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Hybrid Workplaces: How Productivity Solutions Improve Digital Experience

New tools and modern platforms increase productivity in hybrid settings by helping digital workers collaborate, communicate and innovate.

IN THIS ARTICLE

As the modern workplace evolves from the remote model to a hybrid approach, organizations are looking to optimize solutions and refine processes. The number of applications users are required to work with has increased significantly, potentially hampering productivity and efficiency. Leaders must find ways to address challenges such as software integration, complexity and skill gaps.

Organizations need to create streamlined work environments that deliver a positive, productive user experience. To achieve this, many business leaders are considering artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated tools. Using such technology effectively requires a thoughtful strategy that measures results, applies insights and shares best practices while strengthening security and enhancing the user experience.

A holistic productivity strategy should optimize software licensing and consider using cloud resources to enhance teamwork and promote a valuable experience for users.

Empower your team with productivity software and solutions that help employees connect, solve problems and innovate while operating more quickly and efficiently.

As the modern workplace evolves from the remote model to a hybrid approach, organizations are looking to optimize solutions and refine processes. The number of applications users are required to work with has increased significantly, potentially hampering productivity and efficiency. Leaders must find ways to address challenges such as software integration, complexity and skill gaps.

Organizations need to create streamlined work environments that deliver a positive, productive user experience. To achieve this, many business leaders are considering artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated tools. Using such technology effectively requires a thoughtful strategy that measures results, applies insights and shares best practices while strengthening security and enhancing the user experience.

A holistic productivity strategy should optimize software licensing and consider using cloud resources to enhance teamwork and promote a valuable experience for users.

Empower your team with productivity software and solutions
that help employees connect, solve problems and innovate
while operating more quickly and efficiently. 

mkt73355-productivity-secondary

The Hybrid Work Experience

Many organizations shifted quickly to remote work in recent years and are now adapting to another challenge: optimizing solutions and refining processes to support long-term hybrid workforces. Ninety percent of companies expect to have staff working in offices regularly by the end of 2024, with more than half requiring two to four days in person. This is an opportunity to reassess technology to ensure current solutions drive efficiency, enhance productivity and deliver a frictionless experience to users, wherever they are.

In many cases, solutions hastily assembled in 2020 to enable remote work are no longer aligned with organizations’ current needs. Challenges arise from poorly integrated systems, together with duplicative software solutions deployed with little IT oversight. In 2023, the average knowledge worker used 11 applications, up from six in 2019. This multiplicity makes it harder for employees to find important information, impedes productivity and leads to poor decision-making.

Today, the goal is to streamline and simplify IT environments into cohesive, well-integrated ecosystems that reduce barriers to productivity by delivering an exceptional user experience. Many organizations are also evaluating their cloud deployments — which often were spun up quickly to enable remote access — to optimize costs and strengthen security.

82%

The percentage of business leaders who say their employees will need new skills to be prepared for the growth of AI

Source: microsoft.com, “Will AI Fix Work?” May 9, 2023



Business and IT leaders are also deciding how to leverage automation and AI — key drivers of workplace productivity. For example, automated tools can create meeting notes or security incident summaries, while AI chatbots can be implemented that allow natural language use to find answers or create support tickets. Given the potential of these tools to reshape workflows and enhance efficiency in new ways, organizations must determine where AI and automation can be used most effectively and how to measure their impact to ensure the organization is benefiting from its investments.

Hybrid workforces that are thriving and sustainable also focus on people. How can organizations create offices that employees want to come back to? How can they meet younger employees’ technology expectations? Where can they remove friction that diminishes productivity? How can they reduce friction for all hybrid scenarios, so employees can get the most benefit out of every location (for instance, optimizing team and social interactions in office settings, while maximizing focus and work-life balance benefits at home)? Done well, digital work enables employees to transition between work, home and mobile locations without missing a beat.

How can your digital work environment
ensure that users are at their most productive,
no matter where they are?

The Hybrid Work Experience

Many organizations shifted quickly to remote work in recent years and are now adapting to another challenge: optimizing solutions and refining processes to support long-term hybrid workforces. Ninety percent of companies expect to have staff working in offices regularly by the end of 2024, with more than half requiring two to four days in person. This is an opportunity to reassess technology to ensure current solutions drive efficiency, enhance productivity and deliver a frictionless experience to users, wherever they are.

In many cases, solutions hastily assembled in 2020 to enable remote work are no longer aligned with organizations’ current needs. Challenges arise from poorly integrated systems, together with duplicative software solutions deployed with little IT oversight. In 2023, the average knowledge worker used 11 applications, up from six in 2019. This multiplicity makes it harder for employees to find important information, impedes productivity and leads to poor decision-making.

Today, the goal is to streamline and simplify IT environments into cohesive, well-integrated ecosystems that reduce barriers to productivity by delivering an exceptional user experience. Many organizations are also evaluating their cloud deployments — which often were spun up quickly to enable remote access — to optimize costs and strengthen security.

82%

The percentage of business leaders who say their employees will need new skills to be prepared for the growth of AI

Source: microsoft.com, “Will AI Fix Work?” May 9, 2023



Business and IT leaders are also deciding how to leverage automation and AI — key drivers of workplace productivity. For example, automated tools can create meeting notes or security incident summaries, while AI chatbots can be implemented that allow natural language use to find answers or create support tickets. Given the potential of these tools to reshape workflows and enhance efficiency in new ways, organizations must determine where AI and automation can be used most effectively and how to measure their impact to ensure the organization is benefiting from its investments.

Hybrid workforces that are thriving and sustainable also focus on people. How can organizations create offices that employees want to come back to? How can they meet younger employees’ technology expectations? Where can they remove friction that diminishes productivity? How can they reduce friction for all hybrid scenarios, so employees can get the most benefit out of every location (for instance, optimizing team and social interactions in office settings, while maximizing focus and work-life balance benefits at home)? Done well, digital work enables employees to transition between work, home and mobile locations without missing a beat.

