Navigating the Hybrid Work Dilemma

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Communication, Marketing, Business, Business/management, Management, Business/marketing, Business/entrepreneurship, Innovation, Hbr, Strategy, Economics, Finance, Teams, Harvard

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 1 April 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Many organizational leaders believe remote work is here to stay. Others are requiring employees return to the workplace. But Prithriwaj “Raj” Choudhury, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, says it’s not a simple managerial choice between two options. He explains three main variations of hybrid work: quarterly, monthly, and weekly. And he shares three key challenges to remote work: isolation, communication, and socialization. And he breaks down the specific management practices necessary to make those hybrid arrangements succeed most effectively, adding that AI is making some of those practices easier and cheaper than ever. Choudhury’s new book is The World Is Your Office: How Work from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity, and Innovation.

Transcript

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0:37.3	Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Kurt Nicky.
0:42.3	Remote work, especially hybrid work, exploded far and wide during the COVID-19 pandemic.
0:56.5	In the past five years, companies have made substantive changes in their IT, workplaces, and policies,
1:03.1	and it's had a huge impact on the lives of many workers.
1:07.1	Today, there's a clear shift back in the other direction.
1:14.9	More CEOs are telling workers to come back to work on site.
1:21.3	Across industries, financial services, government, even technology companies like Apple and Amazon,
1:26.1	that you'd think would be the most prepared to support effective remote work.
1:29.8	Their argument? That collaboration, communication,
1:37.0	innovation, and productivity suffer if you're not present in the workplace. Today's guest says leaders face a much more complicated dilemma than the binary choice between remote work or
1:42.8	return to the office. His research shows that for some
1:46.0	companies, it is optimal to work in person, but remote work gives a clear competitive edge for many
1:52.5	others. And there are strategic choices to be made between different types of hybrid work,
1:58.4	quarterly, monthly, and weekly. And he'll break down the specific
2:02.4	management practice is necessary to make those arrangements effective. We're joined today by
	...

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