Navigating The Challenges of Hybrid Work

Work changed in 2020, but not just for the lockdown period—it changed forever. It’s become increasingly clear that we won’t return to the old working model.

Workers have become accustomed to the autonomy of a remote environment. The 2021 Employee Experience Imperative found that six in 10 employees prefer some amount of remote work. As vaccine rollouts make office work possible again, employers are realizing hybrid is the future.

However, hybrid work comes with a new set of challenges. Organizations must put effort into creating the collaboration, experiences, and efficiency the business and its workforce demand.

Hybrid work: Avoiding a two-tier experience

Many organizations are thinking about the space challenges of supporting hybrid work. Where will everyone sit? Will there be enough meeting rooms?

But there are some other big challenges to consider as well, such as inclusivity. Hybrid environments create a risk of uneven power dynamics between remote and in-person employees—a two-tier dilemma.

According to Harvard Business Review, the creation of these power differentials within teams can “damage relationships, impede effective collaboration, and ultimately result in reduced performance.” So, organizations must ensure all workers, whether remote or in person, get a consistent employee experience.

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5 ways to deliver a consistent experience

Avoiding a two-tier system starts with ensuring all employees—no matter where they work—have the same opportunities for support and collaboration. ServiceNow and Microsoft Teams are committed to bridging that gap. As of July 2021, Microsoft Teams has 250 million monthly active users.

Here are five things we’re doing together to help organizations deliver consistent experiences in this new world of work, for employees and the teams that support them:

Through the ServiceNow and Microsoft Teams integration, employees can get help in the collaboration tools they use most frequently—from home or the office.
Within the familiar and convenient Microsoft Teams environment, employees can submit and follow up on tickets from anywhere.
With AI-powered recommendations, the ServiceNow Virtual Agent can provide answers to frequently asked questions by employees, and the power of Predictive Intelligence can help agents efficiently resolve cases as needed.
For more urgent issues, employees and agents can simulate an in-person experience by initiating a video call, chat, or meeting directly in Microsoft Teams.
With always-on virtual agents running in Teams, employees are able to get help from a single place, and in the tools they already use. They don’t need to toggle between apps or waste time finding whom to contact. The Virtual Agent deflects common service requests such as “How much was my last paycheck?” or “When will my benefits kick in?”—reducing the workload for IT, HR, and facilities teams and freeing them to focus on more strategic tasks.

Uniting people

As work changes, employees and businesses need tools that bring people together even when they’re apart. By integrating ServiceNow and Microsoft Teams, you meet employees where they are and increase employee collaboration and satisfaction—lessening the potential of a two-tier experience.

By: Chris Knepper

Source: Navigating the Challenges of Hybrid Work – ServiceNow Blog

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