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Zoom, which has become a lifeline for remote workers during the pandemic, says it has a clear reason why some employees are being called back to the office twice a week: To build collaborative products for the new ways of working, employees must experiencing the pain first hand.
“We had to put ourselves in your shoes,” CEO Eric Yuan said at the company’s annual conference called Zoomtopia, where the company unveiled a collaborative product called Zoom Docs and new AI features. “This means we have adapted to the challenges you face.”
Zoom enabled millions of people to work, take classes, and socialize remotely during the height of the pandemic. But in recent months, the company joined a growing number of tech companies that have asked employees to return to the office after encouraging flexible and remote policies. Companies say office work increases collaboration and a sense of culture, ultimately encouraging collaboration and innovation. Some managers have even threatened to terminate employees who do not comply with the new guidelines. But many employees are resisting the office policy, with some even going so far as to quit their jobs because of the change.
Zoom calls its plan a “structured hybrid” policy that requires employees who live within 50 miles of an office to return two days a week. The two days are determined by each team themselves. But Zoom said even with the policy in place, 65 percent of its workforce would still be remote because many don’t live near an office. The company also said it is not focused on how it will enforce the policy, but rather addresses employee issues on a case-by-case basis.
“There were people who said that [policy] is a problem and we want to work with them,” said Matthew Saxon, chief people officer at Zoom, in an interview. “For us it’s about making sure we give people flexibility when they need it.”
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Since Zoom returned to the office, Saxon said the company has already seen benefits. On the first day the product development teams were back in the office, they discovered improvements to Zoom’s in-office products, such as the seat reservation system. It likely wouldn’t have been noticed if none of them had personally used the product, Saxon said.
“This shows how important it is for us to follow directly in the footsteps of our customers,” he said.
The company admits it is still early days in determining the success of the office strategy. Saxon declined to comment on how well the policy was adopted by those required to return – saying only that those who received the earliest mandates would now begin the transition. He also said the company conducts quarterly surveys to measure employee satisfaction and is still trying to figure out how to measure productivity and success related to the policy.
Saxon could not completely rule out the possibility that the company would decide to increase office days. However, it can also change in completely different ways.
“We will continually develop our working methods [on how workers succeed],” he said.
But not all hybrid plans offer enough flexibility, said Prithwiraj Choudhury, a professor at Harvard Business School who studies the future of work. Choudhury’s research shows that the most effective plans often allow teams to determine the frequency and location of face-to-face meetings.
“For a technology company that is developing tools for hybrid work, it is good to experience this too,” said Choudhury. “But why do you want to have such a limited and rigid version of it? Let the teams decide what works.”
Choudhury also said policies that only affect some people and not others can create two classes of workers, which can lead to distrust and misunderstanding.
At its annual conference, Zoom introduced products beyond its video conferencing tool, aiming to position itself as the product of choice for the way work has changed. It introduced its Zoom Docs, explored its recently launched artificial intelligence features, and introduced its team chat, phone, and customer service products. The company also introduced its in-office products, including room reservation systems and video conferencing improvements in hybrid meetings. For example, Zoom’s software can now identify people in a conference room, give them their own space on a screen, and soon add their name tag next to it.
Smita Hashim, Zoom’s chief product officer, said the biggest challenge is getting the message across across all of Zoom’s features.
“Zoom is the home from which you start [work], where you can network and collaborate,” she said. “You can do a lot more with it” than just video conferences.
Zoom isn’t betting on any one model as the winner of the future of work. Instead, executives believe that each company will choose what works best for them and that Zoom must develop products accordingly.
“Office is not going away, remote is not going away and hybrid is not going away,” Saxon said. “Our job will be to understand all use cases and find solutions for all needs.”