Microsoft research suggests that remote work might become more common after the coronavirus crisis has ended. If true, this could bring about fundamental changes to how people work, and the use of technologies including video chat apps and multi-tasking office communication platforms.
The COVID-19 outbreak has already had a devastating impact on many industries with companies forced to let employees work from home. In turn, this has had a huge impact on apps and services and especially those relating to remote communication. Video conferencing apps like Zoom and Skype have seen a surge in demand over the last few weeks, with everything from board meetings to brainstorming sessions having shifted online. Meanwhile, team discussions and work allocation are happening through communication platforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams. Both Slack and Teams recently reported record-breaking growth which is not surprising considering how fast coronavirus has altered life.
It's not a surprise that Microsoft, arguably the biggest office technology company, has been tracking the impact of coronavirus on work. Recently, the company published its first Remote Work Trend Report, based on the Work Trend Index, a graphical measurement of how work is evolving using data from Microsoft 365 apps. The change in activity from all the different platforms is used to plot Microsoft Graph, one of the largest graphs on work-related human communication. The report reveals several astonishing trends in how people are adapting to the sudden change brought on by the pandemic.
A Future That Embraces Remote Work
Microsoft Teams has seen a 200 percent rise in meeting minutes from 900 million on March 16 to 2.7 billion by the end of the month. However, the most interesting finding from the research is in relation to the general demand for remote work apps, such as Teams. The research indicated an increase in usage of Teams even after the lockdown had lifted in China, suggesting companies are starting to embrace remote work even under more normal circumstances. The study also showed how remote work is letting people choose the time they feel they will be most active at work, thus allowing flexible schedules while keeping work productive. Furthermore, the report points out that users in sectors most affected by COVID-19, like Education, have increased their usage of Teams on mobile devices. The study also informs that video calls through Teams increased by over 1,000 percent during March - in line with the rise in usage of other video chat apps.
In addition, the report documented examples of how different organizations have been using Microsoft Teams to adapt to the crisis. For instance, quarantined staff in a hospital in China have been using Teams to interact with non-quarantined staff. If this increase in remote technology usage continues, even at a slower rate, and even after the lockdown ends, it could be a strong indication of what the future might hold for the workplace. Microsoft Teams is not going to be the only software benefiting from it, with Skype, Slack, and similar productivity-based platforms also gaining from a shift in how people work brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: Microsoft