We in Braathe Gruppen was told on March 16 that we should, as a rule, work from home until further notice. While we wanted to follow all the recommendations that were given, we were aware that our services also included community-critical infrastructure that needed to be kept up to date. One example was Bits, the financial industry's infrastructure company, which was heavily involved in establishing the compensation scheme for business.
A few weeks after the general request to use a home office was lifted in the company, we chose to send out an internal employee survey. We already knew that most of our employees had used home office during the period, but we wanted to hear their feedback and how it was going.
The proportion of people who want to use a home office has increased
We start by asking how often the employees had had a home office before the closure in March, and how often they could envisage having a home office in the future. 7 out of 10 answered that in the time before the corona they had had a home office one day a month or less. 1 in 10 said they had had a home office one day a week or more before the corona. We then asked how often they imagine having a home office after the corona - here it emerged that 2 out of 10 would have it once a month or less, and that more than half can imagine having a home office once a week or more . This corresponds to a major change, the proportion who now want to have a home office one day a week has an increase of 1 percent. If we look at those who want to only have a home office 44 day a month or less, we have a decrease of over 1 percent.
Earlier this month, we read that Telenor's CEO, Sigve Brekke, is now making arrangements so that those who want to no longer have to show up at the office. On the other hand, we have read that NITO chief, Trond Markussen, warns against making the home office permanent. It is clear from the survey that the employees want to use more of the home office in the future. More than half of those who responded state that they concentrate better in the home office, and there are also several who comment that they feel that they work more efficiently.
- Teams have played an important role
4 out of 5 think digital meetings work just as well. We see that this saves time in that you more often get straight to the point in digital meetings, you avoid travel time and the solution works very well. With 8 offices spread from Tromsø in the north to Skien in the south, it is important that our IT solutions work optimally.
"Microsoft Teams have helped to blur the distance between the offices and provided a community that is important with so many branch offices and long distances"
Read more about features in Teams.
It is good to hear that the employees are satisfied with, among other things, Microsoft Teams, which has played an important role during this period. It also appears that our employees have spent less time clarifying and getting in touch with others when working from home. Some have even carried out the "coffee machine chat" via Teams. Although a large proportion think that digital meetings work just as well as physical meetings, 3 out of 5 miss the social community with colleagues when they work at home.
If you would like a review of how Microsoft Teams can contribute in your company, send us an email. You can also see https://braathe.no/teams/ for helpful tips, tricks and user guides.
