Making the New Hybrid Workforce Work

A year of Covid has taught us that we like working from home

But we also like collaborating with our colleagues. This is the future of the workplace. It’s a hybrid solution.

What Guideway learned about hybrid workplaces

At Guideway, we initiated a hybrid model within the first week of the Covid lockdown. We knew that we had to provide a safe way for our clients to create Living Trusts, Divorce and Probate and other legal documents. Like so many other businesses, we masked up, wiped down and began Zooming. Some of our team worked from their home offices. We found that the intake process was very efficient via Zoom, and we created socially distanced office spaces for our clients to sign and notarize their Trusts and other legal documents. We learned from each other and our clients and continued to evolve.

The need to establish relationships is stronger than we might think

In June, when California became mask-free, we promoted both our virtual and in-person services. We fully expected that our clients would prefer Zoom meetings for their convenience and efficiency. Surprisingly, we’re finding that most of our clients are scheduling in-person appointments.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised at all. When creating important life-affecting legal documents, people want a one-one relationship. Guideway’s own experience is a testament to the importance of collaboration and need for creating connections.

Getting hybrid right

Creating a hybrid work model requires careful strategizing. Who gets to work in the office and who stays home? Who decides? If it works well, it can create a collaborative, creative environment where teams can thrive.

Gensler Principal Todd Heiser and Steelcase CEO Jim Keane, both workspace experts, published an article in Harvard Business Review. They found that: 

• 52% of U.S. workers would prefer a mix of working from home and the office; it has a positive impact on their ability to be creative, solve problems and build relationships.
• 72% of corporate leaders plan to offer hybrid models.
• Only 13% say they expect to decrease their real estate footprint in the next year.

The hybrid workforce transcends people to include technology and space

Designing for employee engagement means thinking like a movie director – lights, camera, audio and content.

• One company is turning a café into a high-energy social and collaboration space that they hope will support new hybrid work patterns.
• Rethinking the conference room. Instead of a long table with a monitor at the end, give all participants their own screens, placing monitors on rolling carts that can easily be moved around.
• Deploy angled or mobile tables, additional lighting, extra speakers, in-room microphones and mobile markerboards and displays.

Meetings will happen more often in open spaces with movable boundaries 

• Individual focus work will happen in enclosed spaces like pods or small enclaves.
• Open collaboration spaces are more flexible because they don’t require fixed design features
• Quick stand-up meetings which require visible, persistent content can be hosted in open spaces, defined by flexible furniture, easy-to-access technology.
• Software systems now let us split people and content onto separate displays.

Companies are also rethinking their real estate

There’s a demand for less space and shorter lease terms. A fluid space that can meet changing needs becomes the ideal. One company designed an open area that supports hybrid meetings in the morning, becomes the café at lunch, hosts a town hall in the afternoon, and can be rented for an evening event.

Collaboration and solitude need to coexist

Gensler’s Research Institute conducted a survey during the pandemic that shows full-time work-from-home employees saw a drop of 37% in average collaboration time. But collaboration is not just about group work, it requires solitude too. Employees report higher levels of productivity when they can work without interruption.

About Guideway

At Guideway, we are Legal Document Assistants who assist our clients in the preparation of legal documents for uncontested legal matters–those in which parties are in agreement about the division of property. Our fees are significantly lower than those of attorneys. We like to think we’re making the justice system accessible to everyone. Why work with Guideway? One flat fee. There are never annoying add-on charges for copying, phone calls and other miscellany. Where appropriate, we also notarize documents and file them with the County Recorders’ Office.

We’re a single point of contact. You’ll work with a dedicated specialist who is available for questions and support throughout the process. We’ve been in business since 2003 and have expanded to three Bay Area offices–Dublin, Oakland and Walnut Creek. More than 60% of our business comes from referrals and repeat business.

We’re proud of our comprehensive Living Trust package that includes a Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. We provide a hard copy as well as a soft copy of your documents. More questions? Contact us today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

The New American Renaissance: Covid Becomes the Driver for Growth

While Covid has disrupted our lives in ways that few emergencies have before, it has also cleared the way for an economic boom and social revival. The New York Times’ David Brooks is calling it the “American Renaissance”.

Brooks describes how West Germany and Japan endured widespread devastation during World War II, yet in the years after the war both countries experienced miraculous economic growth. Britain emerged from the war with its institutions more intact, yet entered a period of slow economic growth and lagged behind other European democracies.

Disruption becomes the engine for growth

Germany and Japan enjoyed explosive growth because their old arrangements had been disrupted. The devastation itself, and the forces of American occupation and reconstruction, dislodged the interest groups that had held back innovation. The old patterns that stifled experimentation were swept away. The disruption opened space for something new.

We’ve endured grievous loss and anxiety during this pandemic

Many have also used this time as a preparation period, allowing them to burst out of the gate when things opened up. The result?

• 4 million new businesses were started in 2020, by far a modern record.
• A report from Udemy, an online course provider, says that 38 percent of workers took some additional training during 2020, up from only 14 percent in 2019.

After decades of rampant spending, Americans socked away trillions of dollars in 2020, reducing their debt burdens to lows not seen since 1980, putting themselves in a position to spend lavishly as things open up.

The best job market in 25 years, the economy has already taken off

• Global economic growth is expected to be north of 6 percent this year, and strong growth is expected to last at least through 2022.
• In late April, Tom Gimbel, who runs the recruiting and staffing firm LaSalle Network, told The Times: “It’s the best job market I’ve seen in 25 years. We have 50 percent more openings now than we did pre-Covid.”
• Investors are pouring money into new ventures. During the first quarter of this year, startups raised $69 billion, 41 percent more than the previous record, set in 2018.

