Barco ClickShare, global firm in visualisation and collaboration solutions, has revealed the results from its annual research on meeting trends and engagement. As the Meeting Barometer, Barco’s meeting quality index, takes a plunge from +17 in 2020 to -25 now, the report marks five trends in work and meeting on the verge of returning to the office post-Covid. Hybrid meetings create opportunities for business leaders to change work culture, redesign the workplace and invest in usability and technology fully in sync with employee needs.
Rajiv Bhalla, Managing Director, Barco India said, “Technically, the old argument about which tasks can or cannot be done remotely has been dispensed with within the last 12-14 months. More than productivity, concerns regarding hybrid working are all about employees about bonding, connection, job security, innovation, access, culture and control. We need to realistically navigate towards an office where everyone can thrive, businesses as well as people. Meetings are at the centre of engagement in hybrid workplaces and can make a real impact on business outcomes starting from an employee-centric mindset. Visual tools are important for intimacy, to establish bonding with the remote worker, to share work progress, address the gaps, conveying urgency, ensuring deadlines. Tech exhaustion will be minimised if we match the right tools in the right proportion.”
Back to office scenarios are not only pushed by C-level management, but they are also completely in line with what employees want. More than 75 per cent of Indian respondents are ready to return to the office, while 68 per cent are expected to be back in the office one or more days by the end of June 2021.
The Barco Meeting Barometer takes a plunge as people struggle with an overload of virtual meetings. An index of -25, compared to +17 in 2020 and +63 in 2019, clearly shows that meetings deteriorate. 72 per cent feel remote collaboration does not come naturally.
The emerging hybrid workplace is not just about simply going back to our old ways or about drastically changing present day, virtual habits. It will be a careful balance between employee needs and business goals. For companies to daily bridge the gap between in office and remote workers and allow them to be truly productive in meetings, both a change in work culture and technology investments like usability, BYOM and video solutions, will be crucial.