BTEX 2023: Here’s How to Create Exceptional Hybrid Work Experiences

Coupled with the move to hybrid work is the importance of a concept Matthews described as digital equity for those working remotely. Digital equity gives those who work and collaborate remotely an equal voice, engaging experiences plus similar opportunities to contribute and be successful during hybrid work meetings with those who are physically located in a meeting room.

Matthews admitted he had never heard the term “digital equity” prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I never knew that we had to work to design technology that made sure people who are not in the meeting room were given the same opportunity and the same voice as people in the room,” he said.

“Before COVID, at CDW, if you weren't in the room, it was totally OK for you to (show up remotely as) a little black circle with two initials in it. That's what great (collaboration) looked like back then. We didn't expect anything else. But that's not the world that we live in today.”

Hybrid collaboration must level the playing field between remote and onsite workers, ensuring experiences and engagement for each type of worker allows them to listen, be seen and participate. Technology makes that happen.

Matthews explained there are new remote work solutions, such as cameras mounted in ways that make it appear remote attendees are continually making eye contact with those in a meeting room. Similarly, for those who may be sitting around a table in a meeting room, collaboration video technology generates a live video feed of each participant and shows them as individuals for the benefits of those attending remotely. 

“The innovation and the R&D money that's going into the space is incredible, and it's delivering simpler, easier to use technology and better customer experience,” Matthews said.

Hybrid work extends to working from anywhere. Matthews made the point, explaining that earlier that morning he was in a coffee shop and, while getting a beverage, he was also participating on an important call. Even earlier that day, Matthews worked remotely while travelling on a commuter train to downtown Toronto.

“That's just the world that we live in,” he said. “We have to be mobile. We have to be agile.”

During her portion of the presentation, Dhaliwal recalled her own recent experience of being with a professional colleague during a lunch meeting where, unexpectedly, she needed to deal with a customer problem that had been escalated to her.

“It's downtown Toronto. It’s lunchtime. It’s busy in the restaurant. It’s loud,” she recalled. “And I needed to take this call to support my customer. What allowed me to do this was having Microsoft Teams on my phone and being able to jump onto that meeting from where I was.”

By using Poly earbuds that cancelled out the background noise of a busy restaurant, Dhaliwal was able to hear, speak clearly and stay focused on her customer conversation.  

“I did not need to leave the restaurant,” she said. “I was able to take that call from right where I was. I was able to still be productive right there. That just goes to show that the experience for the end user, regardless of where they are, needs to be the same. The right equipment and technology need to be in place to support that.”

When choosing tools and solutions to support remote and hybrid working, Matthews said it's not enough to just install technology into your environment and simply hand it out to workers.

“Adoption, training and customer success are all part of your return on investment (ROI) conversation and calculation to make sure you're getting the most out of that investment,” he said.

Hybrid is today’s preferred way to work for many existing employees and can serve as a means for attracting talent. Matthews shared a story of a friend whose organization went from expecting everyone to be in the office five days a week prior to COVID and has, since the pandemic, offered a 32-hour flex week.

“No one took less pay,” he said. “But you must work 32 hours – in any way you like. The company went from not being able to hire anyone to now receiving resume after resume of really talented individuals at the executive level, at the leadership level and at the individual contributor level. Things like this are redefining employee retention.”

Workers ultimately became comfortable and familiar with the technologies they used during COVID to work from home or remotely. Many created home offices using modern technology and equipment that connected, was simple to use and worked.  

“Bringing your employees back into the office, they need to be able to have that same experience,” Dhaliwal said. “For example, they need to be able to walk into a meeting room and with one touch, start and join a meeting.”

But getting there poses challenges. Hybrid work technology often requires necessary skills to implement, configure and deploy solutions plus resources and expertise to continually monitor and manage it. Dhaliwal said CDW looks to support customers on the journey away from technology teams that invested many hours deploying devices to the modern approach of remotely activated devices and quickly delivered equipment with inherent security features.

“Imagine the amount of time your IT teams spend manually deploying and configuring devices. How much time could you get back and allow them to focus on things that are more important – like growing your business and improving your end-user experience?”

She added that CDW, through its support and services, seeks to simplify the IT management of remote and hybrid work technology and reduce costs within a hybrid working environment.

“We're doing that by helping to unify the management within your environment,” Dhaliwal said. “We have customers with multiple different mobile device management (MDM) solutions…used to manage different platforms. Those organizations may not be aware, but one of those MDMs can actually manage all platforms.

“Our teams can come in, support you in unifying that management, simplify things and help you reduce costs.”