The key to hybrid work is to provide the same tools, technologies, and experiences in all working environments.
In 2020, during the peak of the pandemic, the employment outlook’s essence was connectivity. And with good reason. Back then, staying connected also meant staying linked to the world of work, livelihood, and its routines. Something invaluable in a state of uncertainty and anxiety.
Today, however, with the spread of vaccines around the world and the appearance of variants, apparently more benign, the tendency to hybrid work is imposing fast. This modality means staff rotation so that a certain number of employees may be at the office, while others can work from their home.
According to an elaborate report from Cisco, only 9% of the global workforce hopes to return full time to their offices once the current situation normalizes; 98% believes that, from now on, there will be meetings where, at least, one participant will connect from their home; 96% hopes that their work environment will improve with new technologies and 53% of the big companies are already thinking of reducing the size of their offices.
The key to hybrid work is to provide the same tools, technologies, and experiences in all working environments. Otherwise, this modality will no longer provide advantages. If the employees that work from home do not have collaboration software or devices that ensure the high-level work team, the experience will be imperfect.
Hybrid work modality assumes that the offices, as physical spaces, are far from disappearing due to the pandemic. Progressively, these have become hub centers where employees that rotate establish a bond with their peers and exchange enlightening experiences. There are certain human connections that technology cannot substitute.
Hybrid work can generate intelligent and new experiences, but to accomplish that, it is necessary to have technology that contributes to better and safer work. 98% of the people expressed feeling frustrated, at some point, about having videoconferences from their homes. This results from a lack of smart technologies, able to improve substantially the collaborative experience between these two worlds. Today there are devices that suppress noises using artificial intelligence or collaborative tools that highly improve the experience from any laptop. It is just a matter of finding the proper technology, and not a second-class technology, to be able to work from home.
The role of artificial intelligence is not only useful in the virtual world, though. Today, there are mechanisms that make the return to the offices safer. There are videoconference devices that, in addition to communicating the employees at the office with those working from home, inform the latter about different guidelines: they alert them when the room capacity is at its full or when the room was last disinfected. At the same time, a combination of sensors, artificial intelligence and advanced analysis is capable of running the flow of people within a wide workspace, avoiding overcrowding risks and potential infections.
At OCP TECH we recommend four innovative tools -developed by Cisco- as the ideal back up to the modern workforce: Cisco Webex, Cisco Meraki’s wireless networks, the safety provided by Cisco Umbrella and the DUO’s double factor authentication. With these four products, whether from the office, our home, or a meeting room; through screens, sensors, artificial intelligence or automation, hybrid work will be able to offer experiences, driven by technology, that will speed up transformation and, at the same time, keep the employees productive and, above all, safe.
#Cisco #OCPTECH #Hybridwork #ArtificialIntelligence #IA