Remote Work works: With the right setup

The German Future Institute, as well as well-known job platforms such as Indeed and Glassdoor, agree: it is the time of New Work. Flexible working time models, adapted to the individual needs and preferences of employees, will become more and more prevalent. There are no fixed rules; everything seems possible.

Long-term, comfortable solutions

What quickly had to become a provisional home office at the beginning of an all-changing pandemic is now a permanent fixture in the era of New Work. Remote or hybrid working is becoming a permanent working model. Work is done in the office, but also at home, in a coworking space, in a van office, in public spaces or on the train - work from anywhere. stop

"During the pandemic, the home office was initially set up as a temporary, functional workplace," says a spokesperson for Logitech, for example. This company describes itself as a leader and pioneer in the development of innovative product lines for the new logic of work: "Now the focus is on sustainably comfortable solutions that are adapted to the respective needs, be it in the daily tasks or the personal, as well as health, preference. The right setup - no matter where - is the basis for New Work. - For successful New Work and therefore also Work from anywhere, the right setup is inevitable." So how is Work from Anywhere used as a sustainable and successful work arrangement to meet an irreversible paradigm shift in our working world?

More and more companies are recognizing the added value that employee well-being and productivity play in location-independent work and are offering their employees upgrades to optimize comfort, safety, connectivity productivity and ergonomics. Swiss-based Logitech has been able to leverage pandemic developments to integrate valuable research into its own products even faster and more extensively. Initially, demand for peripherals grew rapidly. New keyboards, mice, headsets and webcams were needed quickly. Now, as it slowly but surely became clear that hybrid working is here to stay, sustainable solutions are needed that increase productivity, protect health and firmly integrate the interpersonal factor into hybrid working.

Product lines for all remote work needs

The company offers products for a need that is already commonplace elsewhere in our society - customization. Coffee chains offer more than 70 choices of beverages, cup sizes and flavors. The car industry allows new cars to be completely customized, and our travels couldn't be more individualized. As a leader in wellness-based technology, Logitech offers high-end business solutions that are not one-size-fits-all. The company offers a wide range of product lines to meet the needs of different industries and businesses, customizable for each employee. In this way, Logitech is becoming a pioneer, setting new standards that companies will have to follow in the future. The day will come when not only C-level executives will be able to choose their furniture for the new office from a catalog, but all other office employees will be able to select their equipment according to their preferences and individual needs. The company thinks in terms of solutions, not just products. New workplaces, whether in a favorite café or even in one's own van, always demand new solutions, such as limited space or a variety of surfaces. Compact business sets are also developed for this, with highlights such as perfect keystrokes with an ideal fit for the fingertips and mouse sensors that even work on glass.

"Prevent "tablet neck" and "banana back

Ever since office work has existed, there have been complaints arising from it, such as back and neck pain. Since computers and mice, phenomena such as "tablet neck", "swiping wrist" or "banana back" have been added. Unfortunately, it is all too often forgotten that man's genetic makeup is designed for movement. As hunter-gatherers, we walked up to 20 kilometers a day. Then, when we became sedentary, we literally did so after millions of years. Now the computer and so many activities take away that we actually no longer need to move away from our desks.

The office, whether at home or on the road, is thus an anatomically unreal environment. We are therefore often in a physical state that is unhealthy for us for around 40 hours per week. So it stands to reason that this development should be counteracted by using adapted tools. The discomfort caused by our unreal position ultimately leads to sick days and thus to additional costs and lost productivity.

Here, too, the Swiss manufacturer of peripherals has built up extensive expertise through its own laboratories, the so-called Ergolabs. For example, Logitech recently offered a webinar in collaboration with a chiropractor and ergonomics expert. It was all about digital wellness, peppered with practical tips around ergonomics and exercises to take the strain off our complex musculoskeletal system. Research from the company also showed that workers were about 50 % more productive with an external mouse than with the touchpad. Also, with the mouse, the shoulder, neck and forearm are more relaxed, which makes for greater well-being.

Right mindset - for hybrid meetings

Important for a healthy and productive corporate culture is virtual collaboration and the associated interpersonal relationships, which are now suffering for the time being as a result of hybrid working. Remote employees as well as those on site must have the same access to knowledge. No one should have the feeling of being left behind. Video calls and hybrid meetings enable good real-time communication, but often have pitfalls such as poor sound quality, participants who interrupt each other, or only visible people speaking on site. The success of New Work stands or falls on the impact of the moments of gathering in the hybrid team. Hybrid meetings must not suffer from possible misunderstandings or the reticence of those who are not physically present. The solution to this is "meetings of equals," as Logitech likes to call them. For this, in addition to noise-canceling headsets, modern video conferencing solutions are available for meeting rooms of all shapes and sizes. A Rally camera with mechanical pan, tilt and zoom capabilities, 15x HD zoom and a wide 90° diagonal field of view captures every person in the room in high image quality. Just the other day, Logitech Sight was unveiled. Pioneering the future of hybrid meetings, through the use of artificial intelligence. It makes physically present participants feel like they are sitting at the table with them. It detects interactions in the room and automatically moves the participants at the table to the center of the image. This means that people who are not speaking are also visible. And external participants also feel more included. Remotely connected people notice when a physically present colleague smiles or even rolls his eyes. After all, it has been scientifically proven that 93% of human communication takes place non-verbally.

In general, interpersonal contacts are important for a good working culture. Real co-working, spontaneous meetings at the coffee machine and personal exchanges are possible above all on site at the company. So the hybrid work model also has a positive side effect: working together with colleagues on certain days in the office becomes more attractive and going to the office becomes a new experience.

Source and further information: Logitech