Category: Workplace Culture

The hybrid office is becoming more widespread than ever. With many workplaces now adopting a hybrid model, there are big questions for employees. Let’s discuss how to best manage time in order to make the most of working in both the home and the office and find a hybrid office balance.

Find a hybrid office balance with time management

One key to achieving a hybrid office balance is to think about when you really need to be in the office versus when it might be better to work from home. Of course, this will depend a lot on individual schedules and positions. But there are some guidelines you can use.

For example, you might group together all of your weekly tasks that require concentration. Then do these tasks in whichever environment is quieter and more productive for you. If possible, it can also be effective to group all of your meetings together on one or two days of the week. Then come into the office for these “meeting days”. This will give you a chance to connect with colleagues in person.

Some tasks, like training in new processes, onboarding new colleagues, and mentoring may be more effective if done in person. Others, such as writing reports or conducting research, may be easier to do from home. Once you have decided which tasks work better at home and which in the office, you can organize your schedule accordingly.

Keep it inclusive with digital workflows

One-size-fits-all does not work well for a hybrid company where employees have the flexibility to work when and where they wish. So, many organizations and employees will need to rethink how they connect and engage with colleagues. Digital workflows are a key part of achieving this hybrid office balance.

Digital tools can be used to make many work tasks more inclusive, so both those at home and in the office can participate together on an even footing. The first step here is to use the meeting features on a tool like Zoom or Google Meet. You can use software like Google Docs or Office 365 to enable direct editing on long-distance shared work. Make sure to create a well-organized set of Slack or Teams channels so the team can communicate quickly and clearly from anywhere.

Digital meetings can sometimes feel static and uninteresting. To remedy zoom fatigue, use XSplit Presenter to make them more inclusive and engaging. Add your webcam on top of your presentation so everyone can see you as well as your materials. You can even add live annotations and guests to your presentations! You can also use a work management system, such as Asana or the Servicenow’s Now Platform, to capture key decisions and action items so they are easily accessible from anywhere.

Curated collaboration

Curated collaboration is all about designing your workflows so they suit a hybrid model. The goal is to create a system of working that helps people to collaborate no matter where they are working.

One way to look at this is similar to how a university operates. Everyone has different schedules but shares the same resources, such as classrooms, labs, etc. Groups are brought together in common spaces like lecture halls and cafeterias, and this thinking can be extended to the workplace.

One way to do this is to re-organize both physical and digital space. Physical offices can be transformed to include micro hubs, meeting points, or touchdown areas where those working from home can connect with those in the office. This can also be replicated at home, by setting aside dedicated times and platforms for different types of meetings, such as project meetings, brainstorming sessions, and socializing.

As hybrid workforces take hold, there’s a risk that we’ll all end up working two jobs – one at home and one at the office. To bring these together, it’s necessary to create both physical and digital solutions to ensure that work processes are as inclusive and efficient as possible.

With meetings going digital, you’re likely to need to organize a virtual all-hands presentation at some point. But what’s the best way to do this? How can you make the most of the available technology? Are there any advantages of virtual over real-world meetings? There are plenty of things to consider and many powerful tools available. So let’s run through these questions!

The advantages of a virtual all-hands meeting

After two years of working from home, we’re all quite used to attending meetings on Zoom or Teams and some of the big advantages are starting to become apparent. If everyone’s joining the meeting from home, it cuts down dramatically on travel time and costs, especially if you have a number of widespread sites. It also means you don’t need to maintain an overly large, rarely used meeting room or shell out for conference space.

Plus, if you’re broadcasting the meeting with XSplit Presenter, you can also record it to allow anyone who was unable to attend to see it afterward. Finally, going virtual allows you to have more control over what your attendees see – whether that’s through video, slides, or other media.

How to make the most of a virtual meeting

If your meeting is going to be virtual, take advantage of the digital format by adding in some media. You could include video clips, animations, or other multimedia to spice things up a bit. Just make sure your slides are interesting and polished since they’ll be front and center. Remember to have your webcam on to give a more personal feel to the meeting, and it’s a good idea to use software like XSplit Presenter to integrate it with the presentation. By having your feed appear over the top of the slides, it will put a human face to content that might otherwise feel overly businesslike or impersonal. The function to annotate in real-time can also be a clear and engaging way of highlighting the main points. 

