Part 3

Enabling genuine human connection with hybrid technology

The future of work will be virtual-first. With hundreds of millions of people collaborating on Teams, Zoom, and other unified communications (UC) platforms every day, these virtual environments are the new standard for how we connect to one another.

In fact, many employees have only ever met some of their colleagues on these platforms. Because of this, it’s critical that leaders do all they can to get the most out of our virtual environments, so employees can create closer, more human relationships with their colleagues.

However, not all employees have the same experience in virtual meetings. In fact, 37% of employees globally say they often feel left out of the conversation in hybrid meetings. Virtual meeting platforms will not only be where hybrid and remote workers meet to get work done; they’ll also be central to fully in-office teams, as meetings with clients, customers, and other partners will often take place in a virtual or hybrid setting.As such, inclusivity in the physical office or meeting room isn’t sufficient for the future. Organizations will need to find ways to make sure that all their employees can connect inclusively and equitably in fully virtual
and hybrid environments. Being able to easily operate in a virtual setting will be essential in making sure employees can maintain a sense of confidence and purpose in the hybrid working future.

The best collaboration technology now allows us to have the same real estate on a screen; we are all equally present in a meeting.
We have our voice, we have our appearance, and everyone has a seat at the virtual table.
If you have technology to support this, people will feel included, regardless of whether they’re physically in the room or not.

Holger Reisinger,
SVP, Jabra

1. Organizations that prioritize meeting equity have higher hybrid meeting engagement

Since the start of the pandemic and alongside the rise of hybrid work, the term “meeting equity” has entered the discussion on how to create equitable and inclusive virtual environments.

It’s based on the assumption that in a traditional meeting room, every meeting participant has a place at the table and therefore has an equal opportunity to contribute to the meeting. But because hybrid meetings consist of both physical and virtual meeting participants, true meeting equity becomes more difficult to achieve.

With only 30% of employees being familiar with the concept of meeting equity, this puts the emphasis on leaders to reconsider – or consider for the first time – how to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute and make an impact in meetings regardless of where they are.

Compared to in-office workers (35%) and remote workers (48%), 56% of hybrid workers said that their organization prioritized achieving greater meeting equity. We can also see that employees who report high levels of engagement in hybrid meetings are more likely to work for an organization that explicitly addresses meeting equity. This showcases just how important it is for all organizations to take a more purposeful approach to addressing meeting equity.

Key Takeaways

Collaboration is on the increase and getting meetings right will be one of the key issues to solve in hybrid work. It will impact everything from meeting and business productivity to culture and inclusion.

Moving forward, leaders need to take decisive steps to address meeting equity, regardless of the primary type of work model their organization practices. Without it, they risk lower levels of engagement in meetings, which can lead to missed opportunities for innovation and relationship-building.

In this virtual era, technology truly defines the employee experience. As such, apart from explicitly discussing meeting equity with employees, leaders will also need to consider the benefits of inclusive collaboration technologies, which ensure that even physical meeting participants are represented equitably in virtual environments.

By combining these technologies with inclusive meeting practices, employees can truly be able to feel that they belong in the meeting, team, and organization from wherever they’re working.

2. In-office workers are underequipped for the virtual era

As we saw earlier, office workers are roughly 25% less likely than hybrid or remote workers to report being provided with the necessary technology to collaborate equitably and inclusively.

More specifically, only 3 in 10 regularly use external audio and video devices for work. These differences in access to technology make operating in virtual environments difficult for in-office workers.

Below, we can see exactly how the consequences of the lack of technology play out in virtual meetings. Specifically, in-office employees are 17% more likely than remote workers – the most well-equipped group – to report difficulties with hearing what’s being said.

Similarly, in-office employees are 21% more likely to struggle with collaboration in virtual environments. This shows that having the right technology in place truly does make the experience.

We know from our previous research that a fancy headquarters is no longer going to do the trick. Instead, the technology you use to connect with others is going to be your first impression, an indication of professionalism and a willingness to meet others where they’re at.

A lack of proper technology may make relationship-building in these virtual environments more tenuous and difficult than it needs to be.

Key Takeaways

In the future, while some teams will collaborate in person more often than others, business more broadly will take place in virtual environments. Because of this, it’ll be essential for employees to be able to thrive in virtual meetings regardless of whether they’re fully in-office, remote, or hybrid.

To make this happen, IT decision-makers need to not only equip meeting rooms with video conferencing technology that connect in-office workers to remote and hybrid workers elsewhere, but also to provide individuals with the necessary personal collaboration technology to be able to connect virtually with business partners.

3. Professional technology directly impacts meeting inclusivity for employees

As we’ve seen previously, not everyone feels included in virtual meetings to the same degree; in-office workers are experiencing more difficulties than hybrid and remote workers.

In response, and since the start of the pandemic, there’s been a large focus on virtual meeting training to ensure that everyone can participate: leaving time at the end of the meeting for discussion, using “hand raise” functions built into UC platforms, or encouraging participants to use the meeting chat to pose questions.

And while these are all effective methods to more equally include everyone in the conversation, what if people simply can’t hear what’s being said in the first place?

In our survey, we discovered clear links between the kind of audio technology used and employees’ meeting experiences. There are many different kinds of audio devices, and they’re not all created with the same purpose in mind. The built-in microphone in laptops, tablets, and mobile devices are thereto serve our base audio needs. Similarly, consumer audio devices, such as those that come with your mobile phone, are designed first and foremost for music and streaming purposes.

However, professional audio devices are designed specifically to be used in professional virtual environments, such as on platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Leaders need to prioritize the employee experience and ensure that they can thrive in virtual meetings regardless of location. It starts with identifying technologies that will enable both in-office and remote employees to collaborate on an equal playing field, so employees can seamlessly move between these places without feeling left out, unheard, or distracted.

Holger Reisinger,
SVP, Jabra

We found that those using only professional devices for work reported the least amount of issues in virtual meetings on video meeting platforms. Most notably, they had less trouble hearing what’s being said than those using only consumer devices, where almost 4 in 10 reported audio issues.

Additionally, professional device users were 10% less likely than consumer device users to report feeling left out of the conversation.

Key Takeaways

Virtual meeting inclusivity is difficult to achieve, and devices make or break the meeting experience. As such, for IT decision-makers, professional audio should be seen as a major enabler of a more seamless and inclusive virtual meeting experience.

As the way we work continues to trend towards virtual environments, there’s an immediate need to equip all employees, regardless of location, with standardized professional audio technology. Without the right tools, employees risk feeling left out, unheard, distracted, and unable to collaborate effectively.