The focus on employee experience has increased. More than 90% of employers are making employee experience a top priority in 2022 as we move into the Future of Work where hybrid and remote teams work together.
The focus on enhancing the employee experience of the remote worker has been quite prominent. Provisioning remote teams with the right tools, hardware, and software to drive collaboration are essential for organizations. The story, however, does not stop there. Indeed, it should not.
The remote worker is a part of the whole. The other half constitutes the office worker. With the dynamic changes in the workplace, organizations must make sure that the office worker too is equally enabled at work, when work happens, irrespective of location.
The new normal has now become just ‘normal’. As such organizations must look at their office infrastructure and environment and assess if it allows those operating in that space to collaborate, communicate and work productively and efficiently.
In effect, the aim should not be to bring down the experience of one group of workers in the name of consistency. It should be to improve the experience of both groups to help drive impact and performance.
Here are a few things that organizations can do to ensure that along with improving the experience of the remote worker, you elevate the employee experience of the in-premise employee as well.
Communication infrastructure that enables collaboration
With the onset of hybrid work, ensuring a consistent experience when working remotely and when working from office is essential to drive productivity and engagement at work. Both remote and in-office workers have to be enabled with a strong communication infrastructure and high-quality audio-video systems for immersive experiences that drive communication, collaboration, and productivity.
Developing a strong communication infrastructure that facilitates collaboration with ease needs robust and customizable unified communication systems. These help employees in the office engage seamlessly with each other and with their team members across the globe.
This unified communication infrastructure integrates diverse communication tools and applications in the business environment. Solutions such as Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, VIDYO, Zoom, and Polycom can be integrated as a one-touch communication platform. These solutions can be implemented easily in rooms of every size and function.
With a unified communication framework in place, teams can connect seamlessly irrespective of their location. Connecting with colleagues and team members on a single platform optimized by a robust AV infrastructure drives productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency of meetings.
The advanced meeting, video conferencing, and digital display solutions create the right impression at every touchpoint. This improves customer interactions and makes work easier while driving brand value for in-office and remote workers.
Make teamwork creative and easier
Tools like Microsoft Surface Hub 2S allow organizations to meet the collaboration needs of this world of work. The interactive whiteboard doubles up as a screen for instant meetings, enables collaboration across devices and creation via Microsoft 365, and applies the latest technology to optimize sound and display.
The Microsoft Surface Hub 2S comes with a modular camera, two-way stereo speakers, pixel sense display, and a native 4K resolution with anti-glare. It provides a superior meeting experience and allows in-office employees to ideate, and collaborate easily.
It comes pre-loaded with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams. Approved participants can sign in and use all of Microsoft’s tools for their meetings. Employees can join these meetings using their own devices via Proximity Join. These Surface Hubs are great for presenting diverse content in larger spaces.
Tools like Samsung Flip also become essential towards driving employee experience by facilitating ease of work. It’s writing, drawing, and editing tools allow employees to express their ideas while making presentations more engaging.
It allows employees to share content easily and also facilities multi-user experiences. It can be synced with many devices, allows secure access to files, and allows employees to maintain confidentiality or lock WIP content with a six-digit password.
Its rich display, ease of use, and interactive features make working across teams seamless, inclusive, and productive.
Elevate meeting spaces
As the world becomes more hybrid, organizations must optimize meeting rooms and look at them as collaboration spaces. Employing the right hardware, software, devices, and tools that facilitate teamwork while transcending boundaries will be important to enhance the employee experience of the in-office employees.
Organizations need to look at the efficiency and design of their meeting spaces and evaluate if these are up to the standards that hybrid work environments need. Audio-video design, lighting, and layouts play a big role in driving meeting effectiveness.
Additionally, organizations must now take concrete steps to bridge the gap between in-person and remote attendees. They must make sure that everyone can be seen, heard, and remain engaged irrespective of the space they operate from. Solutions such as Teams Rooms and Zoom Rooms have become a part of the office ecosystem to remove the barriers between spaces, places, and people.
These solutions allow users to turn any room into an easy-to-use and inclusive collaboration space allowing everyone has a place at the table, irrespective of their location. AI-powered screens in Zoom Rooms, for example, create a Smart Gallery that allows multiple members in a room to be presented on individual screens for higher participation. AI is also used for hot-desking, allowing for better space utilization, and optimizing meeting experiences.
These tools ensure that on-premise teams are not wasting time and getting frustrated due to poor audio-video quality and choppy meeting experiences due to poor tooling at the remote end.
Enhancing presentation experiences
Presentation experiences also need an upgrade in this software-driven world of work. Devices such as Crestron Flex become crucial enablers by ensuring superior and consistent audio-visual quality across devices. It is a single interface for Microsoft Teams and Zoom Rooms and makes collaboration easier.
BYOD conferencing systems should be such that user devices can work well with the workplace’s native technology. High-fidelity audio feature, high-resolution video display, and an intelligent HD camera, that delivers excellent clarity and connectivity to enhance presentation experiences for all.
Along with this, tools such as AirServer, enhance presentation experiences by enabling users to display their screens from any device. Tools such as the AirServer deliver a futuristic feel to presentations by allowing users can simultaneously project content from any personal device onto a single larger screen. It hosts up to 9 screens and has a best in class, 4K UHD at 60 frames per second (fps).
Deliver communication support
Much like how the remote team needs support, the in-house teams need the same. A dedicated helpdesk and support team and simple ticketing systems that allow users to raise tickets are crucial to enhancing the employee experiences of in-house teams.
Offering the right support helps in-house teams use technical and audio-video assets optimally and make sure that teams can connect and collaborate seamlessly with each other. It also removes frustrations by addressing technical problems while driving productivity.
In conclusion
We cannot ignore the role that the right audio-video solution design in curating the right workspaces for the new world of work. With the right technologies and audio-video applications, in-house employees can communicate, collaborate, and innovate faster with agility. Cutting-edge solutions enhance the workplace experiences of employees while delivering enablement at work when work happens and empower them to work optimally in a world that is becoming increasingly boundaryless.
Our team of AV experts can help your organization craft an AV design that delivers unforgettable experiences and fuel the workplace for collaboration and productivity. Contact us for AV solutions that go beyond the basic needs to deliver impact to the new world of hybrid work.