Since you know that everyone will be watching on a computer, you can also include things like polls, using a third-party website, to allow people to vote on questions or give feedback. Use the chat system to allow people to ask questions and get involved. Adding images to your XSplit Presenter slides will give them a lot more depth as well. Whether you go for subject-relevant photos or humorous cartoons and memes depends on the feel you’re going for with the presentation – or maybe you just want to lighten the mood!

Bring a friend to your virtual all-hands!

Consider having multiple presenters, inviting external guests. Or calling on individual managers to report on their departments in order to break up the meeting and add some variety. If you can add multiple webcam views to your video stream, that can help too. But consider checking that the feeds have a similar feel with regards to lighting and quality – it can look quite strange if one presenter is well lit and clear and another is in pixelated shadow. 

This advice applies to backgrounds as well – virtual backgrounds are fine, but they can look strange and distracting if the lighting is completely different and looks wrong. If you’re superimposing your webcam feed onto your presentation, XSplit Presenter will allow you to use a transparent background so the slide is visible around your head. This also lets you move out of the way if your face covers any of the content!

Virtual meetings have a lot of advantages, especially with the help of today’s technology. They can cure a lot of the logistical problems of trying to bring people together, but it’s worth putting in the effort to ensure that you’re making the most of them.

No matter how well your office manages workplace communication, there are always improvements that can make things run even more smoothly for everyone. There are many ways to improve communication for a more harmonious workplace and, as is ultimately the aim in management, increase productivity and satisfaction. Let’s have a look at some of the things you can do.

Improve workplace communications differently

Some organizations stick to rigid patterns of communication, but this lack of flexibility may not improve workplace communications. Some people prefer remote sessions, while others need the connection of in-person communication. By offering a number of different ways to communicate, you can make sure that all of your colleagues can opt for what best suits them. Of course, too much variety can lead to chaos, so it is best to stick to just three or four methods, choosing just one digital platform and perhaps a weekly team meeting, monthly one-to-ones, etc.

Including time to socialise

Setting aside time to meet colleagues without discussing work can help bring teams closer together and foster better overall communications. This could either be a regularly scheduled event, or something more spontaneous. For remote and hybrid offices, there are a number of apps, such as Mural, that allow you to create virtual water coolers. There are also sites like Gather, which provides free customizable virtual spaces.

Foster a culture of honesty to improve workplace communications

This does not mean oversharing, but rather being clear and honest about why work is organized a particular way, or why certain tasks need to be done. Lack of information about why a task is important can lead to frustration and negativity. Of course, it’s not always possible to make tasks more meaningful. Sometimes, you will need to admit that something just needs to be done. But this can also demonstrate commitment to meaningful, transparent communication.

Use the right tools for the job

The right tech can also be a big help in communicating clearly. XSplit Capture allows you to record a video or screenshot of your desktop, add annotation or voiceover, and then share it instantly – allowing you to communicate even complex ideas easily and clearly. XSplit Presenter also makes communication easier by giving you scope to greater interactivity to all of your presentations. Use the green screen and your computer camera or the virtual pointer to annotate your demonstration in real-time.

Provide confidential feedback

Giving and receiving feedback can be a huge help in your work, whether you are a manager or not. It can also help uncover hidden issues that are affecting your work or business. The more information you have, the more you can respond to the needs of employees and colleagues.

You can use a tool like SurveyMonkey to collect employee reactions and comments on a regular basis. XSplit Presenter also makes it easy to incorporate tools like polleverywhere, which allows you to collect instant responses from participants.

Don’t just hear – listen

Listening is probably the most important communication skill. Research suggests that we only remember between 25% and 50% of what we hear. That means many of us are missing vital information.

Improve your listening skills by practicing ‘active listening’. This involves techniques that show the speaker they have your undivided attention. For example, demonstrate that you are listening by keeping your posture and facial expressions open and interested, provide feedback by asking questions and reviewing what has been said, don’t interrupt, and respond honestly and respectfully.

Improving workplace communication does not happen overnight; it takes concerted effort. By using a combination of technology tools and your own initiative, you will be able to create a more open and effective workplace – whether it happens to be remote, in-person, or hybrid.

Even before COVID-19 forced the workforce to move home, office hybridization was on the rise. It gives workers the freedom to manage their lives around their workload. Removes the need to commute, and offers a better work/life balance. However, personal choice and job necessity mean that some workers prefer to be based in an office. Managing these dual requirements can often be a challenge, especially in terms of scheduling and communication. Leaving some businesses scratching their heads over how to run a hybrid office. Thankfully, there are several software solutions to help you, including time management and video conferencing packages.

