The ‘messy middle’ of hybrid workspaces worth exploring

Ola Williams, a graduate of Computer Science with MBA from University of Liverpool, is country manager, Microsoft Nigeria. She has over 21 years of Information Technology experience spanning through solution implementation, solution sales and channels management.

The remote-work world that we embraced at the height of the pandemic has evolved with blended, hybrid environments now taking centre stage. This will define the post-pandemic business landscape, according to Microsoft’s latest Work Trend Index (WTI). “The best of both worlds” is what employees surveyed in the WTI are after: 73 percent want flexible remote-work options to continue, while, at the same time, 67 percent are craving more in-person time with their teams.

As a result, what we’re seeing are brick-and-mortar offices hosting some staff on premises, with other team members continuing to work from home, joining meetings online. This hybrid phenomenon is what Jared Spataro, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365, refers to as the “messy middle”.

It references the fact that while many companies have mastered the art of having everyone working in the office pre-pandemic and having everyone working from home during the pandemic, a combination of the two has given rise to new issues.

For example, physical boardrooms not being equipped with the right technology (think screens, audio, and the like) has left in-office staff unable to see or hear remote-working colleagues in meetings where collaboration is crucial.

Navigating this messy middle in a way that ensures streamlined, real-time collaboration and inclusive employee engagement is the challenge. It will require employers to reimagine physical workspaces where meetings take place, and re-examine the digital tools required for remote and in-person staff to remain productive, together. As the WTI notes, the objective for employers embracing the necessary work-flexibility approach is to “give everyone the tools they need to equally contribute from anywhere.”

Why getting hybrid work right is good for business

Happy, productive employees are a key predictor of business success, which is why employers should be taking the prevailing workers’ desire to integrate remote work seriously. Remote work has opened new career opportunities for employees – not to mention that employers, too, benefit from a wider, geographically varied talent pool for hires.

WTI figures show that 46 percent of the globally surveyed employees were considering leaving their current employer because they can work from home. In the EMEA region, this figure, although lower at 36 percent, is still significant. As such, a company’s approach to hybrid working will define “who stays and who goes,” the index notes.

What’s the sentiment in Nigeria? According to 2020 figures from Statista, 74 percent of Nigerians were willing to work remotely full-time. The high number points to the country’s unemployment rate at the time, which the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics reported as 27 percent, adding that 20 percent of the country’s workers lost their jobs at the height of pandemic lockdowns.

To succeed in the global digital economy and prevent further job losses in an increasingly digitised society, Nigeria’s businesses must digitally transform to support remote work alongside in-office work within the modern hybrid environment. Local companies unable to offer this balance will lose valuable staff who now have the opportunity to work from home for businesses based outside of Nigeria.

What’s worked for Microsoft

Just like the rest of the business world, we’re learning as we roll out these hybrid-enabling changes. On what we’ve learnt, Nicole Herskowitz, Microsoft Teams general manager, highlights that hybrid meetings have been a game-changer for shaping a successful work environment. The caveat? They need to be done well.

For Microsoft, Herskowitz shares that following the “ABC” practice on Teams-based meetings has been key. The ‘A’ is for Audio, because having the right tech to give everyone an equal opportunity to be heard clearly is a cornerstone of inclusive collaboration. The ‘B’ is for Bring Your Own Device (turning on your camera but muting your mic).

This allows in-person staff to participate with online team members through chats and live reactions in Teams meetings, while remaining more visible to remote colleagues, to keep everyone engaged. The ‘C’ is about Collaboration; specifically, about assigning a facilitator to streamline interactions between virtual and in-office meeting attendees.

As the WTI highlighted, enabling successful hybrid working will mean reimagining office space and investing in supporting technology; the latter helping to shape the former. Microsoft has innovated on the technology front with new Teams Rooms features to better manage the messy middle.

There’s a Front Row layout where the video gallery is at the bottom of the screen, spread out horizontally. It’s been created to simulate the experience of sitting next to each other as if all colleagues were in the same room.

The Surface Hub capabilities in Teams Rooms have also been enhanced to offer more ways to collaborate seamlessly such as allowing every virtual and in-person participant to “ink on the same digital canvas” in a meeting with Microsoft Whiteboard. Each of these technologies are designed to ensure equitable meeting experiences for all staff, no matter where they’re joining from.

Microsoft has collated its experiences into a best-practice guide to hybrid meeting success, which will help business owners across Africa unlock future-proofed ways of working. While it’s messy, that meeting middle ground between remote-based and in-person staff can be managed, with technology as the linchpin.