P2P

12 P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | S U M M E R 2 0 2 3 People: The Secret Sauce to Hybrid Success People want to be with people. Period. In a study cited by Thomson Reuters' 2023 State of the Legal Market report, Microsoft surveyed 20,000 people and analyzed trillions of Microsoft 365 productivity signals to determine what factors are most important in getting employees to return to their offices, the survey disclosed, perhaps not surprisingly, that the real value of the office is not the place but the people. When asked what would motivate them to come into the office, the surveyed employees had a resounding answer – time with coworkers: • 85% of employees would be motivated to go into the office to rebuild team bonds; • 84% of employees would be motivated to go into the office if they could socialize with co-workers; • 74% of employees would go to the office more frequently if they knew their "work friends" were there; and • 73% of employees would go to the office more frequently if they knew their direct team members would be there. Can Microsoft Outlook help attorneys connect with their peers? Sure, usually through cumbersome email threads that are yet another drag on the administrative burden creep attorneys have been experiencing since the onset of the pandemic. Where is Everybody? Technology to the Rescue! If we are to solve this problem with new technology that is purposely built to answer this question, then that technology should 1. reduce administrative burden on attorneys and staff while also 2. provide information that is enhanced and significantly more actionable than an email thread, and 3. Help promote a vibrant in-office culture that fosters networking and collaboration. The worst-case scenario for hybrid is when an attorney comes into the office – but the office is a ghost town. Nothing will demotivate RTO faster than just one ineffectual, lonely workday. Firms must figure out how to cluster attorney time to ensure that in-office culture and vibrancy. This is something almost all law firm leaders agree on: working in person has huge benefits to building culture. The 2022 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisory found that many firms believe the remote environment has damaged personal relationships at work and the sense of belonging amongst many lawyers--and may be a contributor to the ease with which lawyers, from partners to associates, are moving firms. Culture happens in the office. And there is a solution for that we call "presence." Presence is a new technology functionality delivered specifically to solve this issue in hybrid organizations. Presence delivers simple visibility into who is in the office and who is working remotely without the need to install any hardware devices or any work on the part of attorneys and, instead, just works in the background effortlessly: hence, reduced administrative burden. With presence, attorneys "see" their peers. They can see their peers today or their intentions for tomorrow and make decisions about where they want to work. It is deceptively simplistic. On the back end, attorneys and professionals need do nothing for presence to work. F E A T U R E S

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