Socioeconomic rebalancing takes three forms

1. Power has begun shifting from employers to workers. In March, U.S. manufacturing, for example, expanded at the fastest pace in nearly four decades. Between April 2020 and March 2021, the number of unemployed people per opening plummeted to 1.2 from 5. Workers are in the driver’s seat. Employers are raising wages and benefits to try to lure workers back.
2. A rebalancing between cities and suburbs. Covid-19 accelerated trends that had been underway for a few years, with people moving out of big cities like New York and San Francisco to suburbs, and to rural places like Idaho and New York’s Hudson Valley.
3. Finding balance between work and domestic life. Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom expects that even when the pandemic is over, the number of working days spent at home will increase to 20 percent from 5 percent in the prepandemic era.

Millions of Americans who could work remotely found that they liked being home, dining every night with their kids and not having to commute. We are apparently becoming a less work-obsessed society. We’re looking for ways to make a living and stay connected with our families and our communities. To be more present. Nobody knows where this national journey of discovery will take us, but the voyage has begun.

The need to create a Living Trust has had more immediacy

Despite all the good news on the economy, we’re still fighting Covid. The new Delta variant is highly contagious and it’s a serious threat for those who remain unvaccinated. Sadly, it is now affecting those who are vaccinated. More of our clients are scheduling appointments to create or update their Living Trusts. A Trust is the legal document that outlines the way in which your assets will pass on to your loved ones when you die. Our Trust package includes a Power of Attorney and an Advance Healthcare Directive. We guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.

Vaccine Passport: The Reality and the Roadblocks

With Covid’s highly contagious Delta variant raging across the country, the debate over a vaccine passport has amped up. A digital health certificate/vaccine passport required to prove immunization status is controversial, but it’s gaining momentum. Danny Meyer, owner of a number of well-known restaurants in New York City and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, including Shake Shack, is requiring employees, drinkers and diners to show vaccination status before they can enter his restaurants. The biggest challenge to normalizing a vaccine passport? It’s data privacy. 

Big brands are stepping up 

Disney and Walmart, Google and Facebook, Morgan Stanley and Saks, The Washington Post, Lyft and Uber. These influential companies span a few industries, which means that other businesses in their sectors will follow. The reality is that after a year of masking up and locking down, consumers want to get back to a normal life. A growing number of businesses — from cruise lines to sports venues — say they will require proof of vaccinations for entry or services. 

What we can learn from other countries: In Paris it’s pay for play

If you want to go to the Eiffel Tower, you have to show your vaccination status, your le pass sanitaire, or health pass. Visitors who turned up at the Eiffel Tower without proof of vaccination were offered on-the-spot Covid tests. Starting in August, the health-pass requirement will be extended to adults at restaurants, cafés, shopping centers, “as well as for travel by plane, train and bus for long-distance journeys,” according to the app’s website.

Digital health pass initiatives will be driven by the private sector

The Biden administration has said there will be no federal vaccination system or mandate. Individual states hold primary public health powers in the United States and have the authority to require vaccines. According to Jen Psaki, White House press secretary,“ We expect a vaccine passport will be driven by the private sector. There will be no centralized, universal federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential.”

 

Challenge for apps: Compatibility among systems and health records

These apps will provide a verified electronic record of immunizations and negative coronavirus test results to streamline the process. The drive has raised privacy and equity concerns and some states like Florida and Texas have banned businesses from requiring vaccination certificates. These certificates can be forged and scammers are already selling false and stolen vaccine cards. Governments, technology companies, airlines and other businesses are testing different versions of the digital health passes and are trying to come up with common standards so that there is compatibility among systems and health records.

 

New York became the first state to launch a digital health certificate

New York’s Excelsior Pass verifies people’s negative coronavirus test result and if they are fully vaccinated. There have been 1M+ downloads—New Yorkers use it to go to Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden and other public venues. Most businesses require showing state I.D. along with the Excelsior Pass to prevent potential fraud. Some airlines have started a digital health pass, the Common Pass, including Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic and Jet Blue Common Pass, to verify passenger Covid-19 test results before they board flights.

 

Opposition the vaccination mandate centers around data privacy

“There are a whole lot of valid concerns about how privacy and technology would work with these systems, especially as Silicon Valley does not have a great history delivering technologies that are privacy enhancing,” said Brian Behlendorf, executive director of Linux Foundation Public Health, an open-source, technology-focused organization. Others worry that an exclusively digital system would leave some communities behind, especially those who do not have access to smartphones or the internet.

“Any solutions in this area should be simple, free, open source, accessible to people both digitally and on paper, and designed from the start to protect people’s privacy,” Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said in a statement. The World Health Organization does not support requiring vaccination passports for travel yet. It is working with agencies like UNICEF and the European Commission to establish the standards and specifications o f a globally recognized, digital vaccination certificate.

Creating a Living Trust has become more immediate 

The new Delta variant is highly contagious and it’s a serious threat for those who remain unvaccinated. Sadly, it is now affecting those who are vaccinated. More of our clients are scheduling appointments to create or update their Living Trusts. A Trust is the legal document that outlines the way in which your assets will pass on to your loved ones when you die. Our Trust package includes a Power of Attorney and an Advance Healthcare Directive. We guide you through it and we prepare the legal documents. Schedule an appointment today.

Guideway services the entire Bay Area

Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Pinole, Alameda, San Leandro, Castro Valley Newark, San Lorenzo, Concord, Alamo, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Tracy and Fremont. Our clients also live in the Napa Valley, Benicia, Vallejo, Martinez, Fairfield.