Last week, Ireland eased more restrictions, now being allowed to travel inter-county and enjoy a much needed visit to the hairdressers and retail stores. It’s with a sigh of relief that we see some return to “normality”. The return to office has been staggered in comparison, a large majority of businesses are still operating remotely. After one year working and living with world wide restrictions, we’re missing interacting with our teams and customers in person. While some companies are moving to remote centric, offices spaces are still relevant and needed by many workplaces.
Businesses operating under the new hybrid model of working are able to provide their employees with the choice to work from home and the office. Keeping a hybrid workforce connected with each other relies on good communication, supported by business leaders, managers and technology. Here’s what we recommend to keep your teams connected – wherever they choose to work.
People are now looking at the office as a space to meet with your team for collaboration and social connection. Working remotely can be a perfect time to focus your time and work on solo projects. By viewing the office as a space for collaboration and home for focus hours, your team will be able to adapt to hybrid working and find what works best for each department and person. Hybrid working allows businesses to connect far apart teams and be able to recruit talent from anywhere, distance becomes less important when you have the right technology. Video conferencing is keeping teams connected until it’s possible to meet in person.
Once offices reopen, hybrid meetings will be focused on making sure remote and in-room participants to feel equally engaged and as part of one team communicating. After 2020, communicating via video conferencing has become second nature in business but that doesn’t mean it’s not tiring or without challenges. Remote collaboration requires a lot of energy and only seeing our colleagues through a screen can lead to video call fatigue. We recommend keeping your video on, you will be less likely to try multitask during video calls and be able to give your full attention to the speaker and conversation. For informal calls or 121s, take the call during a walk and get some fresh air to change it up if you are experiencing video call fatigue. The System Video team have a quick call every week to chat, hear what the latest TV shows are and find out what everyone has planned for the weekend. Scheduling team calls focused on socialising is a good way to help team members feeling isolated while working remotely.
Not every remote worker has their own dedicated office or workspace, this can cause their day to be quite disruptive. Many video conferencing platforms offer real-time noise suppression designed to minimize distracting background noise, allowing you to focus on what’s being said. To put your team’s minds at ease when returning, office spaces can be made safer and more efficient with touchless AV solutions. Digital signage, touchless sign-in, voice activated meetings and AI technology are just some examples of how AV innovations are facilitating hybrid workplaces.
There is hope in sight of reconnecting with our teams and not just through a screen. It’s important to evaluate how your business will choose to operate as restrictions ease and workplaces reopen. The last year has completely changed how businesses communicate, we’re finding new ways to work together in shared spaces and learning how to work apart. Having the right technology ensures your teams working from the office and anywhere are set up to stay connected and keep your business up and running.
Returning office employees are relying on their employers to create a technology-driven hybrid working environment. Employees are expecting the same advantages of working in the office that have been afforded to them from working from home – efficient working in a safe and flexible environment. By taking a digital-first approach, organisations can best prepare for post-pandemic working and create an agile structure that is able to keep up with changing business needs.
Our experienced team can improve your workspace with AV Technology. Prepare your workplace for the future of working with hybrid meeting technology, touchless AV solutions & digital signage. Get in touch to learn more.
