Q & A with Tiffany Owyang Lam: Inside Grammarly’s Transition to Hybrid Work

A hybrid work era calls for a hybrid work case study. Following our discussion on The Hybrid Work Dilemma, today I asked Tiffany Owyang Lam from Grammarly to share more about how the AI-powered typing assistant company has successfully adopted a hybrid work model that works.

Find out how they balance letting their employees (or “team members” in her language) work remotely and nurturing in-person collaboration at critical moments through innovative hybrid office design and in-house tools to make work smoother in this exclusive Q&A interview (the bolded parts are of my own).

‍Q: Tiffany, can you start by sharing (again) your role at Grammarly and what your focus has been?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: Absolutely. I’m the North America Workplace Experience Manager, overseeing the entire region and assisting globally with our real estate portfolio. My team and I work on creating spaces that empower people to connect and produce great work. 

We focus not only on finding spaces but also on designing environments where people feel engaged and productive.

‍Q: In our previous The Hybrid Work Dilemma, we learned from you that Grammarly has been successfully implementing a hybrid work policy. Could you walk us through how you transitioned from a traditional model to a hybrid one?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: It's been quite a journey. Before the pandemic, Grammarly operated on a traditional five-day workweek in the office. However, when the pandemic hit, we conducted an office needs survey to gauge our team members' preferences for returning to the office. 

We asked how often they anticipated returning—never, monthly, weekly, or daily. The results revealed that over 90% didn't feel the need to come into the office daily, which led our executive team to adopt a remote-first, hybrid model.

Our hybrid model includes what we call 'planned on-sites,' where teams plan weeks where everyone comes together at one of our hubs. For example, during the first weeks of September, the focus was on engagement, collaboration, and solving complex problems. Teams are encouraged to come together at least twice a year, but some do so more frequently.

‍Q: I recall you mentioning that leaving it up to managers to plan on-site engagements initially didn’t go as smoothly as expected. How did you address this?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: We first tried to do everything for every team coming in, and that was disjointed because we couldn’t scale our services - it was too white glove. Then we tried to have it completely self-service, where teams came whenever they wanted and planned everything on their own. 

That was too big of a learning curve, especially for larger groups. So, the Workplace Experience Team realized we had to meet people in the middle. 

We had to set some parameters like aligning expectations of regular office life that everyone gets, then building in additional services at specific group sizes such as breakfast, social hour for connection, and helping book events for groups of 20 or more. 

The Workplace Experience Team has a lot of pain points from team members and also within our teams globally. That’s where we tried to look for a tool that could help guide managers to the right behaviors when booking and planning their on-site while giving the local Workplace Experience Team what they needed to set up and prepare for an influx of people. 

We couldn’t find something already built, so the Connections team is partnering with the People Tools team to build an internal tool that can do this. We hope to launch by the end of the year, but we have high hopes this will help alleviate a lot of confusion and direct team members to the right information at the right time.   

‍Q: Are there specific roles of teams at Grammarly that are required to come into the office more frequently?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: No, we don’t have strict requirements for specific roles or teams to be in the office more often. Instead, we leave it to managers to decide when their teams need to meet in person based on factors like goal planning or tackling hard problems. We provide general guidelines, like meeting at least twice a year, but allow managers the flexibility to schedule based on their team’s needs.

‍Q: With this hybrid model, how does Grammarly ensure that there’s alignment on when employees are expected to come into the office?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: It all comes down to communication and providing a clear purpose for coming in. Team members need to feel that their time in the office is meaningful, whether it’s for collaboration, problem-solving, or team-building. A meaningful time means there's a purpose to work or be with others - not just sitting in a phonebooth all day to be on calls or working alone like what you can do at home. We’re working on making sure managers have the tools they need to create impactful in-person experiences for their teams.

‍Q: You also talked about redesigning office spaces to better support hybrid work. What changes have you made to accommodate both in-office and remote employees?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: One major change we’re working on is adding more event spaces and reducing the reliance on traditional desks. We’re seeing a shift toward more flexible, cafe-style environments where people can work in groups or individually. 

(Grammarly uses Tactic, our partner and leading desk booking software.)

We’re also planning to create quiet zones for focused work. It’s important to have spaces in your hybrid office that support both collaborative work and the need for quiet, individual work.

‍Q: How does Grammarly gather feedback from employees on their hybrid work experience, and how has this feedback influenced changes?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: We’ve been collecting feedback through surveys and have also hired an architectural firm, ASD | SKY to observe how people work and gather data. This data has helped us understand the needs of our team members and has been critical in shaping the design of our spaces. 

(See my guides to critical office metrics and the ideal desk sharing ratio)

We’ve used this data to design a more flexible and supportive environment. Outside of design, the team can change how we service the experiences as well and see what needs to be communicated to help change behaviors.

‍Q: What are some of the challenges Grammarly has faced in running a hybrid work model, particularly in terms of communication and collaboration?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: One of the biggest challenges is maintaining effective communication. While communication tools like Slack are helpful, they can sometimes lead to miscommunication.

We’ve learned that in-person communication remains essential, especially for interpersonal connections. We’ve also simplified our communication tools to ensure that each team has clear principles on how they communicate.

‍Q: How does Grammarly maintain a strong sense of company culture between remote and in-office employees?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: It’s all about creating opportunities for connection, both online and in-person. We host various events, like our global summer party, which is adapted to each location’s culture. 

We also partner with our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to celebrate different cultures, such as hosting Black History Month and Lunar New Year events. These initiatives ensure that team members feel connected, no matter where they are.

‍Q: Lastly, what does the future of hybrid work at Grammarly look like? Are there any upcoming changes or innovations in the pipeline?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: The hybrid work model will continue to evolve based on feedback and the needs of our business.

We’re always evaluating whether our current model is serving both the business and our people. While we don’t have any major changes planned right now, we’re committed to being flexible and adaptable. Our goal is to support our team members in a way that allows them to thrive, whether they’re in the office or working remotely.

‍Q: So, to use your own words, it is a learning and ongoing process, wherever you guys are doing and learning from that at the same time while being as flexible and adaptable as possible. Is that correct?

‍Tiffany Owyang Lam: Yes. I think our Workplace Experience Team always has to be the most adaptable.

‍Q: Thank you so much for joining us. I'm sure many of our readers, audience, and partners will gain valuable industry insights from this case study of Grammarly.

‍Tiffany Owlang Lam: Thank you. You, too. All the best. Thank you so much for having me.

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