How Microsoft Teams Enables Work Anywhere

Work more flexibly with Microsoft Teams

For years, professionals have theorized that a physical office is not entirely necessary to ensure productivity and performance in the workplace. When the pandemic hit in 2020, we found that people can really perform just as well in any environment, provided they have access to the right tools.

The rise of “Anywhere Work” stems from the recognition that any place can be a workplace, in the right circumstances. One of the leaders in technological innovation, Microsoft is among the top companies leading the way to this future of work from anywhere, with the help of Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams, as a flexible software solution for the modern workforce, enables quick and easy conversations across a range of environments, as well as task tracking, video conferencing, and file sharing. Here’s how Microsoft Teams is helping to empower work anywhere.

Defining the future of work anywhere with Microsoft Teams

As a company, Microsoft often champions the concept of “hybrid work,” which revolves around providing the tools employees need to work in or out of the office. Working everywhere is a similar idea. While “hybrid” work seems to focus more on a combination of office and home work, anywhere work is more diverse.

Usually when we talk about “work anywhere” we are talking about the practices of people who rarely spend much time behind a desk. Field workers, constantly on the move, and professionals who travel frequently for work will often fall into these categories.

For Microsoft, the quest to work well anywhere starts with the same three basic principles of “hybrid” work – powered by Microsoft Teams. These pillars are:

Work everywhere and “people”

Enabling a “work everywhere” workforce means considering the needs of the entire workplace, not just the people in your office with desks. Microsoft Teams offers specific tools for frontline workers and people who spend a lot of time on the go.

Frontline technology ranges from flexible, customizable to-do list applications to workforce management and scheduling tools and in-depth analytics. Viva Insights empowers managers and leaders to even monitor the well-being of their teams and organizations, wherever they are, so business leaders can hire the best talent anywhere and without compromise.

Microsoft Teams also has dedicated collaboration and communication tools for different verticals in the all-encompassing work landscape, such as retail, healthcare, and manufacturing. Across all aspects of the Microsoft Teams Anywhere work landscape, companies have many ways to ensure their professionals have easy access to business-critical data from anywhere.

Work and “place” everywhere

The ‘place’ aspect of Microsoft’s approach to wherever work is is prompting companies to rethink what the ‘workplace’ might look like. Microsoft Teams Rooms ensure that everyone can sit at the table during an important meeting, even if they participate in conversations on a production floor or on the road.

Microsoft Teams even integrates with tools like Apple Play, allowing professionals to make hands-free phone calls and meetings in their vehicle using Siri and their smartphone.

In fact, because it can be difficult to join video meetings and work on the go, Microsoft has become one of the first companies in the current business landscape to begin experimenting with disruptive technology like RealWear for virtual and augmented reality.

The use of extended reality for Anywhere Work already supports a large number of companies in different ways. Customers such as Honeywell now use Microsoft Teams and hands-free video calling with RealWear to perform virtual inspections and factory testing.

Work everywhere and “processes”

The final consideration in the set of three “Ps” Microsoft uses for hybrid and anywhere work scheduling are processes. A shift to a new style of working, in a landscape full of people interacting from different environments, offers new opportunities for companies to update their processes like never before. For example, we’ve already mentioned how Microsoft can partner with other disruptive technology vendors to change the way inspections and assurance testing are completed.

Other changes that Microsoft is enabling with the Teams work-anywhere environment are evolutions in the processes around meetings and conversations. Through Microsoft Teams, employees on the go can make sure they never miss the important updates and data that other personal employees receive. Businesses can even use solutions like the Microsoft Power Automate platform to automatically deliver useful information and recordings to staff on the go.

Through tools such as Viva Analytics within Microsoft, it is also possible for companies to thoroughly assess the workflows of their teams, wherever they are located. This means business leaders can capture digital signals with tools like Workplace Analytics, which show leaders and managers data about the wellbeing of their teams, whether they’re in the office or otherwise. This should contribute to the continued involvement of staff who are not in the office.

Creating a better future for workers everywhere

In recent years, Microsoft is just one of many companies that have begun to notice how important frontline workers can be to our day-to-day operations. While frontline workers have long played a valuable role in developing the business landscape, they have been largely overlooked when it comes to communication and collaboration tools.

The rise of Anywhere Work has pushed innovators like Microsoft Teams to deliver new ways of working for this flexible landscape. There are even specialist solutions such as Microsoft Cloud for production, to connect the production workplace, or Microsoft for healthcare.

Once team members in an Anywhere Work environment are connected on the central Microsoft Teams communication platform, it is easy to digitize workflows from the digital workplace. Companies can bring the tools and processes that employees from all environments use every day into the flow of work with integrations and add-ons.

Teams even has special templates specific to support work requirements everywhere, such as ensuring that team members can request overtime or access approval for a shift change.

Microsoft Teams shows us that the most efficient and productive teams are the ones able to serve all employees – wherever they are.

source: uctoday