Hybrid work and the importance of quality audio

While some organisations might be contemplating a full return to the office, it’s safe to say that hybrid work is here to stay, with more and more employees demanding flexibility when it comes to their working lives. Facing this reality means that organisations need to make hybrid working actually work.

The first way to do this is to recognise, despite the many benefits of hybrid, there are some challenges. One of the most widely discussed is ensuring an organisation’s teams can effectively communicate and collaborate in ways that optimize performance and minimise stress.

When it comes to tackling this, the buck stops with business decision-makers. Investing in employee wellbeing is important, and one area that isn’t often considered is the impact of the communications tools we use: namely how sub-par tools can contribute to cognitive strain that can lead to burnout. So, what are the benefits of equipping your employees with the right communication solutions?

Bad audio and bad video? That’s just bad business In 2021 we set out to see how much time employees were spending in meetings. Our findings showed that employees were clocking up an average of seven hours in virtual meetings per week. This was an increase of two hours versus pre-pandemic figures.

Alongside the uptick in the amount of time spent on calls, over half of our respondents (63%) told us they regularly experience technical issues during calls – with a total time cost from these poor-audio devices accounting for 31 minutes per week.

Bad audio experiences can have a major knock-on effect on employees – going beyond simply wasting time. Over a quarter of employees found they were left feeling frustrated, irritated, or annoyed because of poor audio, while a further 19% experienced moments of stress.

On the surface, this might seem trivial. However, with more calls in the calendar, it has become even more vital that time spent outside of meetings is as productive as a possible. Poor audio quality is impacting employees’ ability to engage and focus on their work, even when the meeting is over.

Hear with your ears, listen with your brain

While your ears pick up sounds, it is your brain that does the heavy lifting by interpreting those sounds. Yet unlike other senses, the brain is much slower to respond to sound, it constantly analyses stimuli in our immediate environment – deciding which to focus on and which to ignore.

Our brains are hardwired to prioritize human voices, yet on busy conference calls with colleagues interrupting each other, poor audio quality or interference, the brain has to work harder. Ultimately, such extra added stress on the brain (whether that be taking a call in a busy office while travelling or even at home) can cause us to become fatigued, stressed, unfocused and disengaged, with these effects lingering even after we’ve ended a call.

Many employees are unlikely to be aware of the link between bad audio and increased stress levels – but some do recognise the importance of quality audio. For instance, 56% of respondents to our study believe better audio helps prevent moments of stress at work while 67% say it helps prevent feelings of frustration, annoyance, and irritation.

With hybrid working here to stay, utilising the right tools to ensure quality collaboration will be vital to fulfilling the success of the hybrid model.

Harnessing the right technology

Investing in quality audio is a good start but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, and decision-makers must also ensure that the devices also have a breadth of functionality to create a seamless experience to enable better communication and collaboration across job functions.

No two jobs are the same, and one cannot expect different members of staff in different departments to necessarily use the same devices. As such, taking into account the specific requirements of any given role is vital. In addition, make sure the devices you pick offer a comprehensive range of features and functions to tackle noisy environments. Such functionality can include headsets that use noise-cancelling technology as well as certifications for use with different UC platforms – importantly not just your own solutions but also those used by partners and customers – and that can easily switch between different devices from laptops to phones to meeting room devices.

These quality-of-life considerations might seem straightforward, but business leaders must keep them in mind when procuring their solutions.

The future sound of hybrid

As an employer, going the extra mile right now and investing in audio tools is a fantastic opportunity to help employees better manage the challenges that hybrid working presents. Cognitive strain and stress caused by poor audio and technical issues can have a detrimental impact on workers’ wellbeing and productivity. Equipping employees with the tools they need not just for an improved audio experience, but a user experience fitted to their role and function, can create more seamless and less stressful hybrid experience.