Hybrid Work Model Benefits

🚨CISA Releases Guidance on Modern Approaches to Network Security🚨 The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), America's Cyber Defense Agency, and several partners have just released a comprehensive guide on modern approaches to network access security. This report emphasizes the limitations and vulnerabilities of traditional VPN solutions and advocates for adopting more robust and fine-grained security models like Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and Secure Service Edge (SSE). Key Takeaways: 🔹 VPN Challenges: VPNs are prone to limitations while providing encrypted tunnels for remote access. These issues can expose organizations to significant risks and breaches. 🔹 Value of SASE & SSE: SASE and SSE focus on secure access to web services and applications, combining capabilities like Zero Trust Network Access, secure web gateways, and cloud access security brokers, ensuring all access is continuously verified. Together, they streamline security policies and offer seamless, secure access to data across hybrid environments. 🌐🔒 🔹 Implement Network Segmentation: Network segmentation is crucial for limiting the spread of attacks within an organization. Organizations can contain potential breaches and minimize the impact on critical systems by dividing the network into smaller, isolated segments. 🔀 🔹 Validate Vulnerability Scans on All Public-Facing Enterprise Assets: Regular vulnerability scans on public-facing assets are essential to identify and remediate potential security gaps. Ensuring that these scans are thorough and validated helps maintain a robust security posture and protects against external threats. 🛡️ Organizations transitioning from traditional VPNs to modern network access solutions can significantly benefit from the strategies and best practices outlined in this guide. Implementing these modern approaches strengthens security and aligns with Zero Trust principles, ensuring a more secure and resilient infrastructure. (Full disclosure: I participated in initial discussions about this guidance before leaving CISA earlier this year. Having been in the networking space for almost 30 years, this type of guidance is critical to help shape discussions on how network security is evolving and supports a Zero Trust mindset in new ways). #ZeroTrust #Technology #CloudComputing #SoftwareEngineering

What if forcing employees back to the office is Amazon's biggest mistake? I love this practical case study of how Grammarly is setting a new standard with its hybrid approach: 👉 Data-Driven Decisions: They asked their employees what they wanted. 90% said they don’t need to be in the office daily, so Grammarly ditched the one-size-fits-all model for something that actually works. 👉 Structured Flexibility: Forget rigid schedules. Grammarly’s “planned on-sites” bring teams together twice a year, letting managers decide when in-person time really matters. 👉 Spaces That Actually Work: Bye-bye cubicles. Grammarly’s offices now look more like creative hubs than traditional workplaces, with collaboration zones and quiet areas designed for what teams actually need. 👉 In-House Hybrid Tools: Alongside platforms like Tactic, Grammarly created custom tools to make hybrid work seamless, proving they’re all in on making the most of every moment together. 👉 Connection Over Compliance: From cultural celebrations to global parties, Grammarly knows that a connected culture is built, not forced. Grammarly’s lesson? Stop pretending hybrid work is easy—but start treating it like it’s worth it. Why would a company not do this?

The lesson I take from so many dispersed teams I’ve worked with over the years is that great collaboration is not about shrinking the distance. It is about deepening the connection. Time zones, language barriers, and cultural nuances make working together across borders uniquely challenging. I see these dynamics regularly: smart, dedicated people who care deeply about their work but struggle to truly see and understand one another. One of the tools I often use in my work with global teams is the Harvard Business School case titled Greg James at Sun Microsystems. It tells the story of a manager leading a 45-person team spread across the U.S., France, India, and the UAE. When a major client system failed, the issue turned out not to be technical but human. Each location saw the problem differently. Misunderstandings built up across time zones. Tensions grew between teams that rarely met in person. What looked like a system failure was really a connection failure. What I find powerful about this story, and what I see mirrored in so many organizations today, is that the path forward is about rethinking how we create connection, trust, and fairness across distance. It is not where many leaders go naturally: new tools or tighter control. Here are three useful practices for dispersed teams to adopt. (1) Create shared context, not just shared goals. Misalignment often comes from not understanding how others work, not what they’re working on. Try brief “work tours,” where teams explain their daily realities and constraints. Context builds empathy, and empathy builds speed. (2) Build trust through reflection, not just reliability. Trust deepens when people feel seen and understood. After cross-site collaborations, ask: “What surprised you about how others see us?” That simple reflection can transform relationships. (3) Design fairness into the system. Uneven meeting times, visibility, or opportunities quickly erode respect. Rotate schedules, celebrate behind-the-scenes work, and make sure recognition travels across time zones. Fairness is a leadership design choice, not a nice-to-have. Distance will always be part of global work, but disconnection doesn’t have to be. When leaders intentionally design for shared understanding, reflected trust, and structural fairness, I've found, distributed teams flourish. #collaboration #global #learning #leadership #connection Case here: https://lnkd.in/eZfhxnGW

