Six months on since the World Health Organization officially classified the COVID-19 a pandemic, communications company Poly has mapped out the next phase of altered business and work setup. Its report “Hybrid Working: Creating the ‘next normal'” saw a more flexible but still collaborative workplace.

“The journey to the next normal is centered around three pillars of respond, redesign and reinvent,” said Samir Sayed, managing director, ASEAN and Korea, Poly (formerly Plantronics and Polycom) in an online media conference. “For business continuity purposes, the redesign phase is medium-term spanning from six to 18 months. In this phase, organizations will focus on delivering superior employee and customer experience, align policies and practices to the new normal of work from anywhere and equipping the workforce with the right tools and technologies to be efficient and productive.”

The report also said that 74% of CFOs are contemplating letting their workforce work from home permanently. Because of this, 40% of organizations expect that there will be continued use of virtual meetings, even after COVID-19 as a means of ensuring business continuity as well as ensuring employees are fully adjusted to the new setup.

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Technology

Poly also saw the efforts of organizations in ensuring that the remote work setup is effective both for the business and the workers.

Technology plays a fundamental role in the sudden shift in business operations and doing things. It has become the most resilient industry that did not survive but thrived in economic disruptions.

Technology is the most essential tool in whatever form of communication has thrived during these times when almost everyone is locked down in their homes — or wherever possible — while still performing their jobs.

Employees converted at least a part of their homes into a working space so they remain productive and can be able to fulfill their duties.

Video conference

Video conference is now the norm for it allows collaboration like when people are still working in offices. The pandemic contributed to the massive growth in the use of video conferencing apps as well as other tools to ensure employee collaboration and interaction.

Videoconferencing will drive workplace engagement and collaboration with 63% of organizations in Asia Pacific significantly increased their investments in conferencing devices and headsets to address the collaboration challenges during the COVID-19 crisis, with 41% increasing investments in videoconferencing devices significantly.

Cloud video adoption to continue growing with 33% of companies increased their investments in cloud video and collaboration solutions due to the pandemic, with demand expected to continue over the next 12 months, as they scale their technology capabilities to meet the needs of an increasingly remote workforce.

As businesses that quickly adapted to the new business landscape emerge from the effects of the pandemic, Poly’s report saw new working patterns wherein new working policies bring employees flexibility on work schedule and location. Work will be more focused on outcomes rather than processes and companies will optimize their investments ensuring that they are able to provide employees with inclusive and technology-enabled personal workspaces anywhere.