2020 has seen homeworking thrust upon many firstline and information workers across the globe and with this has come the pressure of trying to maintain productivity and a healthy work-life balance. over 30% of firstline and information workers are seeing signs of stress and mental fatigue as they try to squeeze in meetings, complete tasks, ensure kids are completing their remote learning obligations and much more.

A recent study by Microsoft has shown that the time we take during our commute can provide us with the opportunity to organize your thoughts and do some pre or post processing of your work. Ultimately this can lead to an increase in productivity of up to 15%.

For some time now Microsoft have been investing in tools such as MyAnalytics and Workplace Analytics to help encourage organizational cultures that make it easier to reflect, recharge and be the best we can be.

During October Microsoft will start bringing these tools and insights into Microsoft Teams, adding features designed to help people balance their wellbeing and productivity. Individuals, managers and business leaders will get insights and recommendations geared towards achieving a better day and a better experience.

Personal Insights.

With personal productivity insights coming to Teams for MyAnalytics, people will ben able to strengthen relationships with people in their networks, schedule time for 1:1’s stay up to date with communications and complete those important tasks.

New personal wellbeing experiences are coming in the first half of 2021. A virtual commute will let you create mental bookends for your remote workday and make it easier to productively start and mindfully end the workday. Reminders to schedule breaks in the week before it fills up with meetings will help you better prepare and reduce the risk of burnout. We’re also excited to share that we are partnering with Headspace to bring a curated set of mindfulness experiences and science-backed meditations into the flow of your work in Teams.

With a new emotional check-in experience, also coming early next year, people can easily tap into how they and their teammates are feeling to improve the effectiveness of their day-to-day interactions.

Personal productivity and wellbeing insights are also available within Outlook. People can start their day with key insights and prompts—such as opportunities to connect, meetings to prep for, and commitments to follow up on—that are delivered in their daily briefing email from Cortana, generally available starting in September for Microsoft 365 Enterprise users in English. And the MyAnalytics digest email, already available worldwide for Microsoft 365 users with MyAnalytics, helps people reflect on their balance between focus work and collaboration, the strength of their network, and their ability to disconnect and recharge.

Team connection, positive change: Manager insights

We know from research that managers carry the life preservers in times of change, helping their people prioritize, stay connected, and protect their time. Manager insights will start rolling out for Workplace Analytics customers in Teams in October. Managers gain line of sight into teamwork norms such as after-hours collaboration, focus time, meeting effectiveness, and cross-company connections alongside an average for similar teams. These insights help managers identify where change can have the greatest impact.

For example, we know that employee burnout accounts for as much as 50 percent of a company’s attrition. With tailored views in Teams, managers can now see after-hours collaboration norms for their entire team and how those habits compare to teams of similar size and function. With additional features coming to Teams in 2021, managers will be able to launch and track change programs that remind team members to avoid after-hours interactions and preserve quiet days. And weekly summaries will empower team members to monitor their progress and celebrate successes.

Building organizational resilience: Leader insights

Organizational insights in Teams give leaders visibility into how work is evolving and impacting the people who propel their business into the future. By answering questions like, “Are employees at risk for burnout? Are people maintaining strong internal connections? Are relationships with customers being maintained?” insights act like an EKG for business resilience so leaders can easily take the pulse of their organization. Leaders can track indicators of employee wellbeing and effectiveness and respond to irregular rhythms using research-backed recommendations for improvement. By seeing the impact of change over time, leaders can build cultures where wellbeing is the catalyst, not the cost, of productivity and resilience. These insights in Teams will start rolling out to Workplace Analytics customers in October. 

Business continuity report: Insights for IT and digital transformation leaders

Due to the global shift to working remotely, collaboration norms have changed, but often leaders are not exactly sure how and by how much. As part of Microsoft Productivity Score, the business continuity report gives visibility at an organizational level into these changes. Using data from the Microsoft Graph, the report complements information in Microsoft Productivity Score and Microsoft 365 Usage Analytics with insights into collaboration and work patterns.

Responding to change, nurturing resiliency: Insights and tools that leaders need now

Leaders can also focus on building a more resilient business as they recover and plan for the future with Workplace Analytics Power BI dashboards. The business continuity dashboard surfaces opportunities to improve remote work effectiveness. The new Workplace Analytics return to worksites dashboard enables a data-driven approach to soft-opening decisions, by utilizing collaboration and network insights to help leaders uncover which teams should return first and how to optimize capacity.

The insights and features we’re talking about today further enhance and complement the rich capabilities of Workplace Analytics and MyAnalytics. We’re excited to now be bringing tools to harmonize wellbeing and productivity to more individuals, managers, and teams right in the flow of their work.

Building organizational resilience: Leader insights

Organizational insights in Teams give leaders visibility into how work is evolving and impacting the people who propel their business into the future. By answering questions like, “Are employees at risk for burnout? Are people maintaining strong internal connections? Are relationships with customers being maintained?” insights act like an EKG for business resilience so leaders can easily take the pulse of their organization. Leaders can track indicators of employee wellbeing and effectiveness and respond to irregular rhythms using research-backed recommendations for improvement. By seeing the impact of change over time, leaders can build cultures where wellbeing is the catalyst, not the cost, of productivity and resilience. These insights in Teams will start rolling out to Workplace Analytics customers in October. 

Business continuity report: Insights for IT and digital transformation leaders

Due to the global shift to working remotely, collaboration norms have changed, but often leaders are not exactly sure how and by how much. As part of Microsoft Productivity Score, the business continuity report gives visibility at an organizational level into these changes. Using data from the Microsoft Graph, the report complements information in Microsoft Productivity Score and Microsoft 365 Usage Analytics with insights into collaboration and work patterns.

Responding to change, nurturing resiliency: Insights and tools that leaders need now

Leaders can also focus on building a more resilient business as they recover and plan for the future with Workplace Analytics Power BI dashboards. The business continuity dashboard surfaces opportunities to improve remote work effectiveness. The new Workplace Analytics return to worksites dashboard enables a data-driven approach to soft-opening decisions, by utilizing collaboration and network insights to help leaders uncover which teams should return first and how to optimize capacity.

The insights and features we’re talking about today further enhance and complement the rich capabilities of Workplace Analytics and MyAnalytics. We’re excited to now be bringing tools to harmonize wellbeing and productivity to more individuals, managers, and teams right in the flow of their work.

View related on-demand sessions and learn more: aka.ms/ProductivityAndWellbeing

Thanks for stopping by and I hope this has been helpful.