Hybrid work is here to stay: New resources to support People, Technology and Workspace

October 04, 2023

To: All leaders and eligible employee groups

As we've entered a new academic year and on-campus activities have ramped up again, it’s a good time to check in on your team’s Future of Work approach.

At TMU, we’re working to transform our service delivery and employee experience

We’ve taken a not-one-size-fits-all approach, testing new ways of working across departments to support specific operational needs. The university established a Flexible Work Policy recognizing the benefits of flexibility to guide leaders’ decision-making. A community of practice has been created to share experiences, foster community and support one another in working out the details. Employees and leaders across campus have been honing their hybrid work skills through our workshops, and many more learning opportunities are available this term.

Work is happening behind the scenes on how we amend our processes, systems, and facilities

Our hoteling software has been implemented in a number of early adopter departments as we roll it out across campus. Soon we’ll share more about our space optimization strategy and ways we can work together to create more vibrancy on campus in underutilized spaces. We’re also working on a multi-year roadmap of where to go from here across the three streams of the program: People, Technology and Workspace. This change is complex and will take time, but hybrid work is here to stay.

Reimagine. Redefine. Rework.

To support you on your journey, we’re excited to introduce a new suite of online resources available to you at any time.

Future of Work website

New resources available on each of the streams

People

Missed any of our popular workshops? Our new People section of the website offers summaries of workshops offered such as Hybrid Team Productivity, Mastering Virtual Meetings, Equitable Mental Health in the Workplace and more.

Technology

IT solutions have the potential to support employee collaboration across physical and digital spaces, allowing all to thrive in our hybrid work environment. Our new Technology section of the website offers guidance on how to set up IT for individual workstations (“Me Spaces”) and shared, common spaces (“We Spaces”).

Workspace

Not sure how to use your space now that hybrid work is the norm? Check out the Introduction to Workspace Planning guide in our new Workspace section of the website. You’ll also find information on the new workspace booking system and how to prepare your space for transition.

Learning opportunities

How to Hybrid Workshops

Back by popular demand, these workshops help build the skills needed for cultural transformation in a hybrid workplace.

How to Hybrid Workshops

Knowledge Cafés

Join us for a series of informal Knowledge Cafés for leaders. This peer learning environment will provide a space to connect, discuss and share experiences, lessons learned, challenges and opportunities as they adopt and implement a hybrid work model. Register to get the links and drop in and out as you’re available.

Learn More About Knowledge Cafés

Message from the Executive Program Director

Our transition to a truly hybrid workplace will take time, practice and adjustments. As you pilot new approaches with your teams, be open to feedback and keep in mind the (google slide) guiding principles (external link) and (google slide) key decisions (external link) of the program. A few worth highlighting include that leaders are role models, that operational needs determine flexibility levels, and that we need to ensure transparency of decision-making rationale behind levels of flexibility provided. Working in a hybrid environment has unique challenges but also unique opportunities to prioritize sustainability, wellbeing and employee engagement.

Fostering community is essential to our success in this huge cultural transformation. I strongly encourage leaders to join our virtual Knowledge Cafés to talk through your experience with your colleagues across campus. Has your team had success with rolling out hybrid work? We'd love to spotlight you in a future communication. Please reach out to me so we can share your story with the TMU community.

Laurie Stewart
Executive Program Director, Future of Work

Contact us

Your primary point of contact for support is your human resources partner. Your HRP will bring in the Future of Work project team for further guidance and support as required. The Future of Work project team is available to support and provide advice at any stage of your planning through change management, best practice research and learnings from other departments and organizations.