Microsoft Places: Hybrid Working with Teams | Baggenstos
Das Wichtigste in Kürze
- Fraunhofer IAO study: home working is 20% more productive than office work, with the optimal mix combining both models. On average, Swiss employees work 3 days on site and 2 days remotely (ZHAW)
- Microsoft Places connects home office and office: desk booking, AI occupancy forecasting, Copilot recommendations for attendance days and @nearby for direct communication with colleagues on site
The COVID-19 pandemic drove people into home working – and for several months now, employees in more and more organisations have been returning to the office. But to which office? In many workplaces, the number of available desks has long since been reduced, with flexible workspace concepts now commonplace. Both research and practice agree: the best solution is a balanced mix of home working and working on site – because this is where professional exchange often happens ad hoc, whether at a desk or by the proverbial coffee machine.
Most end-user features (Places Finder, Places Explorer, map, colleague visibility, basic room/location information, and @nearby) are available free of charge with almost all Microsoft 365 licences – Teams Premium is usually no longer required. Advanced features (e.g. desk booking) are included with the space-based licence.
Productivity increases with the right balance
A recent study by the Fraunhofer IAO and Techniker Krankenkasse shows that home working is around 20 per cent more productive than office-based work. However, overall productivity only increases when both work locations are combined in a balanced way. Once the proportion of home working exceeds around 60 per cent, productivity begins to fall again. A 2024 study by the IAP Institute of Applied Psychology at ZHAW found that, on average, people in Switzerland work three days on site and two days elsewhere. Managers tend to be present on site slightly more often than other employees. Another key finding: employees’ attachment to the organisation does not decrease, but their connection to the team does.
Microsoft Places: where the digital and physical workplace become one
Microsoft Places extends digital collaboration into the physical office, making it much easier to manage. Microsoft Teams becomes the central platform for both the traditional office and home working. Users can see where colleagues are located, while all rooms are accurately mapped and meetings can be organised quickly. In chat, @nearby allows a message to be sent to all colleagues in the immediate physical vicinity.
Office space can be planned more efficiently, while AI helps forecast desk occupancy. Copilot recommends the best days to come on site – namely when the colleagues you need to speak to in person are also in the office, helping move projects forward more effectively. Unused rooms are automatically released by the software.
Baggenstos is building with Places
Baggenstos is enthusiastic about the new possibilities:
«This strengthens hybrid organisations and helps avoid the productivity traps of home working,» says Eckhard Neuhaus of Baggenstos. «The future of work lies in combining the best of both office worlds.»
Our conclusion: Microsoft Places makes the hybrid working environment not only more efficient, but also more human.
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