The Future of Work: Avatars in the Hybrid Workplace
The COVID-19 pandemic irrevocably changed the way we work. Flexible and remote work arrangements are now mainstream. While we’ve adapted in recent years, we are still at the beginning stages of this evolution. How do we stay connected and engage with each other in new ways? Microsoft Mesh aims to address these questions, enabling collaborative experiences from anywhere through mixed reality applications. Avatars are at the forefront of this transformation.
An avatar serves as your digital representation. While avatars may be familiar from gaming or social media, they’re a relatively new concept in a professional setting. As part of the Microsoft Digital Employee Experience team, we manage the technology experiences for Microsoft employees, our “customer zero.” We anticipated many questions about avatars: How do they affect coworker connections? How do they affect meeting effectiveness? Can an avatar be considered “professional?” We started by researching these questions using data, feedback, and rigorous testing.
[Read our blog post about how Avatars for Microsoft Teams is rolling out to general availability in phases starting this week. Learn how you can get more out of your meetings with our Microsoft Teams Meeting guide. Explore how we’re making Microsoft Teams Premium better for customers. Discover how we’re transforming Microsoft with Microsoft Teams.]
Conducting the Research
Our work focuses on creating a “responsible metaverse”, an inclusive space that prioritizes people’s wellbeing. We collaborated with stakeholders and partners to support research and development centered on diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. Our team included Microsoft researchers, Microsoft Mesh developers, product engineers, and partners both inside and outside of Microsoft. For months, we gathered survey data and user feedback. The surveys covered:
- Inclusive avatar creation options
- User experience with avatar movement
- Avatar responses to audio cues
- Customization and representation variety
After reviewing thousands of feedback submissions, we concluded that personalization is key. People want to represent themselves in detail, according to their preferences. Many people responded differently to avatars. Some found avatars increased comfort and inclusivity, while others found the experience distracting or odd. To help people navigate these new experiences, we sought to provide best practices.
Business Etiquette in Virtual Spaces
Once we gathered our research, we found that the next question people sought to answer was this: “How should I use avatars?” This encapsulates endless questions of etiquette and appropriateness. Are avatars suitable in all meetings? Should you make your avatar dance? This is uncharted territory, and we saw a need for new etiquette guidelines. Before, business etiquette and corporate culture were learned in person, through observing people and interpreting body language. Since that is not possible with virtual meetings, we needed avatar etiquette.
Avatar Etiquette Guide
Whether or not to use an avatar does not follow rigid rules, much like many aspects of professional life. Whether or not an avatar is appropriate depends on the context.
Understand How Avatars Work
Today’s avatar movement is based solely on audio cues. Your avatar’s “mouth,” and facial expressions mimic the sound of your voice, but there is not a real-time connection to the movements of your body. As avatar technology advances, so too will our etiquette guidelines.
The questions we recommend asking yourself to discern whether to use an avatar are as follows:
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What kind of meeting is it? Consider the intent and desired outcomes. Meeting type influences whether or not an avatar can be used properly. For example, in general, if you would turn off your camera, it’s a good opportunity to use an avatar.
- Examples: Weekly team sync, a hybrid social event, an ideation session, or a working lunch
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Are there any meetings where you should NOT use an avatar?
- One-on-one meetings (unless discussed beforehand)
- Performance reviews
- Sensitive conversations where body language/facial expressions are essential for engagement (use your video in this case)
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Will you be presenting? Whether an avatar is appropriate while presenting depends on your audience and content.
- Consider your audience, content, and desired outcome. For some presentations (such as presentations to leadership), it’s best not to use an avatar. For others (like a learning session), an avatar may be beneficial!
Avatar reactions can serve as an icebreaker. When still in doubt, ask! Since using avatars is new to all of us, make sure to bring a growth mindset. Discuss with your coworkers about your team’s feelings about avatars and appropriate use. Since avatars are meant to represent yourself, ask how someone in a meeting would prefer to be presented if you are giving a presentation within their meeting. Personal preferences matter in such instances!
It can take a while for people to become accustomed to new technology. If we treat others, including our “avatar selves,” with respect, this will help make meetings inclusive and effective. It is important to remember:
- Avatar movement does not mirror the movements of the person behind the avatar. Make sure to tell people if you need to step away!
Representation and Inclusion
Keep in mind that an avatar reflects the way a person desires to be represented. This may sometimes differ from others’ expectations. That is alright! The goal is for you to feel accurately represented and included. You get to decide what this means.
If you’re having difficulty with your avatar adjustments, ask a teammate for feedback. If you’re not finding the correct customization options, tell us by offering feedback through the Teams desktop app. We are working tirelessly to provide improvements that allow everyone to feel expressive, engaged, represented, and heard.
Creating a responsible metaverse requires consistent effort. Like all etiquette forms, our guidance will evolve over time to meet the needs of a diverse global workforce. We’ll continue to add new features, customization options, and overall experiences with avatars that support a new and connected way to show up in our world of flexible work.
Read the latest Mesh product and customer news, and our blog posts about how Avatars for Microsoft Teams is rolling out to general availability in phases, and learn how to set up avatars for your organization, and how to join a meeting with a avatar as a result. For more information, visit our Microsoft Mesh website.
[Read our blog post about how Avatars for Microsoft Teams is rolling out to general availability in phases starting this week. Learn how you can get more out of your meetings with our Microsoft Teams Meeting guide. Explore how we’re making Microsoft Teams Premium better for customers. Discover how we’re transforming Microsoft with Microsoft Teams.]
