Embracing change is the key to flexible work

As I was scrolling through my LinkedIn feed, this quote popped up on my timeline", Change is the only constant", said by the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. This phrase really hit home, given the numerous historical events we have all survived since late 2019. This lesson was learned the hard way by many of us, with lots of stumbles and inelegant falls along the way.

Now that the world has overcome most of the challenges presented by the pandemic, businesses have a unique opportunity to create a plan for this next phase of work with this truth, “Change is the only constant,” at its core.

Leading by example: Microsoft is planning for and with change

Microsoft’s guidance for the hybrid workplace

As we begin hybrid work, many organizations look to Microsoft for best practices and for innovative resources.

In a post last October, Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan detailed some of the ways Microsoft plans to ensure its employees can adapt to personal needs and shifting business demands. In short, Microsoft intends to:

  • Make working from home part of the time (less than 50%) as standard practice for employees who are not required to be onsite.
  • Maintain flexible hours for workers, viewing ‘flex-time' as an additional standard practice.
  • Allow managers and leaders to have honest conversations about workplace location and relocation.

Microsoft’s flexible work blueprint aims to help employees plan and prepare for the future and commits to evolving with the working world.

Microsoft’s tech stack, created with flexible work in mind

Early in 2021, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365 wrote, “To thrive in this new hybrid world, people and organizations need solutions that are fluid, dynamic, and cloud-powered.”

Microsoft has delivered on these needs. In March, Microsoft Teams received a slew of updates designed for this new way of working. Some of the enhancements included:

  • Improvements in Teams’ webinar/Live Events capabilities, like custom registration, allowing for 1,000 plus attendees, and more.
  • Microsoft Teams Connect, which allows users to share channels with people inside and outside of the organization.
  • Dynamic view, which positions meeting attendees and other elements intuitively, for an optimal experience.

 In addition to these Teams updates, Microsoft is “Reimaging the employee experience for a hybrid workplace” through its employee platform Viva, gallery views to Microsoft Teams Meetings rooms, and ensuring security and safety with its zero-trust security approach.

Vitalyst—your trusted partner for hybrid work

Adopting Microsoft Teams and the rest of the M365 tech stack means transforming the way that people collaborate, connect, and share information. Organizations need to manage the impact of these changes on their employees by providing them a tool for communications, training, support, and more—like Adaptive Learning from Vitalyst.

What is the Adaptive Learning Platform?

Built leveraging Microsoft Azure Services, Vitalyst’s Adaptive Learning Platform provides customers with direct access to enterprise-class training services, delivered through our Learn Now App in Teams. Through its wide range of learning mediums, the Adaptive Learning Platform will allow your workforce to better leverage the applications they use every day. The Adaptive Learning Platform is accessed through the Learn Now app in Teams or a unique web URL and provides businesses with unlimited access to enterprise-class Office 365 training services, like one-on-one live help, live webinars, self-guided videos, and more.

The full version of the Adaptive Learning Platform provides businesses and their workforce with these services:

  • Vitalyst on-demand support, via phone, chat, or email
  • Vitalyst live, instructor-led training
  • Vitalyst Active 365® Continuous Learning & Video Library​
  • Self-paced learning resources with customized Skill Tracks

David Totten, Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft’s US Partner Ecosystem, says this of Vitalyst,

“If it [weren’t] for partners like Vitalyst to drive how you, the end customer, consumes our technology and makes it real, it’s just a bunch of marketing slides…a partner like Vitalyst is really the last mile execution and [provides] the subject matter expertise that companies like us at Microsoft rely on to get the value to you.”

 

 

To learn more about how Vitalyst can help your organization implement Teams and other Microsoft applications to build the skills for modern work, contact us today or schedule a demo.

 Photo by: Ian Panelo 

 

 

 

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