Microsoft unveiled its new workplace app specifically geared towards helping with the challenges of hybrid work, Microsoft Places, during their annual Ignite conference.
The app belongs to a new, emerging category of technology solutions called Connected Workplace and is due to be released in 2023 after a preview period.
The new app uses intelligence to determine where hybrid working takes place, which it says will lead to “increased connections, engagement and productivity” by bridging virtual and physical spaces.
Honeywell joins the ecosystem of partners in Connected Workplace who will help create holistic and impactful solutions to address changing workplace needs across Experience, Platform, Infrastructure, Environment, and Planning segments.
“Honeywell has long been a partner of Microsoft, and we are excited to continue to take the areas we have innovated for decades across occupancy, access, visitor and contractor management, comfort, and sustainability to expand the Connected Workplace market to modernize and optimize all the places where employees work," said James Taylor, GM of Sine, a Honeywell Company.
Source: Microsoft
Taylor continued, "Employees' experience with their environment is critical, which is why Honeywell is excited to partner with Microsoft to drive a better, more digital experience when arriving to their workplace with our solutions across access control and visitor management, while also driving a more comfortable experience with sustainability in mind."
Hybrid work is now the norm for most companies. And while executives and building managers have done their best to make the office as appealing as possible, plans can change in an instant (or at least over the course of a few weeks) with the rise of new outbreaks and COVID variants.
In these cases, the best option for planning ahead is often looking behind at past data in order to identify work trends based on past behavior. Luckily, organizations that invested in workplace management technology and other building monitoring capabilities have plenty of data to help plan for the coming months.
Below, we'll take a look at the latest hybrid work trends, including when staff, visitors, and contractors are most likely to come into the office.
While some executives are eager to get workers back to the office in 2022, others gave up on the 5-day in-person work week altogether.
Last year, a Qualtrics study found that many employers lean towards a 3-day work week (which employees find less than ideal). Employees favor a 2-day week, if they're required to go in at all. In the meantime, researchers at Harvard have surmised that spending one to two days per week in the office is ideal, giving workers optimal flexibility while maintaining social connections.
Now the question is, which days of the week are most popular?
One thing is clear: no one wants to be in the office on Fridays. According to Sine's customer workweek data — which shows a mixture of visitors, contractors, and staff signing in to our software — Monday is the quietest day to be in the office, closely followed by Friday.
Over the last year, Sine customers' check-in data shows that Thursday is the most popular day to be in the office, but not by much. It has just a slight edge over Wednesday. The third most-popular day of the week to come into the office is Tuesday. When the check-ins were filtered by day of the week, the percentage breakdown is:
What this means for productivity is unclear. Accountemps recently found that 39% of HR managers think employees are most productive on Tuesdays, while 24% believe people get more done on Mondays. Thursday was tied with Friday for the least productive day.
A larger study by Redboth, a company specializing in task management and communication, confirmed these findings, noting that over 20% of tasks are completed on Mondays.
But the question remains: while studies show Monday to be many people's most productive workday, is that why they choose not to go into the office? If workers - and knowledge workers, specifically - find themselves more productive at home, perhaps that's why they choose to stay there on Mondays. Or maybe Thursday is the new Monday and that's now when we can expect to get the most facetime with officemates.
The more data we collect on worker behavior and preferences, the easier it will be to see how these pieces fit together. Productivity is difficult to quantify (doing more paperwork doesn't mean accomplishing more meaningful tasks). But when we ask employees how and when they work most effectively and line that data up to the kind of data Sine's workplace management platform can provide, then we can begin to see the role the office plays in their productivity. For example, we already know that office interruptions can lead to significant productivity deficits. Perhaps employees choose office or home based on where the fewest interruptions occur.
Coordinating work schedules with colleagues, maintaining two workspaces, and rejoining the daily commute are proving to be difficult adjustments for many workers. Gallup's survey of over 140,000 U.S. employees since the beginning of the pandemic found that when employees don't have the option of working remotely, they are less engaged, their well-being declines, they experience higher levels of burnout, and show a greater intent to leave their jobs. While some have argued that it's best not to let employees pick their workdays, businesses may need more hard evidence to illuminate the connection between office presence and productivity.
There may still tension between executives/managers and employees when it comes to how (or whether) to structure the office and the workweek. Check out our post around how employee expectations have changed in the past two years here.
Honeywell launched a suite of Occupant Experience apps to help owners and tenants in premium commercial buildings unlock the hybrid office space of today. Features analyze occupant behavior and space utilization patterns to improve the comfort, convenience and collaboration of knowledge workers, putting more control in their hands as they return to the office in the post-pandemic landscape. The suite identifies areas to enhance the occupant experience while improving communication between building owners, tenants and occupants.
Remote work is here to stay, but many employees are returning to offices, at least a few days per week. A May survey from the Partnership for New York City, a business advocacy group, noted that 78% of employers in the city indicate a hybrid office model will be their predominant post-pandemic policy, up from just 6% pre-pandemic. It is anticipated that return to office rates will increase after Labor Day, with 49% of NYC-based workers expected in the office on an average weekday in September 2022.
As employees return to offices in growing numbers, Honeywell’s Occupant Experience suite, including the Honeywell Remote Building Supervisor, featuring an Occupant Experience dashboard, and the Occupant Experience app powered by the Sine Pro mobile platform, will empower the main groups that occupy and manage buildings in several ways:
“In a time where competition for talent is high and there is an increased focus on personal well-being, the occupant experience will continue to grow in importance as more employees return to offices and workers set higher expectations for the environments in which they spend time – the need to create a place that employees want to go to is key.
We have already launched and field-tested these tools at our new Honeywell corporate headquarters in Charlotte to help us provide an unmatched occupant experience that supports the well-being of our employees and guests.”
Udaya Shrivastava, interim VP and Chief Technology Officer, Honeywell Building Technologies
At Honeywell’s new Charlotte headquarters, Occupant Experience technologies make it easy for employees to seamlessly move through the campus. Sensors, cameras and biometrics-based access control create a completely frictionless and touchless experience. Using the Sine application, an employee can park their car in the garage, go through lobby security, access elevators and enter their desired office space without touching a single surface. Gone is the need to fish in bags or pockets for fobs, badges or keys. Once in the office, employees can adjust temperature and lighting controls in conference rooms and workspaces to their desired comfort while instantly reporting any office conditions that need attention from facilities management staff through the Occupant Experience app.
“In working with Honeywell, we’ve learned how the company’s technologies for interpreting occupant behavior, as well as making buildings more sustainable, can help us add value to our properties for our investors and increase their appeal to potential tenants.
This innovative technology allows tenants to gain visibility into returning workers’ behavior and can help tenants optimize their space utilization, improve employees’ well-being and productivity, and identify opportunities to improve how their employees use their days working in the office. From our tenants’ perspectives, the more digital services people have to make their lives in the office easier and more rewarding, the more effective they are and the more they enjoy their work. And the more they enjoy their work, the more committed they are to their companies. It’s about creating smart offices that are sustainable, comfortable, healthy, modern, equipped with digital services and simply more fun to work.”
Paul Dougherty, President and Chief Investment Officer, PRP
The Occupant Experience suite complements Honeywell’s ready-now solutions that can help improve occupant well-being, meet energy efficiency goals and, importantly, change the way occupants experience a building.
