‘People are looking for ways to work together asynchronously’: Tech providers rush to meet needs of hybrid workplaces

By Jessica Davies

During the pandemic, companies have managed workflow and communications with the hottest technology, trial and error, and perhaps a few spools of scotch tape, experimenting with a host of new and newly improved platforms promising to bring together dispersed employees and maximize productivity in an upside-down world.

And as more firms now transition from remote working to a long-term hybrid setup, bosses are exploring the next wave of tech options for getting down to business.

Employers are building an infrastructure that supports hybrid work because, in large part, employees are demanding it. The cloud communications and collaboration platform Fuze found that, in a recent survey of nearly 9,000 business leaders and employees, 75% said flexible work was a must-have, while 65% said they would change jobs if it meant greater long-term flexibility.

Products like Google Drive and Docs, Dropbox and Slack have been around for years but have become even more indispensable over the past year — and they continue to tweak for the post-pandemic reality. Meanwhile, the latest iterations of products like Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams and Workplace from Facebook are positioning themselves as essential tools of the new hybrid reality. You’d be hard-pressed, in fact, to find a tech concern large or small that isn’t innovating and marketing itself around the needs of the hybrid office.

Google just announced Workspace for Everyone, meaning anyone with a Google account can access the same functions as its enterprise customers. The new features are all designed to help people access and contribute to meetings from any location, and include additional Calendar functions so meeting organizers can better plan hybrid meetings. Microsoft Teams enabled has greater collaboration as well — or at least bigger meetings. It can now host 98 people in a video call, versus 49 via Zoom.

Scores of other platforms are benefitting from employers seeking the best tools to facilitate hybrid work. The platform Donut allows for the introduction of teammates within Slack for a variety of programs aimed at building employee camaraderie and collaboration. It’s now been employed by more than 15,000 companies, including Axios and Netflix. Likewise, the Icebreaker bot in Microsoft Teams fosters personal connections by pairing team members for meet-ups each week.

AI and VR technologies are also putting their imprint on the hybrid workplace. HTC recently launched its Vive Focus 3 headset, which has been used for everything from training medical professionals remotely to facilitating online classes at universities. Hybrid work will look less like video boxes on a screen and more like immersive virtual office experiences, said Kristen Buchanan, founder of Edify, an onboarding tool for software engineers. That means growing popularity for platforms like Tripleseat, Teamflow and Workfrom.

“People are looking for new ways to work together asynchronously and aren’t interested in continuing on with constant Zoom fatigue,” she said.

Then, there’s the issue of real estate. Deskpass is a tech-based network of coworking spaces across more than 25 cities that enables companies moving to hybrid to downsize their office footprint. Its technology, …read more

Source:: Digiday