The future of work is here, and it’s a hybrid workforce of humans and trusted agents. Companies who are deploying AI agents to augment human employees are already seeing the limitless opportunities of digital labor. Take for example reMarkable, a company dedicated to bringing distraction-free digital writing to the world. reMarkable is growing at a rapid pace, and acquiring more customers than its human workforce can handle on their own. I sat down with Nico Cormier, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, to learn how Agentforce has eased their growing pains. reMarkable augmented their customer service reps with their first agent, “Mark”, who handles a large portion of incoming service requests and has even increased the company’s NPS score. After seeing Mark’s success, the company stood up its second agent, “Saga”, integrated into Slack, to enable more streamlined internal IT support for employees. With the help of Mark and Saga, reMarkable’s human employees can focus on higher-value, more strategic work, while digital labor takes care of routine and time-consuming tasks. The result? Increased efficiency, better customer satisfaction, and a more empowered workforce. With Agentforce, deeply integrated into Slack, companies like reMarkable are not just adding another tool to their arsenal; they’re creating a smarter, more intuitive way to work.

“Work from Where You Work Best” Works for Us at Tough Day. This isn’t just a policy. It’s how we actually work, every day. We’ve got teammates in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, and several cities across the US. Different time zones, different cultures, different work styles. Here’s what makes it work: 1. Clear Alignment We use the V2MOM invented by Salesforce's Marc Benioff – which stands for Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, and Measures – to help us all stay on the same page about where we’re going, how we’ll get there, and what success looks like when we do. 2. Team Agreements We facilitate dialogue about how we all work best as individuals up front. We negotiate and make these expectations clear from the start on any project team. That includes sharing a whole host of holidays that we can all celebrate! Happy Independence Day, Argentina! 3. Daily Stand-Ups No matter where we are, we make time for short daily check-ins. Each day has a designated theme and leader (Macro-Monday, Tech Tuesday, Waxing Wednesday...). The structure helps us stay in sync, talk through any issues, and help each other. 4. Intentional In-Person Time We don’t have a central office. Instead, we meet up for the kind of collaborative activities that are more productive in person. We time these in-person working sessions around other live events like client meetings or conferences. For us, it’s a much better investment than paying for office space. 5. AI-Native Collaboration AI is a valuable part of our team, and to state the obvious – AI doesn’t physically sit in the office (at least not yet for most of us). AI is our virtual co-worker. If you work with AI, you're already working remotely. But maybe the best part? This way of working requires us to be deeply thoughtful in our interactions. We are curious. We listen better. We learn from and leverage each other — across languages, locations, and backgrounds. And all of these behaviors make us stronger in everything that we do.

All valuable work will increasingly be done by Human-AI hybrids. An insightful research paper identifies both challenges and good practices from multiple case studies to propose an overall framework. The authors propose that generating effective human-AI hybrids is divided into two phases: Construction - in which Technical implementers design the architecture of the hybrid - and Execution - where Organizational implementers facilitate how participants engage and interact. They suggest 3 primary success factors: 🔧 Interface and Technical Design focuses on making AI systems accessible and reliable through code-free interfaces. The technical architecture should allow rapid testing of different approaches while being supported by effective data curation strategies. 🧠 Human Capability Development prepares people to work effectively with AI systems through training, in critical assessment and prompting techniques. Employees must understand AI's capabilities and limitations, and develop skills to integrate AI into existing workflows. 🤝 The Collaboration Framework structures successful human-AI interaction through aligned mental models and clear role definitions. It emphasizes improving underperforming areas rather than disrupting successful processes, while ensuring both human and AI agents contribute their unique strengths to achieve optimal outcomes.

