Between employees’ desire for flexibility and employers’ need for in-person collaboration, hybrid work has proven to be a popular compromise that offers the best of both worlds. But there isn’t a single one-size-fits-all model for implementing a hybrid workplace. Even among the world’s largest enterprises, you’ll find different hybrid work schedules based on business goals, company culture, shared office resources, and leadership preferences.
At Tango, we’ve helped thousands of teams efficiently manage their workspaces, and we’ve found that there are three main approaches to hybrid work schedules, each with their own unique challenges and benefits. So when we recently partnered with Verdantix to research occupancy tracking trends, we also dug into these three types of hybrid work models to learn how enterprises were using them.
In this article, we’ll explain the differences between each hybrid work model, cover relevant insights gained from our research, explore the pros and cons of each arrangement, and offer guidance for determining the best structure for your workplace.
The three approaches to hybrid work schedules
While the exact names may vary somewhat, hybrid work schedules can typically be divided into three unique strategies, based on the level of flexibility offered:
- Fully flexible hybrid work: Employees choose when and where to work.
- Fixed-hybrid schedule: Employees follow set in-office and remote workdays.
- Team-dependent hybrid work: Work arrangements vary by team or department.
Let’s take a closer look at each one.
Fully flexible hybrid work schedule
All three types of hybrid work schedules involve some days working remotely and some days working onsite. But the fully flexible approach to hybrid work leaves the decision of which days to work in either location up to each individual employee. Businesses may still set specific minimum requirements for how many days must be spent on-site within a given time period, but workers may choose to distribute those days however they prefer.
According to our research, this is the least popular approach for enterprises to take, with only 24% of respondents indicating that their business offers a fully flexible hybrid work schedule. Factoring by region, we found this approach to be slightly more popular in Europe, where organizations selected it at a rate of 29% versus only 18% in North America.
By industry, 40% of “Finance” firms used a fully flexible approach—though the dominant model was still a fixed hybrid schedule (60%). None of our respondents from the “Retail & Restaurant” industry opted for a fully flexible approach.
Pros of fully flexible hybrid work schedules:
- Employees can optimize their schedules for productivity and work-life balance.
- High levels of flexibility can increase job satisfaction and improve retention rates.
- With fewer and less-structured commutes, companies may be able to hire from a broader geographic range, opening up a wider talent pool.
- Organizations are able to better accommodate diverse needs among their workforce, including parents, caregivers, and employees with disabilities.
Cons of fully flexible hybrid work schedules:
- Unpredictable in-office presence can make teamwork and collaboration more difficult.
- Less in-person interaction may weaken team engagement and erode company culture.
- Employees may struggle to find available workstations or meeting rooms.
- Organizations may run into issues with underutilized or overbooked office spaces.
Many of the unique challenges presented by fully flexible hybrid work can be mitigated with the use of space management and reservation software like Tango Space and Tango Reserve.
Tango Space gives organizations complete transparency into and control over their spaces, allowing them to identify under- and over-utilized spaces, forecast demand for space, manage moves, adds, and changes (MAC), conduct stack planning, analyze occupancy data, and plan scenarios to optimize the space. And Tango Reserve gives employees the ability to book workstations and shared office resources in advance, as well as to see when coworkers they need to collaborate with will also be on-site.
Fixed-hybrid schedule
With the fixed-hybrid schedule, employees are told exactly which days they’re expected to be in the office and which days they may work remotely. At the employer’s discretion, employees might have some say in creating the schedule, and there may or may not be some leeway for deviations from the schedule. But at the very least, a fixed schedule exists to serve as the baseline expectation for on-site work.
Our research found that the fixed-hybrid schedule was the second most popular variety of hybrid work model, selected by respondents 36% of the time. This number stayed the same regardless of region.
Respondents from the industries of “Manufacturing & Industrial” and “Finance” showed the strongest preference for a fixed-hybrid schedule, selecting it at rates of 67% and 60% respectively. No respondents from the “Media & Telecommunications” industry selected this approach.
Pros of a fixed-hybrid schedule:
- Teams know when everyone will be available for in-person meetings and collaboration.
- Supervisors have clear expectations for employee availability.
- Companies can plan for specific occupancy levels on given days.
- Improved face-to-face interaction may help keep teams motivated and aligned.
Cons of a fixed-hybrid schedule:
- Employees have less individual flexibility, and they may feel constrained by company-imposed schedules.
- Set schedules may not align with when employees actually need to collaborate.
- A one-size-fits-all approach may not accommodate different roles and teams equally well.
- Employees lack the ability to simply adjust their schedules as needed based on the demands of the projects they’re working on.
The biggest challenges with a fixed-hybrid approach come from ensuring that space allocation matches employee needs. While employees follow a set schedule, employers still have the flexibility to adjust office space and scheduling policies to optimize productivity and satisfaction. That’s where Tango Reserve comes in—helping organizations track occupancy, analyze space utilization trends, and make data-driven decisions to ensure supply meets demand, whether that means adjusting the schedule, reallocating workspaces, or refining policies.
Team-dependent hybrid work schedule
The team-dependent approach to hybrid work, also referred to as a cohort schedule, gives individual managers, supervisors, and team leaders the ability to either set schedules themselves or leave it up to their team members as they see fit. This allows different departments to take a different approach based on what works best in their unique circumstances, and it alleviates some of the difficulties with the other two approaches.
This was the most popular approach selected by survey respondents, with 40% of them opting for team-dependent hybrid work. Organizations in North America selected the team-dependent approach at an even higher rate of 45%, compared to 36% in Europe.
Respondents from the industries of “Media & Telecommunications,” “Retail & Restaurants,” and “Pharma & Life Sciences” showed the strongest preference for the team-dependent approach, selecting it at rates of 80%, 75%, and 60% respectively. However, respondents from the industries of “Manufacturing & Industrial” or “Finance” never selected this approach.
Pros of team-dependent hybrid work:
- This approach recognizes that some roles require more in-office time while others don’t.
- It provides a balance between productivity and engagement, ensuring that teams work effectively while maintaining some flexibility.
- Teams can tailor hybrid work policies to their specific collaboration needs.
- Team-specific policies encourage better cohesion within each department.
Cons of team-dependent hybrid work:
- Some employees may perceive unfairness if some teams have more flexibility than others.
- Teams with different schedules may struggle to align meeting times for cross-team collaboration.
- Department heads have to establish and enforce separate hybrid policies.
- The potential exists for teams to become siloed if the different schedules don’t align well.
The added flexibility of the team-dependent approach is complicated by the necessity of coordinating numerous differing schedules at once. Reservation software like Tango Reserve becomes absolutely essential for keeping track of it all.
How to choose the right approach to hybrid work
The best hybrid model for your organization will vary based on factors like industry requirements, team collaboration needs, and employee expectations.
If in-person interaction is prioritized, then a fixed-hybrid schedule may be a good option, as it ensures predictable office presence. But if you’d rather focus on enabling agility and maximizing employee satisfaction, then a fully flexible model will allow employees to optimize their work schedules.
For larger companies or those with diverse teams, a team-dependent schedule provides a balanced middle ground. It allows departments to tailor hybrid policies based on their specific workflows. However, this model can create inconsistencies between teams, so clear communication and scheduling systems are key to avoiding friction.
Ultimately, the choice will come down to the specific needs of your business. Consider the pros and cons of each hybrid work schedule to determine which trade-offs best align with your business needs.