Faye Lockier, the MD at Antidote Communications: "Hybrid work encourages people to work in ways that suit them best. At Antidote, we've embraced this approach, recognising its potential to boost productivity and increase employee satisfaction through better work-life balance. While we value face-to-face interactions for training, creative sessions, and junior staff development, we also appreciate the benefits of remote work for focused tasks and maintaining balance. Communication is key to our hybrid work approach. We ensure consistent contact through in person stand ups, asynchronous Slack check-ins and video meetings and we use Miro to help with hybrid brainstorms and planning."

Laura Lear, deputy managing director at PR firm AMBITIOUS: “This always causes debate, but I think most PR agencies feel the same. People need to be together for skills and creativity development, but hybrid working offers valuable flexibility. However, having the team together in person is crucial. Being face-to-face fosters spontaneous idea sharing and problem solving. Additionally, it supports mental health—especially for younger team members who often benefit from the mentorship and support of more experienced colleagues. We've also seen a shift in more clients wanting face-to-face meetings, so it's important to client relationships to be present in person. While remote tools can facilitate collaboration, nothing quite matches the synergy of in-person interactions. Hybrid models do work, but they should include regular time together in person to maintain a strong, cohesive, and creative team culture.”

Dave Murphy, head of media at public sector body ICO: “We worked remotely during the pandemic and eventually shifted to hybrid when the office reopened. We’ve adapted our routine to ensure plenty of opportunities for discussion, such as having a news huddle to discuss the news and response to trending stories. When we are online, we rely on Teams a lot and try to encourage a culture of picking up the phone. In the office we make the most of our time by scheduling meetings and catch ups that benefit from being face-to-face. It isn’t perfect. We’ve had to think differently about some of our meetings, especially when some people are in the office and some aren’t, but we put an onus on making sure everyone is able to contribute. And I think it can be harder when new people join the team, in terms of them getting to know everyone and how we work.”

Lottie West, global head of PR at PR agency Fox Agency: “As long as you have a foundation of trust and good communication, there’s no reason hybrid working shouldn’t work. Arguably the bigger challenge of hybrid work is how we relate to clients. If we don’t make the effort to connect in person, invest in the relationship, and get to know our clients outside the confines of a 30-minute status call, there is a risk that the relationship could become transactional, and opportunities to learn more about the client and their challenges can get lost. The issue is greater still in new business pitches where the window to build personal connections is even smaller. Rather than focusing on mandatory in-office days, which can be a blunt instrument, businesses should be looking at how we use time in person – whether with colleagues or with clients – more meaningfully to build and strengthen relationships and add value.”

Jade Emmons, communications director at hands-on learning provider Skillable: "When collaborating remotely, everything needs to be communicated clearly, including specific call-outs in meetings to cover wins, challenges, upcoming work, and journalist intel. Sharing agendas and relevant materials beforehand also help with collaboration during the meeting. Having a clear structure for every meeting and specific meetings to cover things that may happen organically in an office actually focuses the team more. We begin meetings with the understanding of exactly what we're bringing to the meeting. There's nobody who doesn't feel like they have nothing to contribute because they have been added to the meeting for a clear reason and (hopefully) are prepared beforehand."

Rosie Bannister, MD at PR agency Axicom: “To be successful, remote working requires thought and everyone involved needs to give virtual meetings the same level of planning, structure and attention they would for a face-to-face meeting. It’s generally when they haven’t planned that problems arise. On the flip side, there are certain moments that are always going to have better results face to face – we encourage regular in-person client and team meetings. Sometimes it’s the chat in the lift going to a meeting room that can give the insight that might change the trajectory of a relationship – it’s those moments you can sometimes miss virtually.”