🙅♀️ This interesting study in Personnel Today reveals how hybrid working does not always work for everyone. From cries of 'not fair' to allocation of work, how can #hr and line manages ensure they are even handed? As organisations continue to feel their way towards their hybrid working “normal”, HR leaders frequently face two different but related complaints: 1. “It’s not fair that other colleagues can work from home but my role means I have to be on-site all the time”, and 2. “It’s not fair that you require me to come to the office, when I have met all my targets working from home since lockdown.” Managers in many organisations struggle to work out an appropriate response, even when they may sympathise with the person complaining. Or indeed, and often, when they experience unfairness personally. Pandemic lockdowns fragmented our workforces. Some moved overnight to homeworking, others were furloughed, still others had to continue to work on-site, with their employers using staggered shifts and other working patterns to preserve safe social distancing as far as possible. One legacy of that period is what I term ‘me-ism’ and it can be hard to counter. It’s easy for the employee to point to the tangibles and the deliverables that are required of them, and often to point to their continuing satisfactory performance while working from home much or all of the time. It can be much harder for the manager to provide convincing evidence of the individual staff member’s in-person contribution to their team, or ‘collective’. Many organisations have also tussled with how some people’s desire to work from home impacts others who want to recapture the social aspects of office life as it was before, and who together with the minority who cannot work from home, find the hybrid office empty and isolating. Extending employee choice and control beyond the office is key to answering the complaint about fairness from on-site staff. One example of this, is a small manufacturer who have introduced a 36-hour four-day week, reserving Friday for overtime in response to customer demand. Fresh thinking about on-site flexibility had enabled employers to begin rebuilding a shared sense of the collective, with flexible working available in roles that, before the pandemic, were not just tied to place but inflexible in time too. WorkFLEX-Australia #hybridwork #hybridworking #frontlineworkers #4dayweek #4dayworkweek #meism #futureofwork Author: Sarah Jackson OBE https://lnkd.in/g4bQYS7z

Your Hybrid Team is Functioning — But Are They Thriving? • Flexible schedules are in place. • Tools like Slack and Zoom are running smoothly. • Projects are moving forward. Yet… cracks are starting to show. That’s because hybrid work isn't just about location flexibility. It brings hidden challenges that, if ignored, can hinder collaboration, engagement, and productivity. So, What Are the Biggest Challenges of Hybrid Work — and How Do You Overcome Them? 1. Communication Gaps Between In-Office and Remote Teams Hybrid teams can easily fall into information silos. → Standardize communication channels across teams. → Host regular all-hands and sync meetings. → Encourage over-communication when in doubt. Transparency keeps everyone on the same page — no matter where they are. 2. Micromanagement and Lack of Trust Hybrid work requires trust, but remote settings sometimes tempt leaders to micromanage. → Shift focus from hours worked to outcomes delivered. → Empower teams with autonomy and clear goals. → Promote a culture where accountability is shared. When people feel trusted, performance naturally improves. 3. Employee Burnout and Blurred Work-Life Boundaries Without clear boundaries, hybrid employees risk burnout. → Normalize respecting offline hours. → Encourage regular breaks and wellness initiatives. → Promote mental health resources openly. Well-being drives sustainable productivity. 4. Technology Hiccups and Tool Fatigue The wrong tech can slow teams down. → Invest in intuitive, collaborative platforms. → Regularly review your tech stack for relevance and ease of use. → Train employees to use tools effectively. The right tools make hybrid work seamless, not stressful. 5. Weakening Team Culture and Connection Without effort, hybrid teams may lose their sense of belonging. → Plan virtual team-building and casual interactions. → Celebrate wins, birthdays, and milestones—online and offline. → Reinforce shared values and team rituals. Connection is what transforms a team into a community. Hybrid work offers flexibility, but it also demands intentional leadership. The real question is — is your hybrid team just working, or are they working well together? Because when hybrid teams feel connected, trusted, and supported, they don’t just meet expectations. They exceed them. What Hybrid Work Challenges Are You Tackling Right Now? Drop your insights below. Would you like me to also suggest a hook line or headline variation for extra engagement? —- 📌 Want to become the best LEADERSHIP version of yourself in the next 30 days? 🧑💻Book 1:1 Growth Strategy call with me: https://lnkd.in/gVjPzbcU #HybridWork #TeamSuccess #RemoteWork #Leadership #WorkCulture

