For two local companies whose businesses will only be helped by a future that involves remote working and learning, the hybrid approach most companies are taking is a positive trend.
MindEdge Inc. of Waltham, which provides online education products for continuing ed, professional ed and for-credit courses. It also surveys universities and other large enterprises whom it serves its educational courseware.
A recent study by MindEdge showed 59% of U.S. workers who have not returned to in-person offices are fearful of safely doing so as reopening policies commence. The data comes as a follow-up to its first national survey, during the peak of the pandemic, “The State of Remote Work 2021: The Age of the Hybrid Workplace.”
In 2020, of the 800-plus surveyed full and part-time remote workers, “roughly a third of folks said they expected that they would continue working remotely full-time, even after the pandemic was over,” Frank Connolly, director of research at MindEdge Learning said.
Now, the 2021 survey reports that 49% of participants have been told their office would take a hybrid approach. A quarter of those surveyed do not want to ever return to a five-day, in-office work week. Connolly says that within the last year, those surveyed have shifted their perspective from remote work having a negative impact on their mental/emotional health to now having a positive one.
The main stressors to remote work however is lack of management’s ability to on-board new hires remotely and properly teach them the ins and outs of their role. Alongside of this, technological difficulties contributed highly to negative aspects of remote work, the study found.
Meanwhile, Boston-based Owl Labs is working to combat some of those tech difficulties.
Prior to the pandemic, Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs, was working with the company to develop its flagship product, Meeting Owl Pro.
The 360-degree camera, mic and speaker aims to make everyone feel included by sitting in the center of a table and using proprietary tech to zoom in on whoever’s speaking. It uses artificial intelligence to determine who's speaking and it presents that person on the screen, splitting the screen as many as three times for multiple speakers.
“To top it off, it shows the entire room in a panoramic strip, allowing remote or hybrid workers a more immersive in-office experience,” Weishaupt said.
Owl Labs was founded in 2014 and launched its first product in 2017. The Meeting Owl Pro is currently in 75,000 schools and businesses worldwide.
With headquarters in Boston and 40% of employees located as far as California, Texas and France, “we've always kind of lived in this world where you didn't have to be face-to-face,” Weishaupt said.
With that in mind, Weishaupt is highly in favor of company's opening their work policies to reach remote and hybrid employees.
“If you have a culture of accountability, and you're able to create an environment where your employees are able to thrive no matter where they are, who cares whether they're 30 miles away or 3,000 miles away?” Weishaupt said.
According to Owl Labs, of the roughly 65 million conference rooms in the world, only 5% are wired for video.
“There's a lot of touching up that businesses need to do around the world in order to provide the proper tools for their employees to be successful in a hybrid environment,” Weishaupt said.
Connolly of MindEdge agrees with that sentiment. The 2021 State of Remote Work survey found that 80% of hiring managers now highly value certifications on a candidate's resume, particularly so in leading a remote team or using remote technology.
“Hybrid is here to stay. Employees are excited about the potential of being able to have a mix of work from home as well as work in the office. Now, we need to catch up with investment technology to make their employees successful,” Weishaupt said.
