Microsoft has revealed details on how they are adding new features to Microsoft Teams and Office 365 to help workers and staff cope with hybrid work situations which have arisen and become a main stay over the past few years due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Last year’s Work Trend Index report showed that while 73 percent of employees want the option to continue to work remotely, 67 percent want more in-person engagement.
Microsoft Teams features for new hybrid work
– Audio: To ensure everyone can be heard when speaking, use a Microsoft Teams certified speaker puck when the room doesn’t have a centralized A/V system (see our IT guide for must-do technology).
– Bring your laptop: When you are in-person, bring your laptop and join the meeting with your camera on, and your microphone and audio-off. Everyone can participate via chats, live reactions, and raise hands, which has become a new meetings standard.
– Collaborate: Assign a meeting facilitator who is in the room for every hybrid meeting. The facilitator ensures participation and collaboration amongst all attendees by moderating the meeting chat, raise hands, and content to be directly shared through the Teams meeting.
“The shift to remote work over the last 18 months is one of the most significant changes in work culture since the Industrial Revolution. To understand how this change is impacting our customers and Microsoft employees, we’ve been conducting regular research and internal surveys. As reported in our recent Work Trend Index, survey data shows that in a year where we sent 160,000 people home to work and remotely onboarded 25,000 new employees, the percentage of Microsoft employees who report feeling included is at an all-time high of 90 percent.”
“As employees settle into a mode where they’re splitting time between in-person and remote work, most organizations are not prepared. Hybrid work is hard. Remote attendees are finding themselves unseen and unheard. In-person attendees want to be inclusive but are not equipped to run effective hybrid meetings. A glaring example: conference rooms, spaces where the majority of hybrid meetings will be happening, do not have the right hardware, software, or furniture to facilitate hybrid meetings effectively. According to Frost & Sullivan1, out of the nearly 90 million meeting rooms worldwide, only 7.8 percent are video-enabled, creating a poor experience for remote attendees.”
“The hot desking experience on Microsoft Teams displays allows people to locate and reserve flexible workspaces in the office. Book a space from the device or in advance using Outlook or Teams and access your personal Teams calendar, chats, meetings, and more. Teams displays can be used as a standalone device or as a second screen when hot-desking and upon signing out, all personal information will be removed from the device. This experience is expected to be available on Lenovo ThinkSmart view by the end of 2021.”
Source : Microsoft