In fact, hybrid work has increased meeting volume, according to the most recent Microsoft “Work Trend Index.” “Since February 2020, the average Teams user saw a 252% increase in their weekly meeting time and the number of weekly meetings has increased 153%,” according to the study.
Given that remote and hybrid work models are here to stay, the reimagined employee experience must be adaptable. It should go beyond simply enhancing how employees work today. Rather, it should set the tone and offer capabilities for the future of work.
Source: Microsoft "Work Trend Index"
Think of it as an intelligent hub that adapts to users, moving with them and their devices between physical and virtual spaces, regardless of whether they’re working in the office or at home.
For example, at the start of the day, workers open their device and their digital workplace enables them to immediately delve into emails, share documents, and attend meetings — all from one place. The hub enables them to reserve a desk or a meeting room if they’re heading into a physical office and alerts them to organizational well-being policies, such as in-office health attestations. It can also marry their personal calendar with work scheduling for greater work/life balance.
In addition, the digital workplace empowers them with citizen developer capabilities to easily build their own solutions to solve business problems. The right platform functionality democratizes data, connecting users to multiple data sources to create feature-rich business apps without their having to write any code. They can also develop a new automation flow relevant to a specific work function or create a virtual assistant to help with tasks.
The engine for this digital workplace is a powerful platform that is mobile, social, intelligent, secured, cost-effective, and integrated.
There is an overarching requirement for flexible solutions that not only overcome the challenges of the hybrid workforce but also ensure fluidity for the future of work. A collaborative digital workplace includes capabilities that provide a holistic experience for employees as well as IT.
The goal is to move away from disjointed, siloed productivity tools and provide a holistic hub for employees. They simply open one platform at the start of their day and get to work in that space. It should be boundaryless, seamlessly combining physical and virtual capabilities to ensure consistency — no matter if they’re working onsite or remotely.
If you’re an IT or business leader, you should seek a modern digital workplace that is:
Now imagine what it would look like if one tool could provide all these capabilities.