The past two years have forced our global community to restructure the way we work, leading to a hybrid operating model that has evolved into an established part of how organizations communicate. A recent whitepaper released by Frost & Sullivan, in collaboration with Shure, shows 57% of teams expect to be in the office less than 10 days each month in the long term. Equally notable, the whitepaper found that 98% of employees believe future meetings will always include remote participants.
These significant statistics tell us organizational effectiveness will continue to be affixed to an IT leader’s ability to ensure the right technology has been deployed to keep employees collaborative. If executed correctly, the rapid evolution of hybrid work models and high-quality audio technology can reduce the negative impact to productivity imposed by roadblocks to collaboration like sound cutting out, echo, background noise and participants not being able to be heard. All of which are common frustrations met by employees that can ruin the success of a meeting.
The Frost & Sullivan whitepaper, Flawless Audio for Effective Collaboration in a Hybrid World, that Shure supported, presents four practices organizations can easily apply to enhance their remote working model. Only when teams feel involved and empowered, can organizations achieve their best results.
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First, it is fundamental to think beyond video and embrace flawless audio. Video conferencing has enabled businesses to keep running throughout the pandemic by supporting rich collaboration from remote locations. But what if audio fails? With video alone, most, if not all, of an organization’s communication would be severely impaired, making it nearly impossible for a team to reach a goal or complete a task. Understanding the importance of having high-quality audio will lead IT leaders to provide the right solutions.
Secondly, organizations should deploy technology that strengthens collaboration. Today, participants can join a meeting from many different locations. Audio solutions should seamlessly integrate with modern conferencing platforms that are high-quality, reliable and user friendly.
Third on an IT leader’s list should be the integration of remote and in-room meeting participants with flawless audio. All members of the meeting should have the same experience, regardless of where they are joining the meeting from. It is important to recognize that this participative experience can only happen when high-quality audio technology and collaborative tools are in place, helping to guide IT leaders as they strive to unlock employees’ full potential in the hybrid world.
None of the above is possible without the fourth and final step of ensuring a flexible product portfolio that works together.
Deploying flawless audio requires integrated solutions that are scalable and intuitive. When evaluating AV technologies, decision makers need to be certain the entire solution connects easily and delivers a unified experience for both users and administrators.
With these practical steps in mind, IT leaders can, not only be more well-prepared to make the most value-added purchasing decisions when evaluating the right hybrid setup for their organization, but also significantly reinforce their talent retention. The right decision will foster a more collaborative and people-centric environment wherever employees are and however they choose to work.
Marjorie Daniel is the global marketing director of integrated systems at Shure Incorporated.
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