply, the hybrid approach provides variety. We’ve all found work monotonous at times and have probably welcomed breaks from the usual workflow. The solution? Split time between two different sets of surroundings and routines.

Simultaneously, you can leverage hybrid working to improve your work-life balance. Feel like you’re spending too much time at the office instead of your own space? Or maybe working remotely is impacting the separation between your job and your personal life? Everyone has different preferences, so adjusting the balance of days spent working in person and at home can allow individuals to tailor work to fit them. This is why it’s brilliant that FreeAgent has flexible arrangements for interns – why not change your plans for the day based on how you feel that morning? The freedom to choose makes me feel a lot more positive about the next day.

Another thing to consider is the type of work you might do best in different places. For example, if I’m fleshing out some complicated implementation details and need to put in some deep, uninterrupted thought – home is the place to be. However, set me to anything requirements or design-related and I need other people to discuss the problem with. In this case, hybrid allows you to have your cake and eat it! With fixed in-office days for your team, it’s easy to find a moment to chat to a designer. This brings us to one of the most important considerations for any job…

Social Aspect

Colleagues can absolutely make or break your time at work. Thankfully, the culture at FreeAgent is really friendly, and the staff make the office a welcoming place to be. But it can become exhausting being around other people all day, regardless of how nice they are. Getting that personal time that comes with working from home can prevent your social battery from behaving like that of my work laptop running RubyMine, whilst time in the office serves to keep up real human interaction and prevent feelings of isolation. Again, there’s a healthy balance here for everyone to find.

Now, it’s important not to understate the power of chatting. If you’ve worked remotely before, you’ll probably agree that online conversation just isn’t quite the same, whether that’s due to cutting out in a video call or slowly (and maybe more formally) messaging. It’s not just the social aspect of off-topic office banter – chat can be a powerful tool for making progress. Got a question about your project? A minor decision you’re deliberating on? Maybe you’ve forgotten the workflow for a database migration for the third time this week? Your teammates are right there to ask.

Fundamentally, ‘watercooler’ conversations just can’t be replicated online. After all, the concept is of a chance meeting and spontaneous chat, but remote workers are all confined to their own spaces. Setting up scheduled meetings for this specific purpose misses the point: in-person interaction does so much more to connect you to your team. On top of this, the off-the-cuff nature of a watercooler meeting makes it great for creativity. Just share what’s on your mind and get another opinion, maybe even create a plan. Often the solution to a problem will be found away from your desk during a coordinated tactical raid on the biscuit cupboard with a team member.

Hybrid FTW

If you hadn’t guessed by now, I’m a big fan of the hybrid system. The whole point is flexibility, so make it what you want. Find your own balance, maintain variety, and get to know your colleagues without socially burning out. Solve problems collaboratively to consider ideas you might not have come up with. Then take a deep dive into the specifics, focused in your own space. What to expect from hybrid working? It’s up to you!