Hybrid working is here to stay, but how do business owners judge if it is working or not? The answer can be found by analysing data produced by solutions such as Microsoft Teams, says Richard Jones, commercial director for Tollring Analytics 365 on Microsoft Teams.
Hybrid working is now a long-term prospect for many businesses. The ubiquity of solutions such as Microsoft Teams and its ability to underpin the new mix of remote and office working makes it a practical option, but without the ability to understand or measure the productivity, job satisfaction and collaboration across their people, how can organisations be sure everyone is working at their best? Is hybrid working a threat, or can it be an opportunity?
Forward-thinking channel providers are now playing a pivotal role in helping their customers to understand the impact of hybrid working by offering a full service-wrap and a transformative solution around Microsoft Teams.
And the opportunity for the channel is enormous. The number of daily users of Microsoft Teams grew from 145 million users in 2021 to 270 million in 2022 – and it continues to climb.
Providers have adapted quickly to this expansion, moving from simply selling licences to being able to discuss adoption rates, software updates and best practice. They are also helping customers to take full advantage of the rich multimedia collaboration potential within Teams to work effectively with their customers, global suppliers and colleagues.
Visibility of internal collaboration is becoming as important as visibility of external engagement because both significantly impact customer experience. Collaboration analytics is very new, with only a few applications on the market. Microsoft Viva Insights is one of the applications that can deliver a level of feedback into collaboration at a group level, with a free and a paid version. However, Viva offers the headline numbers – for example, 75% of people were on time to meetings during the past month, and 25% of meetings overran – but doesn’t provide an insight into users’ experiences at a group, departmental and individual level.
Adding value to the hybrid workplace
To understand the levels, type and methods of collaboration with co-workers, teams, customers and suppliers, channel providers need to go a step further by adding applications like Analytics 365, which reveal trends and patterns of communication and collaboration behaviours when people are working in a mix of home and office.
The latest applications draw metrics from Microsoft Teams, leveraging existing permissions and security settings to show activity profiles across messaging, meetings and Teams. When coupled with a layer of intelligence, managers can assess a wealth of information about business working practices across individual roles and working groups.
Service providers can work with customers to access this information and provide feedback across the whole lifecycle of a Teams implementation. They can then track and agree thresholds and KPIs with their customers and monitor them as part of the service-wrap.
With easy-to-understand dashboards, users can manage and report on levels of collaboration, help identify the key drivers of productivity, drive motivation and show how to improve their support of colleagues no matter where they are based. Overall, it levels the playing field for workers by ensuring everyone is visible and allows managers to spot the early signs of burnout before it becomes a problem.
With Microsoft Teams and supporting analytics, hybrid workers no longer need to be hidden from view. With real data and analysis, channel providers can ensure their customers can introduce policies based on fact rather than supposition, helping to foster effective communication, staff wellbeing, knowledge share and adherence to company policy.
Tollring has introduced Analytics 365 and it is available in the Microsoft Teams App Store. All new customers receive a one-month free trial – visit the App store on Microsoft Teams or https://www.analytics-365.com/
