Today’s working environment exists in two worlds - the physical and the virtual. Let’s start with the physical. Think conference room equipment, hybrid meeting room setups, video conferencing hardware, teleconferencing solutions, and more. With office policies changing left and right, it’s hard to know what hardware and software will work for everyone. In the office, it’s important to have easy-to-use, plug-and-play tech that helps those in the room connect with those who aren’t. In fact, 72% of workers said that good technology was “very important” or “important” to their working life. Have you updated your meeting room tech? No? Don’t worry; you’re not alone.

Another major factor for in-office tech needs is when people are in the office. With many offices shifting to an unstructured hybrid environment (when employees can work from the office anytime they’d like) or a structured hybrid environment (when employees are required to work from the office a select number of days per week), it can be hard to understand when you’ll be most needed. This presents another challenge for in-office tech needs.

The virtual workplace can be tricky. It’s hard to anticipate or understand employees' needs and challenges without physically seeing them, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less critical. If anything, it means it’s more critical. Proximity bias is alive and well in the virtual workplace. In 2023, 45% of employees are concerned that managers view those in the office as harder working and more trustworthy than their remote counterparts, and another 44% are concerned that working remotely will mean they have less of a say at work and miss out on opportunities. The right technology may be the only thing that can help bridge this divide.

The technology you use to create your virtual workplace (whether it’s communication platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams or collaboration tools like Notion or Monday) is extremely important and will dictate how employees work - but it also comes with a cost. Cutting down the number of platforms in use not only saves the bottom line, it can also streamline communications across departments.

One trend that has been popularized in 2023 is tracking software. With the pushback that many employers have received from their return-to-office mandates, many companies have installed software to track their employees' activities, whether they’re in the office or not. This is a slippery slope, and IT may get caught in the crossfire between employers and employees.

Now that we have covered the physical and virtual workplace trends, let’s look at what happens when the two worlds collide. This primarily happens in meetings - something we all love to hate. In 2023, the majority of employees reported things like audio/sound issues, not being able to see everyone on the call, and not being able to contribute due to ineffective tech. 82% of workers even reported losing time in meetings due to technical difficulties. While these issues may not seem like anything new, they are still coming up.

Hybrid meetings don’t have to be that painful. With the right tech in place (that works virtually and in-person) meetings can be successful for attendees and headache-less for IT teams. Effective hybrid meeting room setups encourage meeting attendees to take control of the meeting tech and minimize the need for IT teams to be physically present for every meeting (which we know is impossible).

We don’t have a crystal ball, but there are some signs as to what’s to come in the future for tech in the workplace. What are some of the top emerging technologies? AI has been a hot topic. Software like ChatGPT and Scribe are changing the way workers do their jobs, and hardware like the Meeting Owl brings teams together from all over the globe. Innovative tech can help transform any conference room setup.

So what should IT professionals be prepared for? The answer is simple: everything.