Working in a hybrid environment has many challenges, especially for women.

According to the Deloitte’s Women@Work 2022 Global Survey, looking at women in the hybrid workforce:

• 58% of women feel excluded from meetings
• 45% don’t have enough exposure to leaders
• 36% have clear expectations around where and how they want to work
• 38% have work/life balance

When we look at these statistics, it’s clear that changes need to happen for women who work remotely or in hybrid if they are to advance in their careers.

Here are three options that you may consider:

Option #1:

Do nothing and hope things will change. This is probably not the wisest move. Hope is not a strategy! Apathy won’t get you what you need to be happy, so it’s not the best way to approach and resolve a challenge that relates to your career.

Option #2:

Start looking for a new job, hoping thing will be different in the next company. This is an active response, which is helpful. However, it’s easy to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. It’s up to you to take intentional action, like asking good questions in the interview process, or else you run the risk of landing in a new company culture that is the same as what you left, or even worse.

Option #3:

Stay and work to communicate effectively with your manager. These may be difficult conversations, but they can also be very powerful. Share how you are feeling and provide specific examples of what you’ve experienced so your manager understands why you feel that way.

In my opinion, Option #3 is the best place to begin. Unless you’ve already tried to talk to your manager, now is the time to have that difficult conversation. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they want to help you be happy so that you will continue working with them. Without knowing what you want, how can they give it to you?

Which option will you choose? Tell me in the comments!