Let's be honest: how often have you travelled to the office only to find that half of your team is working from home? Spontaneous dialogue is cancelled, no team lunch, instead one video call follows the next. Team spirit turns into frustration and you end up asking yourself: What was all the effort for?
This is precisely the dilemma of many hybrid models. A lot of freedom sounds attractive, but often paralyses collaboration. With clear rules and fixed office days, hybrid work can be organised in a way that boosts your productivity and creates a strong sense of togetherness.
Find out how here.
Why too much freedom in the hybrid model becomes a problem
Current studies show: Around 40 per cent of hybrid employees don't know when or why they should come into the office.
And only around a quarter of teams have made any clear agreements at all.
This lack of clarity is like sand in the gears: meetings drag on endlessly because one part of the team is in the office and the other is online. Spontaneous encounters that would otherwise provide ideas and motivation fail to materialise and resentment arises: Why are my colleagues sitting comfortably in their home offices and I'm in the office?
The lack of boundaries in terms of time is also a problem. According to a Microsoft report from early 2025, meetings after 8 p.m. have increased by 16 per cent and employees send an average of over 50 messages outside of regular working hours. Around 20 per cent even check their emails at the weekend.
What appears to be flexibility ends in permanent availability and increasing stress.
This is particularly critical for new colleagues: Without a clear framework, they miss out on important contacts and find it harder to establish themselves in the team. According to the consulting firm Gallup, such situations not only increase frustration, but also the risk of employees resigning or leaving the company.
Are you also thinking about "quiet quitting"? In this article from us you'll learn what's behind this phenomenon.
In short: too much freedom sounds attractive, but in practice it often leads to confusion, duplication of work, overload and declining motivation.
Structures create orientation and promote productivity
Hybrid work only works if there are clear rules. Teams that agree on fixed office days experience fewer misunderstandings, can plan meetings better and have more room for spontaneous dialogue.
The Gallup report confirms this: Employees who know which days their team meets report higher productivity, better collaboration and greater commitment.
Structure does not mean control here, but orientation. Clear rules reduce uncertainty and create space for what counts in everyday hybrid work: productive work, a lively culture and a strong sense of togetherness.
And flexibility? This is maintained even with fixed agreements. For example, if your team agrees on two shared office days, everyone knows exactly when collaboration will take place on site. On the other days, you can decide for yourself whether you want to concentrate on working from home or go to the office. Thanks to fixed agreements and routines on the office days, you have more freedom on the remote days.
Tips for a successful hybrid 2.0 system
Your hybrid 2.0 model could look like this:
- Fixed office days (e.g. Mon and Tue or Tue-Thu) - clear presence days help with planning and spontaneous collaboration.
- Transparent calendars (e.g. Slack status, shared calendars) - everyone knows who is on site and when.
- Flexible working days without office constraints - ideal for in-depth focussing or creative tasks.
- Develop rules through dialogue instead of imposing them top-down - if the team is involved in the planning, the framework feels fair.
Incentives instead of coercion: this is how teams enjoy coming to the office
As important as clear rules are, it remains crucial that employees experience the office not as a compulsory event, but as added value. Creating incentives ensures sustainable motivation instead of resistance.
This can be quite pragmatic: breakfast together, a weekly team lunch, light-flooded rooms that make the working day more pleasant.
The design of the working environment should also not be underestimated. Nobody likes coming to an office with harsh lighting, outdated equipment or a climate that is stuffy in summer and freezing cold in winter. A modern, well-equipped office, on the other hand, conveys appreciation, increases the quality of stay and makes attendance times more attractive.
In short, if you want your team to come together regularly, you shouldn't rely on pressure, but on an environment and culture in which people enjoy coming to the office voluntarily.
3 reasons why "top-down" fails in a hybrid setting
- Lack of appreciation: When rules are imposed exclusively from above, employees feel less taken seriously.
- Commitment decreases: Without a say, frustration increases, motivation decreases and the team does not pull together.
- Conflicts increase: A lack of involvement leads more often to endless meetings, misunderstandings and arguments about working hours.
Involving employees creates fairness, commitment and greater acceptance of common rules. This creates a structure that is not restrictive, but provides orientation, team spirit and efficiency.
Team culture needs more than video calls
As flexible as digital tools are: Team culture is not created in video calls. Spontaneous conversations in the office, whether in the coffee kitchen, over lunch or in the corridor, make a decisive contribution to trust, motivation and innovation. Those who regularly meet colleagues in person build bonds more quickly and develop a stronger sense of togetherness.
Such chance encounters can hardly be replicated digitally. What's more, presence makes it easier for new team members to connect and understand the "unwritten knowledge" of an organisation that is not in any manual.
Regular meetings are also important for working together as equals. Trust grows faster, conflicts can be resolved more easily and the time spent together creates a foundation on which hybrid collaboration can function stably in the long term.
Do you want to bring your team together? For face-to-face meetings, workshops or entire conferences, Office Club offers you suitable conference and event rooms. They can be booked flexibly, are equipped with modern facilities and create a professional setting in which ideas, dialogue and team culture can flourish.
3 reasons why face-to-face meetings strengthen the working atmosphere
- Trust grows faster: Spending time together in the office facilitates open communication.
- Creativity arises spontaneously: many ideas don't come from meetings, but from brief exchanges in between.
- New colleagues connect more quickly: presence makes integration and team spirit easier.
Conclusion: clear rules make hybrid work better
Unclear home office rules paralyse teams. Too much freedom sounds attractive at first glance, but in practice it leads to uncertainty, misunderstandings and a drop in motivation. Hybrid 2.0 shows a different way: clear office days, transparent communication and flexible working options. This interplay creates orientation and at the same time strengthens personal responsibility. This is the basis for productive collaboration, a lively team culture and greater satisfaction.
Hybrid work does not work through maximum freedom or rigid control, but through a clever balance of structure and flexibility. If you create clear rules together, you give the team security without restricting individual freedom.
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