How can your digital work environment
ensure that users are at their most productive,
no matter where they are?

Digital Work by the Numbers

87%

The percentage of employees who say poor technologies hurt their company’s productivity, a finding echoed by 89 percent of technology leaders

66%

The percentage of digital workers who say that having IT-provided, enterprisewide applications and devices would improve business outcomes

76%

The percentage of workers who say they would be comfortable using artificial intelligence for administrative tasks

Source: microsoft.com, “Will AI Fix Work?” May 9, 2023

Digital Work by the Numbers

87%

The percentage of employees who say poor technologies hurt their company’s productivity, a finding echoed by 89 percent of technology leaders

66%

The percentage of digital workers who say that having IT-provided, enterprisewide applications and devices would improve business outcomes

76%

The percentage of workers who say they would be comfortable using artificial intelligence for administrative tasks

Source: microsoft.com, “Will AI Fix Work?” May 9, 2023

cdw

Productivity Challenges to Hybrid Work

Most organizations have the infrastructure in place to enable remote collaboration; now, they are focused on reducing friction and increasing productivity through AI and automation. Even with new tools in place, however, legacy issues, such as information sprawl, may hinder efficiency. Leaders must think holistically to reduce productivity challenges affecting technology, processes and people.

REMOTE VERSUS HYBRID: Remote work solutions differ from those needed to support hybrid teams. Modernizing applications and integrating them with identity solutions allow for secure, seamless access, including more granular control over who can access what data from which device or location. Organizations may also want to reduce the time spent managing on-premises Active Directory systems as cloud-based identity solutions such as Entra ID become more available.

POOR SOFTWARE INTEGRATION: Organizations should reassess tools they rushed to deploy as the workforce quickly shifted to primarily remote work. Gartner reports that using too many applications can impede employees’ productivity, make them more likely to overlook important information and lead them to make poor decisions due to lack of information.

Click Below to Continue Reading

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MANAGEMENT COMPLEXITY: Maintaining productivity in hybrid settings requires a new approach to management. Leaders must reorient individual productivity toward trackable goals and timelines, ideally supported by integrated solutions. Leaders also need to align technology investments with organizational objectives, develop clear measurement processes, assign responsibilities and adjust course based on the resulting insights.

BECOMING AI-READY: AI is a powerful productivity booster, especially when organizations customize platforms’ built-in tools with their own information. However, organizations must have data governance policies and effective infrastructure in place to be successful. They also need to determine how AI tools will serve different users, including executives, IT professionals, frontline workers and business leaders, all of whom have unique objectives.

EMPLOYEE SKILL GAPS: Employees need training and ongoing support to help them improve their ability to reap productivity benefits from AI. In hybrid settings, organizations should offer training in various modalities (for example, with in person and video training sessions and hands-on practice). They should also track usage to learn how employees are handling AI tools and develop guidance where needed.

cdw

Productivity Challenges

Most organizations have the infrastructure in place to enable remote collaboration; now, they are focused on reducing friction and increasing productivity through AI and automation. Even with new tools in place, however, legacy issues, such as information sprawl, may hinder efficiency. Leaders must think holistically to reduce productivity challenges affecting technology, processes and people.

REMOTE VERSUS HYBRID: Remote work solutions differ from those needed to support hybrid teams. Modernizing applications and integrating them with identity solutions allow for secure, seamless access, including more granular control over who can access what data from which device or location. Organizations may also want to reduce the time spent managing on-premises Active Directory systems as cloud-based identity solutions such as Entra ID become more available.

POOR SOFTWARE INTEGRATION: Organizations should reassess tools they rushed to deploy as the workforce quickly shifted to primarily remote work. Gartner reports that using too many applications can impede employees’ productivity, make them more likely to overlook important information and lead them to make poor decisions due to lack of information.

Click Below to Continue Reading

arrow

MANAGEMENT COMPLEXITY: Maintaining productivity in hybrid settings requires a new approach to management. Leaders must reorient individual productivity toward trackable goals and timelines, ideally supported by integrated solutions. Leaders also need to align technology investments with organizational objectives, develop clear measurement processes, assign responsibilities and adjust course based on the resulting insights.

BECOMING AI-READY: AI is a powerful productivity booster, especially when organizations customize platforms’ built-in tools with their own information. However, organizations must have data governance policies and effective infrastructure in place to be successful. They also need to determine how AI tools will serve different users, including executives, IT professionals, frontline workers and business leaders, all of whom have unique objectives.

EMPLOYEE SKILL GAPS: Employees need training and ongoing support to help them improve their ability to reap productivity benefits from AI. In hybrid settings, organizations should offer training in various modalities (for example, with in person and video training sessions and hands-on practice). They should also track usage to learn how employees are handling AI tools and develop guidance where needed.

What can your organization gain from improving
the connection and collaboration of employees?

Matt Wettstein

CDW Expert
Matt Wettstein has 20 years of experience in technology and managing teams, with a focus on achieving customer outcomes and building a culture of success, growth and a solution mindset.

Al MacKinnon

Solution Architect CORP DX
Al MacKinnon is a seasoned professional with over a decade of experience advising and enabling customers around Microsoft Cloud solutions. As a lead for CDW’s digital experience solutions architect team, he focuses on enabling his team to deliver Microsoft Modern Work solutions. Prior to CDW, Al spent ten years at Microsoft as a consultant and Microsoft certified trainer and project manager.

Mark Rineck

Product Manager
Mark Rineck is a Product Manager focused on building customer voice into innovative solutions, with over 25 years of experience delivering, architecting and designing Modern Work solutions.