Millions of employees now move from their bed to the home table. After the initial excitement of avoiding smog-filled traffic jams and crowded train compartments, a new reality is revealed in which the workday mixes with the rest of life like an endless video conference. Microsoft Corp. Has a solution for this.
The company’s Teams collaboration software is adding the ability to schedule a “virtual tour.” It won’t start your car or take the subway for you, but it will remind users about the end of the work day, suggest tasks to help workers relax, and create a little mental space before kids’ homework, dinner, laundry and others obligations collide.
For example, Teams will ask users to list tasks as completed or add them to tomorrow’s to-do list, while asking workers to rate how their day was and suggest a guided meditation, through the Headspace app.
According to Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capasella, epidemic-related burnout and the difficulty of separating work and personal life have become a surprisingly common concern among Microsoft’s corporate customers.
Initially, companies were concerned that employees had the right technology to work from home. The emotional well-being or mental health of the employees.” With something. In a way faster than the top we didn’t really predict.
Microsoft will use its workplace analytics software to help employers locate and support employees who are at risk of burnout. The software looks for things like round-the-clock collaboration between entire teams and comparisons of similar teams. New features to be launched next year will allow employers to run programs that remind team members to avoid inappropriate times.
The new features will be announced at Microsoft’s Ignite virtual conference on Tuesday. Yet another tool from Microsoft’s pandemic era: The company’s artificial intelligence software is adding a new spatial analytics service that will help customers map and measure physical spaces, which Microsoft says will be helpful to discover. how to keep customers and workers at 6 feet. .