How to run a hybrid office with Chat tools – Slack and Teams

Two of the top apps for a hybrid office are Slack and Microsoft Teams. For years, Slack has been the go-to tool for managing remote teams, such as a group of freelancers. Offering a clean, easy-to-use app for both mobile and desktop computers. At one point, Microsoft was considering buying the company for $8 billion, before it decided to create its similarly-styled Teams software. At first glance, both offer many of the same features including:

• File storage
• Audio and video calls
• Screen sharing
• Chat messages

There are some notable differences worth calling out, however. Teams currently offer a higher storage capacity – 10GB vs Slack’s 5GB – and also allows guest access. Users of Slack’s free version will also only be able to see the last 10,000 messages, which you can quickly reach in large organizations. Teams users, on the other hand, can go back through any of their chats without limitations.

Microsoft’s offering has its own limitations, however. Prior to the pandemic, meetings were restricted to 60 minutes. Afterward, this was increased to 30 hours, with no word on if it would eventually revert back. It’s also designed for integration with Microsoft Office 365, so if you work in a different ecosystem, it may not be the best choice.

The best video conferencing apps – Zoom and GoToMeeting

While Teams and Slack are handy for day-to-day comms between colleagues, sometimes you might want something a little bit more advanced to fulfill your video conferencing requirements. Tools like Zoom and GoToMeeting, for example, offer more features and cater to larger conferences for big business.

Zoom became synonymous with video calls in 2020, although the company was founded almost a decade earlier. Zoom supports up to 100 participants for free, and up to 1,000 with its premium packages. With 49 participants (plus the host) being displayed on the screen at any one time. It also has useful features such as polling, screen share, calendar integration, breakout rooms, and the option to go old-school and dial in on a phone.

Another option is GoToMeeting from LogMeIn. It offers similar features to Zoom, but with arguably better mobile app integration and quality (based on reviews). The other advantage is that its highest price tier can accommodate up to 3,000 participants – three times that of Zoom. LogMeIn also offers a cloud-based phone system with GoToConnect included as part of that package, so larger businesses looking for a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solution may find that it saves them money in the long run.

Video presenting software – XSplit Suite

When managing a hybrid office, you need to have solutions for running remote presentations and other interactive sessions such as training or pitching. The XSplit Suite has a wide range of top apps for a hybrid office, including:

• Presenter
• Capture
• VCam

Presenter gives you the tools to create stunning and engaging presentations. You can import slides from PowerPoint or Google Slides, videos from YouTube or Vimeo, and then run the presentation through Zoom, Teams, or any video call service. You can even add your own camera with background removal enabled and add guest speakers! Recording the presentation to be shared later is just as easy!

Capture is like a handy snippet tool for both screenshots and videos. You can specify the area of the screen you want to capture, record, or take a still image, and then add annotations or even a voice-over.

Finally, VCam takes the features to blur or replace your background on Teams or Zoom and ramps it up. The intelligent software can add a blur or simply strengthen the depth of field, giving your presentation a more cinematic quality. It also offers a high-quality background replacement, removing the need for a green screen while keeping you in focus. You can even use videos or YouTube videos as your backgrounds, adding lower thirds or company logos with ease for external calls.

Top Apps for time management and organization – RescueTime and Toggl Track

Calendar meetings and reminders are useful for scheduling, but what about the rest of your workday? That’s where you may want to try using an app to help you maximize not just your time, but that of your entire team as well.

RescueTime vows to help you take back control of your time. It does this in a number of smart ways, including tracking websites, blocking distractions when required, and assessing your schedule. It also has a smart coaching feature to keep you on track of what they term ‘Focus Work’.

While RescueTime is more focused on an individual, Toggl Track has a wider scope. It is more focused on your internal teams and external clients. With the aim of reducing time wasted on timecards, billing, and invoicing. It also has tools to look at new projects, with the ability to forecast timelines, budgets and track the overall progress. It can generate easy-to-read reports for clients that show them the progress being made.

With these tools at your disposal, you should find your hybrid office team working in a more streamlined way as they achieve a better work-life balance. If your team members are continuing to WFH, they may find our blog on the importance of keeping a schedule at home useful.