On Feb. 18, 2021, Commercial Integrator, a leading trade publication, published an in-depth article featuring Brad Sousa, AVI's Chief Technology Officer, and other AVI experts. The topic: how AV integrators can help ensure the transition back to the workplace happens smoothly. Sousa shares some of his insight in this brief excerpt from the article.
We’re in the middle of the second phase of the three-part return to the workplace that started shortly after the start of the coronavirus outbreak with what AVI Systems CTO Brad Sousa calls the “flip-the-switch” phase that focused on helping companies “adapt and overcome”—and do it quickly.
“What we did was a pretty big deal,” said Sousa during the company’s recent virtual event, “Essential Technology for a Safer Workplace.” He says today we’re in “the long middle” between flipping the switch and a full return to the workplace, a phase he calls “return to work.”
“We’re not at the beginning but we can’t see the end yet,” said Sousa. “We’ve deconstructed our workplace and created one without walls. We have to get back to the workplace before we get to whatever comes next.
“It’s no wonder people feel like the work they’re doing at home is less purposeful and less meaningful than the work they were doing when we were all together in the office. We have to be intentional about creating a sense of community in the workplace,” he said.
Sousa sees potential for “a huge workforce retention problem” if that sense of community in the office doesn’t come together.
“We make the best ideas together, when we have consensus,” said Sousa. “That takes time to do.”
Now that more workers are doing their jobs from home, “hybrid is the new definition of the workforce,” said Sousa. “That brings new challenges.”
Adjustments to conference room layouts, added touchless technology, people counting and mask detection tools, and virtual receptionists are just a few of the workplace changes AVI's team of experts suggest. By creating a healthy, friendly post-pandemic workplace environment, employees will choose to return to the office and collaborate with each other in the year ahead.
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