When we all worked from the office full-time, knowing who is and isn’t in each day was not important. Unless somebody had PTO or sickness, the expectation was that everybody would be in.
But times have changed, and so has the norm. Hybrid and flexible work models are now a standard across most of Europe and the US, meaning employees are now able to choose when they’ll be in the office.
One of the biggest challenges of hybrid work is the lack of office visibility.When employees work from different locations, it can be difficult to know who's in the office, what’s going on day-to-day, and what meetings are being held in person.
This lack of visibility can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection among team members, which can ultimately impact productivity and your bottom line.
The answer is to make sure your employees have an overview of office activity each week.
Your team needs to stay connected, and if you want your employees to face the morning rush hour, they need to know who they’ll see when they come into the office.
Unsure why office visibility matters? Read ahead to understand the benefits for your employees and your business.
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How Does Workplace Visibility Benefit Your Business?
Workplace visibility comes down to one key point: knowing who’s in the office and what’s happening, is the main driving factor for many employees deciding when to come into the office.
If your team has easy access to seeing office activity, you’ll benefit from:
#1 Increased Collaboration and Teamwork
When employees have visibility into who's in the office, they can use that to discern what projects are underway and whether or not to join their team in the office.
Collaborating in person, even periodically, makes it easier to track progress, identify roadblocks, and hold themselves and their colleagues accountable for meeting deadlines and achieving goals.
This leads to increased creativity, innovation, and problem-solving, as well as a more cohesive and productive team.
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Going into the office provides a clear separation between work and personal life, allowing employees to better manage their time and maintain a healthier work-life balance.
If your team has an overview of who’s in the office each week and when they can plan their workdays and workweeks accordingly.
Your team can schedule post-work drinks with friends for the days they’re in the office, or make sure a team in-office day doesn’t clash with their child’s school play.
Rather than panicking about being called in last minute to an in-person meeting, teams can plan projects and meetings based on who’s in and when.
A happier team means higher job satisfaction and fewer reasons for employees to churn.
#3 Stronger Relationships and Team Morale
Employees who have the opportunity to meet and network with colleagues across different teams and departments are more able to build stronger relationships.
Seeing who’s in the office isn’t just about the 9-5, it also contributes to the overlap between work and social life. Employees who see their favorite coworkers in the office can make plans for lunch and post-work socials.
Feeling connected to colleagues is key to workplace culture, and that long should be worth it.
“Companies with high connection scores have 32% higher ratings than their competitors, were 14 times more likely to be named on a “best places to work” list, and were 25% more likely to be recommended by current employees to their friends.”
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See who's in the office, organize socials and events, and increase your office attendance all within Slack.
While office visibility usually refers to the goings-on in the office, most hybrid companies will have a certain amount of remote workers at any given time.
Remote workers face unique challenges in feeling connected to the workplace, and it’s important to consider them when thinking about visibility.
Working from a different location can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection from the team and the company culture – particularly if you’re less able to attend the office.
Remote workers may also struggle to stay informed about what's happening in the office and may feel left out of important conversations or decisions.
However, workplace visibility can help remote workers feel more included and engaged.
When remote workers have access to information about who's in the office, what socials are happening, and what projects are being discussed each day, they’ll feel more connected to the team and the organization.
You can keep your remote workers better informed by:
By prioritizing visibility and inclusion for remote workers, organizations can create a more supportive and collaborative work environment, regardless of where employees are located.
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See who's in the office, organize socials and events, and increase your office attendance all within Slack.
#1 Encourage Team Members to Share Their Work and Accomplishments
In a hybrid team, it can be easy to overlook accomplishments. Each day goes so fast, yet for many businesses, there are achievements every single day.
Encouraging your team to share their work and achievements is a great way to create a culture that values transparency and openness.
Employees feel more comfortable sharing their ideas and feedback when they know that their contributions are valued.
It’s also important for showing other teams what people have been working on, and putting projects onto the radar of those who may not be aware.
One quick and easy way to do this is by creating #win or #nomination channels in your current messaging app.
Whether you ask for daily or weekly win contributions, it’s always important to regularly recognize and celebrate the successes of your team.
#2 Use Tools to Share Relevant Office Information and Updates
Encouraging people to share their work and accomplishments is a great way to build morale and company culture.
However, we do appreciate it can be tricky to add another to-do to your employees’ very long lists (no matter how good the intention).
Instead, you can focus on who’s in the office to make people want to be more included. Simply use a workspace management software or app to display this information.
If you’re already using a collaboration tool like Slack, Trello, or Asana, avoid asking your team to use a new tool by finding an office visibility tool such as Officely.
Officely lives in your Slack workspace, so your team doesn’t need to hunt for who’s in the office.
#3 Incentivize Coming into the Workplace for Employees
While technology can be a powerful tool for increasing workplace visibility, we’ve already touched on just how important in-person interactions are.
If you want to increase your workplace visibility, you need to make sure your team actually cares about who is coming into the office. Nurturing work relationships is key to this.
Creating opportunities for employees to interact with each other without a camera will help build stronger relationships between colleagues and foster a sense of belonging within the organization.
While remote workers may not feel the need to come into the office day-to-day, it’s important to give them the opportunity to meet others, whether through company socials or in-person learning events.
Hosting high-value events for employees; whether through socializing or learning, is a great way to encourage employees to build stronger relationships, and thus check in on who’s coming into the office each day.
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See who's in the office, organize socials and events, and increase your office attendance all within Slack.
No matter what tools or apps you provide your team with, people want a human experience.
Being able to see office activity and attendance is what brings your workplace to life. For a team that spends part or most of their working week communicating via tech, seeing how and when real people are meeting up to collaborate can make all the difference.
Office visibility promotes transparency and productivity, and it displays trust in employees to build their work-life balance around being in the office.
If you want to find out more about how Officely promotes visibility for your team, why not check out our visibility solutions page.
Try Officely Today
See who's in the office, organize socials and events, and increase your office attendance all within Slack.
Alice is Officely's content manager. When not spreading the word of Officely and hybrid work, you can find her feeding family, friends and strangers with her latest baking experiment.
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