Productivity Paranoia: Microsoft’s insights about modern hybrid work

Microsoft corporate vice president of Modern Work, Jared Spataro had the opportunity to show by firsthand, the results of the Microsoft Work Trend Index. This edition showed a gap in perception among leaders and employees around the world regarding modern hybrid work. While 87% of the workers surveyed stated that they are maintaining themselves productive with new, digital tools, only 12% of leaders felt confident that their employees are being productive. 

What is productivity paranoia? 

Since work from home (WFH) modalities appeared after 2020’s lockdown, employees gained both access and skills to remain productive regarding distance, making hybrid environments common in 2022. Even though we’ve been making businesses function for almost three years with these kinds of modalities, managers are still not convinced that employees can work productively outside of the office. This mindset does not match with the statistics collected by Microsoft’s Work Trend Index. Microsoft even describes productivity paranoia as the sentiment of “Leaders fearing that lost productivity is due to employees not working, even though hours worked, number of meetings, and other activity metrics have increased.” 

How is Microsoft helping organizations keep employees productive?

The faster organizations accept that new work modalities are here, the easier they will adapt to new resources and understand what productivity is.

“What’s needed right now is not measuring hours of work,” Patton said. Instead, companies should be “really focusing on the outcomes that [they] need to drive and provide clarity to employees that otherwise are just going to be doing a bunch of busy work, and then get feedback on what they need to support them to be successful.”

Seth Patton, a Microsoft 365 general manager stated

Create a holistic, human environment for your employees with Microsoft Teams

Colette Stallbaumer, Microsoft 365 general manager, stated that employees have embraced flexible work and its benefits and are rejecting a return to hustle culture. Creating a new way of working is imperative for organizations. Microsoft Teams’ tools are accessible to everyone in your organization, keeping your team informed, organized, and connected, or as one might say: productive. Team Venti’s agents can help you understand and apply Teams to your organization, book a meeting today.