Back to the Office or Not? Why it Matters and Why it Shouldn’t

Working From Home Takes Getting Used To

I’m not going to lie. Working from home is sweet. I’ve been doing it for over 10 years and to be honest, I don’t think I could ever go back to a full-time corporate office gig. Don’t get me wrong, I love going into the office as well.  Seeing people in-person that I work with is fun in its own right; especially when you live in the States but report to Oslo, Norway.  I miss traveling there!  But, having the flexibility to work from home has always been valuable to me.

It dawned on me recently that for many people this is a new experience. Working from home takes some getting used to and if you’re just getting started, as quickly as you’ve adjusted, you’ll soon be faced with what it looks like to journey back to the office.  We’re all in the same boat in that regard.  Some of us can’t wait to get back, some of us never want to go back, and some of us are just unsure and a bit nervous as to what to expect. Fortunately, we have a unique opportunity to shape what that looks like for each of us or for the organization. Without a doubt, it’ll be a higher mix of remote and office workers.

Ensuring a Seamless Experience No Matter Where You Work

As the world has been pushed into remote meetings, there’s no going back. Where we once focused on in-person meetings, we must now put more attention on supporting a mixed environment. I agree with Sandeep.  I know without a doubt that Cisco Webex Rooms and the Webex platform has the technology to support consistent experiences regardless of where or how you work.  When looking at what I find most important to my professional and personal life being blended, there are two things that I want to ensure: a seamless experience no matter where I work and flexibility in how I work.

Work is What I Do, Not Where I Go

For me, work is what I do and not where I go.  So, it’s important to me that I can work from anywhere with access to the same tools that support productivity whether my workspace is at home, in a traditional office, or on the go. Why is that important?  Because whether I’m working on a project with team members in-person or remotely, I expect the same experience regardless of where I choose to work that day.  This becomes more crucial as organizations plan a return to the office.  We’re all used to meeting in-person and collaborating on a physical whiteboard in a conference room.  Since most of us were together in one room, video and virtual meetings were just added support for a handful of remote attendees at most.  As we shift to a new way of working with social distancing measures and a workforce that has grown accustomed to working from home, our meetings will now focus on remote attendees – even if it’s just in the conference room next door.   We need devices designed to meet face-to-face so that we can continue meeting in a life-like context through high fidelity video as we limit in-person interactions and regardless of your workspace.

 

Webex Room Devices for Seamless Work From Anywhere

For example, my Webex Desk Pro in my personal office provides the same feature set as other Webex Room devices that you’d find in a traditional office, such as the Webex Board, and I can carry my content and meetings seamlessly between those devices and spaces.  We simply don’t need a physical whiteboard anymore since they haven’t been useful to collaborate on in the past three months as a tool that maintains productivity between disparate locations.  Fortunately, I know that the whiteboards I’ve been working on my Desk Pro together with others across the world through Webex will still be ready and accessible in my Denver or Oslo office via any Webex Board, DX80 or even my tablet for on-the-go.  This is just one example of how I can seamlessly work from anywhere with my teammates with flexibility in how I work.

Get Stuff Done

The main reason I never want to go back to a corporate office full-time is simply that I don’t need to!  Anyone who knows me knows I like to talk, so I’m way more productive working at home and avoiding the distraction of cubicle conversations since I have the same tools available to me as I would in a traditional office.  But, the beauty of Webex Rooms is that if you prefer to be in your corporate office, you can be there working together with me using tools designed to support seamless workspaces and flexible workstyles.  And without a second thought, we can simply get stuff done.

Looking for an easier way to work from anywhere? Find the device that’s right for your space and purchase it now. 

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