Trust the Data – Why Metrics Are Important for Conference Room Systems

It's 2023 – do you know where your workforce is? We joke, of course, but companies here in Phoenix and across the country are grappling with the challenges of a workforce spread across offices, homes, and time zones. While many pundits prognosticate on the future of hybrid work, and the press loves to report on how employees don’t want to return to the office, the reality is a little more nuanced.

According to some predictions from Density, a company whose mission is to help measure workplace performance, we’ll see some interesting transitions in 2023. At Level 3 Audiovisual, we want to enable companies everywhere with conference room automation, systems, and flexible deployment to handle whatever happens in 2023. Because despite the best predictions, sometimes success comes to those who are better able to adapt. Let's examine some of the predictions for 2023 below and discuss how your organization – armed with the right data – can be ready. 

SEE ALSO: 3 Conference Room Automation and AV Trends to Watch

Workers Will Return to the Office – Voluntarily

Everyone knows about the current layoffs in Big Tech and elsewhere, as businesses with workforces that could work remotely hired perhaps a bit too freely during the pandemic. Some Big Tech firms, like Apple and many other companies, have mandated that workers return to the office for a minimum of three days a week. But outside of workers showing up in offices fearing layoffs and the mandates, 2023 may see many returning to offices voluntarily. Why? Two or more years of working at home have caused a level of loneliness and isolation. Others may be lured back by the comforts of barista-quality coffee and Herman Miller seating – or perhaps a break from their kids. 

What does that mean for your conference room investments? You’ll need flexibility. And data. You’ll want to measure, and not guess, what your needs will be. That means you’ll need tools and systems to gauge meeting room occupancy, what equipment is being used (and not), how many people are remote versus in-office, and more. Does that large conference room only host five people most of the time? Is the second display ever used? Is the conference room ever occupied on Monday or Friday? Research suggests that most employees will come back to the office in the middle of the week for more relaxed beginnings and ends of weeks at home offices. This means you can rethink your meeting spaces and how to use them.  

Offices as Event Spaces

Companies are also reimagining their spaces as more than a sea of cubicles and workstations. Indeed, one of the lures for staff will be the common spaces that let people interact and connect. In previous blogs, we’ve discussed tools such as digital signage that can help create that type of atmosphere with content and communication that engages in a more visual and impactful way. But event spaces are different from the traditional huddle, training, or conference room. These will still exist, of course, but there will be a need for more open and flexible spaces that accommodate large gatherings, group and company meetings, and team-building activities. These spaces will require a rethink of the AV and connectivity requirements for these events. But how will you know if that investment in this new model pays off? You’ll need to track attendance at meetings, the ratio of in-house to remote attendees, how much the AV equipment is being used, hot-desk usage, and more. What if they just came in for the catered food and didn’t stay for the group meeting? Additional metrics will let you know more about how it’s all working. 

Every Company Will Find Its Own Balance

Some organizations have embraced a remote-first work environment for the foreseeable future. At the same time, some of those same companies have invested in state-of-the-art office spaces in the past two years. The only problem is that the state-of-the-art was circa 2020, not post-pandemic 2023. So companies are still looking for balance – on worker productivity, headcount, physical office requirements, and more. 2023 will determine which models work best, whether fully remote, hybrid, or coercing everyone back into offices. This means work models will evolve, and metrics will be more important than ever to determine what is working and what needs to change. And that includes the need for advanced analytics to determine how and where to deploy your AV budgets. 

If your organization needs assistance in rethinking your AV investments for the new world of work, we can help. Level 3 Audiovisual is a Tempe, Arizona-based national managed services provider helping organizations of all sizes across the U.S. design, deploy, and manage AV systems and infrastructure. Learn more by reaching out to Level 3 Audiovisual or clicking the chat box below to connect instantly. We look forward to working with you.