Lesley Weidenbener: For the newsroom, hybrid works well

I’ve been reading with interest the stories about companies trying to bring more workers back to the office. And in particular, the AP story about Amazon that you’ll find at IBJ.com caught my eye.

The AP reports that, during a pre-recorded internal Q&A session earlier this month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees it was “past the time to disagree and commit” with the company’s return-to-work policy, which requires corporate employees to be in the office three days a week.

The phrase refers to Amazon’s policy of encouraging workers to question or express skepticism during discussion and debate about a policy, product or service but to commit to whatever the final decision is once it’s made.

“If you can’t disagree and commit, it’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon,” Jassy said.

I understand that sentiment, even though I know many readers will disagree.

As the folks in our newsroom will tell you, I’m a believer in our staff working in the office much of the time—with flexibility. So is IBJ Media’s CEO, Nate Feltman, who brought staffers back to our offices earlier in the pandemic than did many companies.

Most of our employees work on a hybrid schedule that varies by position and even sometimes by employee. Department heads determine most of the details.

In the newsroom, reporters and designers generally work three days in the office each week and two at home. There are a couple of mandatory in-office days and then some flexibility about which third day most people work in the office. We ask editors to work in the office four days per week, with two of those days being mandatory.

There are lots of exceptions. Reporters are often out in the field for meetings, events and interviews—and those are considered in-office days. And of course, plenty of things come up in the lives of our employees that require flexibility on mandatory in-office days.

Kids get sick. Cars don’t start. Furnaces must be fixed. Reporters, designers and editors have the types of jobs that can be done from home, so when they need to do so, employees can stay home to work.

So why not allow them to work at home full time? For the IBJ newsroom, I just don’t think it works. That’s not to say it won’t work at other companies. It might, although it seems that increasing numbers of leaders aren’t so sure.

What I found during the pandemic is that many (but not all) reporters and editors can be productive working remotely. Some of them can even be more productive at home. But I believe that’s individually productive with specific tasks.

They might write more words or make more phone calls on a day when they’re remote than they do in the office when they’re pulled into larger discussions about coverage or simply stop outside the elevator to chat with a co-worker. But those larger discussions matter, too.

In the newsroom, those conversations help reporters know more about what their colleagues are working on and to identify when they might be helpful with a source or a piece of information they’ve picked up elsewhere. Editors who overhear a reporter’s interview can better weigh in on what’s been learned. It’s also easier sometimes for reporters and designers to collaborate on a map, chart or illustration if they’re in the same place.

Of course, there are ways to collaborate remotely. And many workers and offices have figured it out. But for me as a leader—and I think for the newsroom staff—a hybrid schedule seems to work best.•

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Weidenbener is editor of IBJ. Email her at lweidenbener@ibj.com.