Dialogue with the staff
To generate support and arrive at agreements, the supervisors decided to discuss the situation within their departments. They used the MIRO program to enable staff to exchange ideas online about topics such as what work needs to be done on campus and what can be done from home, the minimum amount of time they wanted to spend on campus, their wishes, preferences and ways to stay in contact. An important element of this was that everyone should feel free to express their views and exchange their ideas openly. This resulted in an approach that met with everyone’s approval.
Who works from home or on campus, and when
The Student Desk is permanently manned on the basis of a staff rotation schedule. Student Administration takes an alternative approach in which staff work mainly from home. The busiest months for the Student Administration department are April to September. In that period, registrations have to be completed, tuition fee payments processed and degree certificates printed. The plan had been to work on campus at least three days a week in July and August, but the coronavirus measures in force at that time limited this to two days a week.
At present, everyone indicates two weeks in advance when they will be on campus and when they will work from home by filling in a timetable/list in Excel or on Confluence. So everyone knows when they will be able to meet their colleagues on campus.*
Maintaining contact
Every workday, both the Student Desk and Student Administration have a virtual morning meeting. Once every two weeks the teams have a joint hybrid morning meeting/discussion, in other words one that involves staff on campus and at home. The idea is that everyone opens the camera on their laptop so that everyone can see everyone else.
The supervisors are present at VU Amsterdam every Thursday, which means that every week there is at least one opportunity for staff members to speak to their supervisor in person. Additionally, the supervisors hold one-on-one meetings which enable them to keep an eye on how each member of the team is doing.
Finding their feet
In September, the departments evaluated whether their approach had been effective. It turned out that the teams have found their feet in the new situation. They are now using the benefits of hybrid working to best advantage. Staff are able to schedule their work more flexibly and have a better work-life balance.
* This interview describes the situation up to 10 November 2021, just before the government issued more stringent advice on working from home.
If you would like to find out how other colleagues at VU Amsterdam are utilising the benefits of hybrid working, you can read the interviews on the page ‘Best practices hybrid working’.