May 30, 2023

Embrace hybrid working with Teams: a new paradigm for the future of work

Clara

Clara

5 min reading

By 2023, 8 out of 10 eligible employees want to be working in a hybrid mode.

The world of work is constantly evolving, and the emergence of hybrid working is one of the most striking trends of recent years. With the global pandemic turning our working habits upside down, more and more companies are turning to flexible working models, combining remote working with on-site presence.  

In 2023, 8 out of 10 eligible employees want to adopt hybrid working. More than 6 out of 10 managers think it will continue to grow. And 80% of them feel that their company is insufficiently adapted to this form of work. (Source : My Happy Job)

In this article, we'll explore how to effectively adopt hybrid working using Microsoft Teams and the Digital Workplace.

Create a hybrid work culture:

The adoption of hybrid working begins with a cultural transformation within the company. It is essential to create an environment where remote working is encouraged and accepted. Communication and collaboration must be facilitated, wherever people work.  

💡 Find out more about corporate culture

Promote flexibility and autonomy

Hybrid working gives employees greater flexibility and autonomy in organizing their working time. It's important to put in place policies and practices that enable employees to manage their time effectively. This can include flexible working hours, the ability to work remotely as required, and trusting employees to manage their own tasks and projects.

The Digital Workplace, which brings together all the resources and tools needed for day-to-day work, greatly facilitates this flexibility by enabling secure access to information and applications, regardless of location.

Encourage confidence and autonomy

The key to successful hybrid working is to give employees sufficient trust and autonomy to manage their own work. Be flexible when it comes to working hours, and evaluate performance based on results rather than physical presence in the office. This will enable employees to take ownership of their work and strike a balance between their professional and personal lives.

Define a clear policy

Establish clear guidelines and a formal policy on hybrid working. This policy should explain the company's expectations in terms of availability, communication, organization of working time, and the benefits and responsibilities associated with remote working. Ensure that this policy is communicated transparently to all employees.

Encourage communication and collaboration:

Seamless communication and active collaboration are essential in a hybrid work environment. Implement processes and tools that facilitate virtual collaboration and communication. This will strengthen team bonds, encourage the exchange of ideas and help solve problems more quickly, regardless of physical presence in the office.

Wondering which tool to use? Here's a closer look at Microsoft Teams and its features to better understand how this application is revolutionizing today's workplace.  

Use the advanced features of Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams, Microsoft's collaborative communications platform, is an ideal tool for facilitating hybrid working. With the Teams app, teams can hold virtual meetings, exchange ideas, share files and collaborate in real time, regardless of their geographical location. Teams offers a range of advanced features that promote collaboration and productivity, even from a distance.

⚡Find out more about Microsoft Teams

Virtual meetings

Teams lets you plan and join virtual meetings in just a few clicks. Advanced features include the ability to send invitations, set reminders, record meetings and share screens. These features enable real-time collaboration, even when team members are spread across different locations.

🚀 To go further, find out how to create and run a Microsoft Teams meeting .

New paradigm for the future of work

Microsoft Teams channels

Channels in Teams allow you to group conversations, files and resources by team, project or specific topic. This makes it easy to find relevant information, and allows everyone to follow important discussions and updates, regardless of where they work. Team members can actively participate in discussions, share ideas and stay informed of progress.

Online file sharing

With Teams, you can share files online, enabling all team members to access, view and edit relevant documents in real time. This eliminates the confusion of different file versions and facilitates remote collaboration. What's more, Teams offers integration with OneDrive, making it easy to store and share files securely.

Real-time collaboration

Teams offers real-time collaboration features such as simultaneous document editing, annotations and comments. This enables team members to work together on the same document, wherever they may be. Real-time collaboration promotes productivity and team cohesion, even from a distance.

Virtual whiteboards

Teams virtual whiteboards let you brainstorm, take notes and work visually as a team, even when members are working remotely. You can create and share interactive whiteboards, add ideas, drawings and images, and collaborate in real time. This facilitates creativity and collective problem-solving, regardless of distance.

Instant messaging and audio/video calls

Teams offers integrated instant messaging, as well as high-quality audio and video calls. This enables fast, efficient communication between team members, whether to ask questions, exchange information or discuss urgent matters. Audio and video calls offer an alternative to face-to-face meetings, encouraging remote working.

🤯To go further, discover how to optimize the employee experience with Microsoft Teams (mozzaik365.com)

Microsoft Viva, the platform integrated into Teams, also encourages hybrid working.

Microsoft Viva, the platform of choice for hybrid working

Microsoft Viva is an integrated employee experience platform integrated with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams. It's a valuable tool for facilitating hybrid working by offering specific features that support collaboration, communication and employee well-being, regardless of where they work. Here are some key aspects of Microsoft Viva that support hybrid working:

Viva Connections

Viva Connections centralizes company information, resources and news in a personalized, user-friendly interface within Microsoft Teams. This facilitates access to all necessary resources, from company policies and training to important documents and internal updates. Hybrid workers stay connected to essential information, whether in the office or remotely.

Viva Insights

Viva Insights provides data and statistics on employee work habits, well-being and productivity. This feature enables employees to better manage their time, balance their workload and prevent burnout. For managers, Viva Insights offers key indicators to monitor team well-being and take appropriate action to support employees.

