The way that we work, where we work, and the tools used to successfully achieve high levels of success in the workplace were shifting even before Covid-19 emerged on the global scene in late 2019 to early 2020. As recent as 2017 75% of companies offered some form of flexible work arrangements. Additionally, over 30% of employees stated that they were regularly working remotely.. (Read more remote work stats here).
The pandemic has expedited the adoption rate of remote work nearly across all industries and titles. If we just take a moment and think about the meetings that any one of us have been in over the course of the last few months there are now for the first time in our history more attendees remotely than attendees in person, or in a conference room together. This trend isn’t going to slow down. Proportionally speaking we may see some workers return to offices once the pandemic is over but the speed at which remote work will occur in the future will be forever impacted. Research has shown that as high as 90% of the workforce would prefer to work remotely from home, coffee, shops, or spaces outside of their office. The pandemic has shown many CEO’s and executives alike that their employees can be just as productive (if not more productive) while they are remote compared to when they are in the office. My team for instance here at Bluewater has nearly doubled their work volume since the pandemic began in an attempt to account for market trends and changes, The level of production from employees in this instance is at an all-time high and they are completely remote.
Another growing trend that has come to light during this time is that meetings are more collaborative now than they ever have been. We have been forced to be more productive, concise, and innovative. We’ve pitched ideas, worked through organizational changing dilemmas, and set strategies that will steer the course of the next 10+ years for our companies and we have done this all while being remote. Technology is now able to keep pace as well with the increasing demands of the mobile workplace to help keep efficiencies high and meetings short and concise.
Meetings in a post-Covid landscape will be both large and copany-wide in nature as well as impromptu, smaller, and often less structured. The need for technology to be able to handle both the remote small huddle or team call, and large corporate all-hands meeting is at the forefront of how AV will be developed in the neart-term and long-term.
This leaves us with two places that need an influx of technology to make certain that both companies and employees alike are prepared for the post-Covid landscape. The first is the small huddle space in the office. Huddle rooms are literally everywhere. Wainhouse Research recently estimated that there are already approximately 50 million huddle rooms globally, but that well over 50% of them have little to no technology in place; and certainly not the type of technology one would need to connect to a largely remote workforce. The days of large in-person, in-office gatherings may be limited, but employees will be taking advantage of team huddle spaces, and smaller meeting spaces paired with external remote participants that need to be able to see the room, view a presentation, and have access to screen sharing capabilities. We want to make sure you are prepared to do that. At Bluewater we offer, a no risk, no cost plan to get your office “people-ready” again. Read more about our return to work offerings and best practices here and as always we would be happy to answer any questions you might have.
The second of the two places where conference technology must be present in this growing remote landscape is with the employee, whether that be at home, or something they are able to pack up and take with them that is mobile and functional for other remote working destinations. This could include technology such as the Mersive Solstice or other wireless collaboration tools, a display, and possibly even home audio kits to ensure that sound quality away from the office doesn’t suffer. This has led Bluewater to announce a series of work-from-home kits that will be available in the coming days. Check back soon for more information and in the interim if you would like to be one of the first to discuss this new offering you may contact us at any time.
