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We turn hybrid project work – advising customers both on site and digitally – from a necessity into a virtue. “It was this hybrid way of working that saved our business during the COVID crisis,” Klaus Strenge recalls. “Once the pandemic was over, it seemed like a good way to do something for the environment.”
The zeb Partner is proud of his colleagues, who have not relapsed into their “old traveling habits” after the restrictions imposed to contain the pandemic were lifted: In the pre-pandemic year 2019, they still spent 70% of consulting hours on site. At the peak of the pandemic in 2021, this figure fell to 14 %. In 2023, it was still only at 26 %.
Dr. Klaus Strenge, Partner, zeb
To ensure that this reversal of the traditional 70:30 ratio of on-site activities can persist in the long term, zeb relies on its own guidelines for hybrid working. Those guidelines were developed by Strenge and his colleagues during the coronavirus years. They are based on practical experience: “We discovered a ‘cycle of on-site presence’ over the course of these virtual meetings”, he explains: At the beginning, on-site appointments are important, as they allow everyone involved to get to know each other. When it comes to preparing their analyses, our consultants can work just as well from a zeb office or from home. Towards the end of the project, on-site presence is usually required more often again.
“At the end of the day, how and where exactly the project is to be worked on is of course up to the client,” says Strenge. “But as project managers, we like to point out that not being on-site all the time can make the project more ecological, productive and cost-effective."
After all, each remote consulting day eliminates the need for traveling. The colleagues assigned to the project don’t have to leave their house at 4 a.m., instead, they can start working from their office or from home at 8 a.m., well-rested.
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