The New Reality of Hybrid Work

​When the lockdowns started in 2020, there was much concern about how we’d manage remote work. And for the most part, we figured it out and yet now it seems even trickier. Our new reality is that we now work and have meetings with some folks in the office and some remote. This mix requires planning and the right tools to ensure everyone can participate.

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​Flexible work is here to stay: over 80% of managers say they expect more flexible work from home policies, and more than 70% of employees say they expect to take advantage of them.

Fortunately, Microsoft is building experiences to help everyone thrive in this new world of hybrid work – accelerated by organizations’ rapid move to the cloud. With Microsoft Teams, you can help people stay connected, collaborate seamlessly, and simplify work, in a secure and compliant way – all in one place. Microsoft Teams is where people come together to get work done with Microsoft Teams Meetings and Microsoft Teams Rooms as the foundation.

HOW CAN MICROSOFT TEAMS HELP WITH HYBRID WORK?

​Collaborate with Microsoft Apps & 3rd Party Apps, all in the Same Place

• Virtual Whiteboards for Brainstorming, Sprint Planning & Designing – Use Microsoft Whiteboard or integrate other applications, such as Mural or Freehand.
• File Co-Authoring & Shared Notes – With SharePoint Online on the back end of Teams, employees can collaborate on files and notes in real time.
• Task Management – Use Microsoft Planner or add other applications such as Trello, Google tasks, Smartsheet, or Azure DevOps.
• Integrated Business Processes – Company-wide Power Apps can be pinned to the left pane in Teams, department apps and forms can be added to Channels.
• Shared Calendars – Team members can use the group calendar, create Channel calendars, or pin SharePoint calendars.
• Cast Content from Mobile Devices & Laptops to Teams Rooms - You'll be able to project the content directly from your device to the overhead screen, without setting up a meeting.

​Deliver Exceptional Meetings & Presentations

• Live Events – Broadcast Town Halls and training events to large audiences with a producer, moderated Q&A, multiple presenters, and attendee engagement reports.
• Meeting Controls – Control who can bypass the lobby, who can present, and who can interact with apps during meetings.
• Background Noise Suppression – Teams offers various levels of background noise suppression. This is tried and true, folks; Other meeting participants won’t hear the helicopter that appears to be trying to land on your roof.
• Meeting Recordings – All internal attendees automatically have access to the recording, and you have the option to share with external attendees.
• Meeting Transcription - Live transcription can make your meeting more productive and inclusive for participants who are deaf or hard-of-hearing or have different levels of language proficiency. Participants in noisy places will also appreciate the visual aid.
• Participant Reactions – To avoid audible interruptions, there’s the raise your hand feature to let everyone know when a participant has a question or comment. There are also icons for applause, thumbs up, likes and loves.

​CREATE YOUR HYBRID WORK ROADMAP
If your organization needs to support hybrid work and meetings, it’s time to start analyzing and planning. The following are critical for a successful deployment of Microsoft Teams: 

• Network Readiness – number of work sites, local or centralized Internet, local or centralized DNS, internet bandwidth per site, QOS, firewall ports and URLs, VPN/Proxy, wireless vs wired
• Environment & Site Analysis - existing licensing, meetings and rooms deployment, Skype for Business/Teams deployment, Microsoft 365 deployment, adoption, IT roadmap
• Device & Meeting Room Strategy – types of approved devices, number and size of meeting rooms, third party video conferencing technology
• Scheduling & Virtual Event Needs – use cases for meetings, live events, webinars, calling and audio conferencing
• Adoption & Change Management – governance, communications, training, Champion groups and pilots

WANT SOME HELP?
Our experienced consultants can help with your IT strategy and road mapping efforts. We also offer a free * Hybrid Work Workshop to guide you through all these scenarios to create your roadmap and action plan.

Workshop deliverables include:

• Evaluating current meetings and meeting rooms capabilities
• The “Art of the Possible” for Hybrid Meetings, a combination of presentations and immersive experiences demonstrating Microsoft Teams Meetings capabilities
• Directions for transforming meetings and meeting rooms across your customer’s entire organization
• A customized report with actionable recommendations to ensure your customer’s organization can stay connected, collaborate seamlessly, and simplify work, in a secure and compliant way

Reach out to learn more about our Hybrid Work Workshop.

Contact Us

​*Offered via Microsoft, some pre-requisites regarding number of seats and usage