Vyopta, the global leader in digital collaboration and experience optimization, announced today that it has released new research on return-to-office trends and space utilization. Published yesterday in a Harvard Business Review article titled “Hybrid Work Has Changed Meetings Forever,” the findings were generated from over 40 million meetings spanning over 450,000 unique employees. The data included two six-week snapshots from Q1 2022 and Q1 2023 from remote or hybrid meetings facilitated by online platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, or Zoom.

Vyopta works directly with companies to help them realize value from their data. They routinely analyze global collaboration metrics to establish benchmarks and identify significant trends. This analysis reveals key trends in collaboration patterns and identifies novel ways organizations can leverage collaboration data to improve efficiency, engagement, and productivity.

Key takeaways from the analysis include:

• While many organizations implemented substantial return-to-office policies over the past two to three years, the volume of virtual meetings stayed the same even as in-office meetings more than doubled.
• “No-participation” rates (staying on mute for the entirety of the meeting) in small group meetings are increasing, costing organizations millions. In 2023, the “no-participation” rate was 7.2% for small group meetings, up from 4.8% in 2022.
• Participants are enabling their cameras less often. This is the first downward trend Vyopta has recorded for this metric since early 2020.
• Both camera enablement and no-participation rates show strong correlations with retention. Employees who would leave their organization within one year of the sample period (attrition group) enabled their cameras in 18.4% of small group meetings, compared to 32.5% for those who stayed (retention group).

“At Vyopta, we’re committed to helping organizations harness the power of their data to transform their meeting practices and achieve sustainable success,” said Alfredo Ramirez, CEO and co-founder of Vyopta. “By understanding and acting on collaboration metrics, we can enhance efficiency, boost employee engagement, and ultimately drive better retention rates.”

After completing this analysis, Vyopta engaged with a small group of its customers to define and implement practical applications for collaboration data. After reviewing their data, organizational leaders agreed that inefficient meetings are a costly problem and that companies should provide direction on meeting expectations to build a healthy and cost-effective meeting culture. The Vyopta customer group identified the following methods  to improve the meeting culture within their organizations:

1. Treat meeting culture as an important part of company culture. Determine best practices and define roles and responsibilities.
2. Identify the people who can make a difference and support them. Offer training for meeting host “power users.”
3. Leverage data to validate and iterate.
4. Provide executive visibility. Treat collaboration data as a component of the broader business intelligence suite.

For companies willing to invest the effort, a data-driven approach is critical for success. Hybrid work and how office space is designed for in-person collaboration, solo work, and meetings will continue to benefit from technology innovations and data analysis. Organizations that leverage collaboration data will be at a competitive advantage.

Related Vyopta Research:

• Vyopta Study Shows Significant Increase in 1:1 Meetings and the Rise of Ad Hoc Collaboration
• Harvard Business Review, “No, Remote Employees Aren’t Becoming Less Engaged” by Andrew Brodsky and Mike Tolliver
• Vyopta Survey Reveals 92% of Execs Don’t See Long-Term Future for Off-Camera Employees
• Out of Sight, Out of Mind: 77% of Execs Admit Remote Workers are at a Disadvantag.

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