🚀 Weekly Review: Breakthroughs with Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) This week, we explored the transformative potential of Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) and Hybrid Modeling across various fields. Here’s a recap of the exciting research and discussions we had: 🔬 Monday: Satellite State Estimation with PINNs by Jacob Varey et al. PINNs revolutionize orbital state predictions, reducing extrapolation errors dramatically compared to traditional models. They integrate classical astrodynamics with machine learning, paving the way for better space traffic management. 🚀 Tuesday: RanDiffNet: PINNs Meet Random Projections by Gianluca Fabiani et al. This innovative method addresses stiff ODEs and DAEs using adaptive stepping, Newton iterations, and Gaussian kernels, offering benchmarks against MATLAB’s ode15s and Python’s DeepXDE. Applications: Neuroscience models to PDE discretizations. 🌌 Wednesday: Hands-On PINNs for Astrophysics and Plasma Physics by Hubert Baty Learn how PINNs tackle complex boundary conditions and singularities in equations like: Helmholtz (Solar Corona Modeling) Grad-Shafranov (Tokamaks) Lane-Emden (Self-gravitating Stars) Practical tools with Python-based examples included! ⚡ Thursday: Hybrid PINNs for Lithium-Ion Battery Prognosis by Renato G Nascimento et al. This hybrid model integrates physics-based equations with RNNs and MLPs for aging prediction and long-term performance forecasts. Validated with NASA data, it’s a game-changer for optimizing battery systems. 💡 Takeaway: PINNs and hybrid methods are driving innovations across domains, from space exploration to battery management. They blend the rigor of physics with the adaptability of machine learning, solving challenges traditional methods can’t address. 👉 Let’s Connect! How do you see these advancements impacting your field? Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments! #PhysicsInformedAI #PINNs #MachineLearning #Astrodynamics #BatteryManagement

Hybrid work isn’t just a logistics challenge anymore, it’s a leadership one. While AI tries to equalize presence with auto-transcriptions and virtual whiteboards, the real imbalance runs deeper: → Who gets access to real-time decisions? → Who builds informal trust at the watercooler? → Who gets seen and who gets sidelined? This is the new frontier: In-person equity. In 2025, the true test of hybrid success lies in how fairly you empower contribution, regardless of geography. 📍 The playing field is no longer just about hours or output - it’s about visibility, opportunity, and influence. What forward-looking firms are doing differently: ✔️ Designing team rituals that travel across time zones ✔️ Decoupling performance reviews from “face time” ✔️ Training managers in proximity bias and silent exclusion ✔️ Prioritizing inclusion over mere connection AI can support, but it cannot replace human responsibility in how equity is lived across hybrid models. If your hybrid setup silently favors the office, it’s time to redesign, not just digitize. What does in-person equity look like in your team today?👇 #PASH #HybridWork #WorkplaceEquity #FutureOfWork #TeamLeadership #ProximityBias #RemoteInclusion #PeopleAndCulture #EmployeeExperience #OrganizationalDesign #HybridLeadership #WorkplaceStrategy #EquityInAction #WorkplaceWellbeing #InclusiveLeadership #TeamDynamics #MidSizedFirms #ProfessionalServices #TalentManagement #TrustInTeams #WorkplaceInnovation #RemoteTeams #InPersonBias #HRLeadership #ManagerExcellence #CulturalTransformation #WorkplaceReset #DigitalCulture #FutureReadyTeams