Four Key Approaches for the Digitized Work Domain

“It’s about getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment, and helping to find a way to innovate.”

When Marissa Mayer, the formerPresident and CEO of Yahoo,made this statement, she definitely knew what she was talking about. Theworkspacewas sacredbecause it contained reliable support material and equipment employees needed butdidn’t have back home. Premiumoffice equipment and modern support services can significantly impactthe volumeand the efficiency of work. The office optimizes productivity and quality with the proper paraphernalia, like scanners, photocopiers, and business printers.

In today’s digitized world, the office ceases to be a defined physical expanse.The workspace has gone virtual, and digital fundamentwill be the ask for thehybrid workingmode now and in the future. In a post-pandemic working environment, more than 95% of the meetings will have at least one remote participant (as per a report by Cisco); technology will play an indispensable role in keeping all participants an integral part of any discussion and thus ensure that each worker feels valued and there is an equal opportunity field available for one and all.

Organizationsare responsible for establishing the desired infrastructure and providing the workforce with a platform to safely communicate and collude from their home. This process needs to evolve more than a setup involving a laptop or a webcam.

1. Immersive video technology for seamless communication

The big businessesarevery keen on providing allocatedgraphical endpoints that are a way to ensure deepinvolvement for workers irrespective of their location,  to have a level playing field where all the employees have a homogeneous experience. High-end video devices that providea seamlessatmosphere in the officeshould bereplicated at home.

2. Total wireless connectivity

The physical setup of offices will need to be revamped as the omnipresentphysical desks willneed to make way for more open, collaborative spaces or lounges. Modernized digital fabric will have to be incorporated into workspaces that allow employees increased mobility to ensure this restructuring. Wireless technology will enable the facilities teams tocomprehend where people are in an era of trying to control density in space which can yieldrealinsights into figures and movement samples.

3. Voice-controlled conferencing and digital communication tools

Undoubtingly,  the world is moving towards becoming contactless. The homes are already being run by voice-activated devices such as Alexa and Google Home. The aim is to transform the office’s voice-activated in ways more than one. Variousvideoconferencing solutions,  such as WebEx, Zoom, MS Teams, and Google Meet allow users to do that.  For example, Cisco’s Web Ex allows you to walk into a meeting room and instruct the application to start the meeting. Through its proximity technology, it already knows who you are and will get all participants online. Once the conference is over, the camera has already calculatedthe number of present people. It further checks if the meeting room needsto be cleaned andsanitizedand, if required, automaticallyinstructs thereal estate team to enter the premises and do the needful. Putting in more automation like this simplifies the work experience for the teams that have to operate in these environments. Thus, automation saves time and ensures the safety and well-being of the employees.

4. Systems with fool-proof security

The most vital factor is trust, and the workforce needs to know that the technology they’re using is security-driven. Unfortunately, amongst the immense goodwill pouring during the pandemic, thestereotypical bad actors continued to prosper.Workwill be divided between the office, home, and elsewhere; hence it is pertinent that security is top-notch and present in all verticals, be it the endpoints, the cloud, the foundation, private data center, or any related sphere. The big players ensure security spans all zones, including zero-trust architecture and digital hygiene. While the former increases productivity and improves business agility, the latter reduces cyber security risk. Concludingly, suitable technology in a hybrid workspace means providing employees with collaborative devices and applications that are neither based nor biased towards their location. Providing the workforce with critical, secure, modern, and efficient tools at their doorstep will save money on infrastructure and enable upscaling to the most advanced technology available.