Viva Learning

Viva Learning is a learning platform integrated with Microsoft Teams. It gives employees easy access to educational content and training, whether internal or external to the organization. This feature promotes professional development and knowledge sharing, enabling hybrid employees to access learning and development opportunities, regardless of their location.

Viva Topics

Viva Topics uses artificial intelligence to identify, organize and share knowledge across the enterprise. It enables the creation of knowledge bases and concept maps on different topics, making it easier to search for and discover relevant information. This can be particularly useful for hybrid employees, who can access essential knowledge and keep up to date on topics relevant to their work.

📌 Want to find out more about Microsoft Viva? Read our article Microsoft Viva, focusing on the employee experience .

Integrating Teams with other tools

Integrating Microsoft Teams with other tools is one of the key aspects in facilitating hybrid working. Here are a few examples of integrations that can be particularly beneficial:

Integration with Microsoft Planner

Microsoft Planner is a task and project management tool that lets you create to-do lists, assign responsibilities and track progress. By integrating Microsoft Planner with Teams, you can easily create tasks directly from discussions in team channels, assign tasks to specific members and set due dates. This integration ensures efficient coordination and increased visibility of project progress.

Integration with OneNote

OneNote is a collaborative note-taking tool. By integrating it with Teams, you can create shared notepads for taking notes in virtual meetings, sharing ideas and information, and organizing them in a structured way. This integration facilitates real-time collaboration on notes and enables all team members to access and update them, even remotely.

Integration with SharePoint

SharePoint is an enterprise content management platform. By integrating SharePoint with Teams, you can share documents and files stored in SharePoint, synchronize them with the team and facilitate collaboration. Team members can access files, modify them in real time and track previous versions, all without leaving the Teams environment. This integration provides centralized document management and promotes effective collaboration.

⚡ To find out more, discover why choose SharePoint to create your intranet?

Integration with Power BI

Power BI is a business intelligence tool for creating interactive reports and dashboards. By integrating Power BI with Teams, you can share reports and visualizations with team members, making data easier to understand and enabling decision-making based on real-time information. Team members can also receive automatic notifications and updates on important dashboards, directly in Teams.

⚡To go further, discover how to transform Teams into a user experience platform

Embrace hybrid working

MODA, the latest Microsoft Teams application

MODA, the Microsoft Teams application developed by Mozzaik365, makes hybrid working much easier.

What is the MODA application?

MODA lets you design, create and customize your Dashboards directly in Microsoft Teams. In just 2 clicks, centralize your company's business tools and optimize your employees' mobile experience.

MODA offers features that can be easily added with a simple click and drag of Widgets. It is also possible to customize and resize the finalized dashboard, which can then be made available to all or some employees.  

🌞 Did you know? MODA is now available in the Microsoft Teams Store!

How does MODA facilitate hybrid working?

The MODA application adresses a number of issues:

  • The difficulty of properly onboarding new employees, especially from a distance
  • Poor communication with field teams,  
  • The need to centralize information related to each project,  
  • The need for effective and centralized internal communication,  
  • And the need to improve the digital experience of employees.

Improve your internal communication with MODA  

With its personalized dashboards in Microsoft Teams, MODA can significantly improve your internal communication. The dashboard lets you prioritize information, distribute it specifically to a target audience and notify employees of important publications. With MODA, you can solve internal communication problems by providing employees with the data they need, without overwhelming them with unnecessary data.

💡 To go further, discover how to improve internal communication on Teams

Optimize the digital experience of your employees with MODA

Give your employees a smoother, more pleasant user experience in Microsoft Teams. An optimal user experience translates into easier adoption of Teams, especially for new recruits. With MODA, you can create an optimized digital experience that makes it easier to navigate, access information and collaborate within Teams.

Successfully integrate your new employees with MODA.

MODA facilitates the integration process by creating a dedicated dashboard for new arrivals in Teams. This ephemeral dashboard enables the new employee to easily access administrative information, meet members of the company, contact their manager and colleagues in just a few clicks.  

✒️ To find out more, discover how to use Teams to successfully Onboard employees?

Communicate more easily with teams in the field thanks to MODA.  

MODA is 100% optimized for the mobile experience. This enables employees in the field to follow company news, consult their to-do list and view the organization's social network feed directly from their smartphone. With MODA, communication with field teams becomes easier and more efficient.

Make your projects run smoothly  

MODA Dashboards provide each team with the information and links they need to successfully complete their projects. By centralizing resources and facilitating access to information, MODA facilitates team collaboration and makes it easier to achieve objectives. Thanks to MODA, your projects will run more smoothly and efficiently!

📆 To go further, discover the guide to improving your project management on Microsoft Teams

In conclusion, the adoption of hybrid working is an important step in enabling companies to adapt to the new realities of the professional world. By fostering a hybrid work culture, using Teams' advanced features, encouraging flexibility and autonomy, and facilitating communication and collaboration, companies can create a high-performance, balanced and resilient work environment. Hybrid working is here to stay, and it's time to embrace it fully to shape the future of work.

Free Internal Communication whitepaper ! Get your copy now.

Access the resource