Meeting Equity: How to give all of your team space on the screen

Elon Musk isn’t the only one trying to get his employees back to the office.

We've seen employees slowly migrating back to their office spaces in recent months, with some companies even issuing a full mandate for return. But times have changed, and so have employee expectations. Do typical office spaces still suit the way we work and meet post-pandemic?

49% of organisations reconfigured their spaces ready for the return of employees in 2022, but research is demonstrating that those spaces still may not be in-tune with the requirements and expectations of employees, especially when it comes to hybrid meetings.

Important challenges were highlighted in a recent survey conducted by Jabra and Barco, whose data set covered 2800 businesses across the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Japan and India.

Challenge 1 - 80% of meetings include a virtual presence. This means there's a high chance that an employee visiting the office will join a Teams or Zoom call they could have done at home, without travel. Bloomberg Wealth said it best, "employees are returning to the office, just to sit on Zoom calls."

Challenge 2 - As a result of virtual meetings, office spaces are often noisy and ill-equipped for multiple hybrid meetings. 

Challenge 3 - Furniture in meeting rooms is often rectangular in shape, and this means some people in the room won't be "in the video-call frame" during a hybrid meeting.

Is Everyone Seen and Heard?

Focusing on the latter: if there are participants that can't be seen or heard adequately, do they feel part of the conversation? Are they as productive and contributory as they could or should be? The chances are, probably not.

These "equity" challenges are driving a new “workplace autonomy” and employees are looking for control over their digital integrity while seeking improved environments to best conduct their day-to-day work and meetings.

Let's Talk ... Meeting Equity

Meeting equity means that everyone in the hybrid workplace has equal opportunity to communicate, contribute and share ideas, wherever they're located.

Here's why it matters: technical inequalities that lead to exclusion from virtual environments are problematic for both employees and employers.

When asked if their organisation provided them with the necessary technology to collaborate equally and inclusively regardless of their location, only 57% of office workers said they could participate equally, compared to 81% of hybrid workers and 83% of remote workers.

How do we bring office workers back into the picture? More on that later.

Let's Talk ... Workplace Autonomy

Autonomy in the workplace means giving employees the freedom to work in a way that suits them. With autonomy at work, employees get to decide how and when their work should be done. In recent years, this has become an essential ingredient for a happy workforce.

"What it seems employees really want is autonomy. Within the context of hybrid work, this means having the ability to be the primary decision-maker of where and when they do their work." - Holger Reisinger SVP of Large Enterprise Solutions, Jabra

The survey also shows that, when employers provide better workplace autonomy, employees have higher belonging, motivation, productivity, trust in the team, trust in the leader, sense of impact, work-life balance and better overall mental well-being.

This leads to the crucial question: how do you make workspaces and meetings work for everyone?

Let's Talk ... Solutions

We believe change and improvement are possible - and that a blend of thoughtful furniture and technology is the answer. Dedicated hybrid workspaces in offices ensure meetings work for everyone, regardless of the autonomy they've chosen. Everyone is seen, heard and valued.

FREM Group Technology have developed a range of hybrid furniture solutions that gives everyone their space on the screen. With sound-absorbing materials and intelligent video technology, the Halo range promotes equal equity by presenting everyone equally in virtual meetings.

Integrated with the Jabra Panacast 50 video camera with its 180-degree field of view, and in conjunction with Microsoft Teams Rooms, Halo keeps every meeting as human as possible. Elo Touch Solutions and Jupiter Systems are our recommended screen providers, with video walls to fit your individual office space.

The result? Increased productivity, happiness, motivation and, perhaps most importantly, a fairer environment for all. Here's a sneak peak of one of the options, we'd love to know what you think.

Frem Group Technology - Halo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rob Bosher, Director - Frem Group Technology