As time has progressed, we can no longer solely rely on shared physical location to collaborate, connect or build social capital. But spaces and places are still important. Microsoft is designing spaces and places that bridge the physical and digital and that can evolve with employee needs. In this article we take a look at just some of the ways they are creating a better hybrid office working environment. 

Taking care of workplace safety

Safety has always been a top priority at any workplace and the Covid-19 pandemic has only heightened the importance of strong security and safety protocols in the workplace. With many people choosing the hybrid way of working here are just some best practices to protect your employees:

  • Use Microsoft Power Platform to build no-code/low-code apps that enable employees to carry out health checks as well as reserving meeting spaces. 
  • As restrictions have been eased your organisation may still be operating with reduced resources in the office space. Use Power BI dashboards to analyse data from multiple inputs across public and internal sources to determine how many people can come into the office space and when.
  • Enable employees to easily and safely book workstations and breakout spaces easily in Outlook. 

Design for people not in the room

Bridge the gap between people working remotely and those in the office with a meeting room solution that allows everyone to be seen, heard, and fully participate from anywhere with Microsoft Teams Rooms.  

Microsoft Teams Rooms delivers a meeting experience where everyone is fully represented, and where connections feel natural and immersive. This includes intelligent speakers that let everyone know who said what in the room, as well as making meeting chat, notes and action items visible next to the content on the screen so that people can engage with all aspects of the meeting.

Transform your physical spaces into cloud-powered services 

With the future of the workplace uncertain, one thing is for sure and that is digital adoption within an increasing number of businesses. Organisations will need to digitise every space and place to make the right decisions and investments as needs evolve over time. Here are just some of the ways Microsoft is looking to the future:

  • Workplace analytics, part of Viva Insights – Provides insights into meeting room activity and usage patterns at the aggregate level. 

Hybrid working is here to stay, is your organisation set up to provide the best results? Get in touch with our team who can help.