Anand Lakshmanan, Head of B2B, India, and Southwest Asia, Logitech
With increasing preferences for a flexible workplace, it becomes imperative for businesses today to manage the best working environment in the new hybrid era. While companies were compelled to adopt hybrid ways of working during the pandemic, it continues to be the preferred choice of working for many, even as the social restrictions are being reduced. As per a recent NSSCOM-BCG report, over 70% of employees in digital fields would prefer a combination of remote and on-site work models.
As more employers allow hybrid work, virtual collaboration within the organization has become a strategic business decision and investment. Keeping this in mind, Logitech shares 7 best practices to help companies adapt to the new norm and future way of working.
1. Video-enable meeting spaces: Companies have now identified video as an effective tool to support their meeting objectives. It’s also popular with end-users, research shows that 78% of corporate companies use video calling software compared to an audio-only meeting. Thus, ensuring that meeting spaces are video-enabled is essential for facilitating collaboration between remote and in-office employees.
Steps towards maximizing video’s potential in meetings include adjusting budgets to video-enable more meeting spaces, investing in video conferencing devices that are certified to work seamlessly with popular video calling software, and introducing remote device management solutions, like Logitech Sync, to manage and keep every device updated.
2. Equip remote workspaces just like offices: Companies should invest in remote workspaces in the same way as a desk in the office. Standardize the remote-work setup for easy use, effective ergonomics, and peak productivity. Ensure workers can be seen and heard clearly on their calls—regardless of background noise—with purpose-built webcams and noise-canceling headsets. Investing in enterprise-grade equipment that is easy to use out of the box will increase engagement, collaboration, and productivity. Logitech solutions such as Brio, assist with interconnectivity through Windows Hello Support and improved collaboration for a hassle-free experience.
3. Companies should focus on making meetings more inclusive: In hybrid work situations, remote participants may feel like second-class citizens when they’re on video calls with in-office colleagues. They may miss important in-room interactions or may struggle to keep up with the meeting flow. It is important to ensure employees are able to participate and contribute freely regardless of where they are calling from. One way to achieve that is by leveraging technology such as modern video conferencing solutions with RightSight 2 auto-framing technology that can capture everyone in the room for seamless interaction for both in-office and remote employees.
4. Work-life balance: With no commute to bookend the day, it can be easy for tasks to spill over into after hours. Advise your team to draw strict boundaries between personal and work time and remind them that they won’t gain brownie points for still being online when the streetlights are on.
5. Regular ‘concentration days‘: These should be scheduled during which employees are encouraged to go dark on communication solutions such as Teams and book out their calendars in advance. This will give them an uninterrupted day when they can focus on intense or important tasks.
6. Invest in your employees: If companies are downsizing their physical office to cater to hybrid work, any money saved can be reinvested to support your employees with more training programs or provide better equipment such as (ergonomic desks and chairs, enterprise-grade webcams, and headsets) and encourage employees to attend new perks and others.
7. Keep company culture alive: This can be done by maintaining regular nights out, coffee mornings, or teambuilding events.
While surviving the pandemic is an achievement in itself, there are still huge strides to be made in improving the modern office, home, and hybrid workplace. Businesses have an opportunity to get the best out of their employees by making their lives easier. By taking the time to consider the factors that can set your staff up for success, you can finetune your operations for efficiency and ensure employee satisfaction at the same time.
