Video conferencing software Microsoft Teams clocked up more than 4.1bn meeting minutes across its education and business users in just one day in April, up from a daily average of 900m in early March, as Covid-19 forced organisations to quickly adapt to remote working.
But hybrid working — where employees split their time between the office and home — is likely to become the norm for many businesses as they emerge from the crisis, observers suggest. This is driving tech companies to develop new approaches — including virtual reality— in a bid to help bridge this physical divide, and to make interaction more seamless and cohesive.
“Teams need the three C’s of collaboration,” says Dave King, head of marketing at project management tool Asana — “content, communication and co-ordination”.