We want to bring you industry insights for the sectors that we work in and here is one from a guest and Bubble friend, Paul Bray, freelance journalist and regular contributor to AV Magazine.

The enforced switch to homeworking over the last year has been so successful that many workers may never want to see the inside of an office again. This sounds like great news for their employers, a perfect opportunity to divest themselves of a lot of expensive real estate.

In fact, it would be a disaster. Have you ever heard of the great product or marketing campaign that was dreamed up by a bunch of people sitting alone in their spare bedrooms? Or the person who said, “So-and-so was such a great mentor to me – although I never actually met them…”? Neither have I.

There are plenty of tasks that people can do on their own, but the things that really move the business forward tend to happen when they get together. Which is why, come the end of lockdown, most employers will need to coax their staff back into the office, at least for part of the time.

That will mean creating a safe, hygienic working environment, and – just as importantly – demonstrating to staff that it is safe and hygienic. Covid may never completely go away, and even if it does, many people may never again feel happy being packed into meeting rooms or open-plan offices to pre-pandemic densities.

Properly prepared

The process can start before people even leave home. Staff can pre-book a desk or meeting room, safe in the knowledge that the booking system will find them a workspace that’s socially distanced from the next person, or ensure the meeting room has safe capacity for the proposed number of attendees. Pre-booking can also be used to control the total number of people in the building, and even to encourage them to stagger their arrival and departure times to avoid overcrowding in hallways and lifts.

Similar technology will be available to visiting guests. Their host will invite them to pre-register online, so instead of having to sign the visitors’ book they will check in and out via their phones, perhaps by scanning a QR code.

In the loop

Prominent digital signage will remind everyone entering the building about the need for hygiene and social distancing, indicate the location of hand sanitisers, and inform them about any building-specific rules – ‘keep left’ policies, one-way systems etc. There may even be an infrared temperature scanner to ensure no one is admitted if they’re running a fever.

Further signage around the building will help with wayfinding, and snappy, location-specific content will ensure the message never goes stale, and reassure people that the area they’re entering has been recently cleaned, isn’t overcrowded, etc. This information will also be made available via people’s personal devices such as tablets and phones.

Safer spaces

Once arrived, staff will be able to double check the status of the room they’ve booked – is it really empty, has it been cleaned since the last use? – via a smart panel outside, so there’s no need to open the door in case the previous users are still there.

The system won’t just rely on the booking diary for this information. Cameras or motion sensors in the room will know whether it’s occupied, as well as counting people in and out to ensure numbers are kept within safe limits. Similar people-tracking technology, including motion sensors and heat mapping, can check that no area of the building is becoming overcrowded, while CO₂ meters will keep tabs on the air quality and need for ventilation.

When staff have finished with a room or desk, the system will automatically alert the cleaners so that it can be sanitised before the next pre-booked users arrive.

Don’t touch!

The ubiquity of touch screens and touch panels has obvious implications for hygiene. Regular cleaning can reduce the risks and providing everyone with their own pen or stylus obviates the need for finger touch (it may give more accurate control, too). Touch interfaces on smart panels can even be disabled and replaced with wireless control via the user’s personal device.

There are plenty of alternatives to touch, too. Cameras or motion sensors can detect when someone approaches a screen and automatically display the content, replicating it on the user’s own device so they can touch that instead of the main screen. Personal devices can be used to control equipment in the room via wireless interfaces, from lights and door handles to conferencing and presentation systems. Content can also be shared from personal devices directly into the conferencing system.

Voice control is becoming more accurate and more popular, thanks partly to the success of consumer technologies such as Alexa. Gesture-based interaction is another option, although currently more common in settings such as museums and visitor attractions than the corporate meeting room.

A seamless experience

The final way in which technology can encourage staff to return to the office is to make it worth the effort. If they feel the equipment available in the meeting room is inferior to what they have at home, or if it’s so clunky and difficult to use that it makes the meeting unproductive, they might as well stay at home.

So firms need technology that’s quick and intuitive to learn, performs with total reliability and consistency, and enhances both the conduct of the meeting itself, and the ability to record and share what happens there. If this is combined with seamless interconnection with people’s home office systems, so that workflows follow them wherever they go, then they’ll be able to choose the most appropriate environment for every part of their working life – and the business will be the ultimate beneficiary.

With performance-rich technologies and services from companies like Utelogy, Lightware Visual Engineering and Quick Channel in place, your teams can be reassured that their working needs are delivered smoothly for a seamless experience back to the work place.

If you are interested in learning more about how to maximise your PR, marketing and social media strategy to target and engage with your target audience, and how Bubble Agency can assist in transforming your business with our knowledge and network, please email: hello@bubbleagency.com

Regardless of whether you are running a business, advancing a career, or looking for a new job, focusing on building your brand will support your strategy to thrive and connect to opportunity.

People-brands are simply visible human beings who share a message, engage an audience, and amplify value. Here are six easy steps, that you can take at your own pace, to get you started:

• Google yourself

If I googled your name, do you know what I would find? People should be able to discover you with a simple online search, as well as connect and interact with you on your various social channels. Whether you’re going to a meeting, pitch or interview it’s inevitable that someone is going to look you up so take a minute to Google yourself (check web, image and video search results) and see what others are seeing when they search your name.

• Create a great first impression

‘Brand’ is easier to understand using a ‘shop’ analogy, framing you as the shop keeper and first impressions as your shop window. When it comes to your digital shop window, whether it’s LinkedIn for work or Instagram for visual impact, it’s important to keep it up to date, showcase expertise and make sure that it feels human. Here’s a free 3-part series of LinkedIn guides to help with the ‘How’ if that’s your platform of choice.

• Know yourself, your audience and expand your network

Why do you want to build your brand? Like with any journey when you’re crafting your brand strategy, knowing where you’re starting from as well as where you’re going makes the whole process more efficient. Getting clear on what you’re good at, finding those who need what you offer, and connecting with them in places where they’re most likely to engage is standard stuff, yet opportunity often resides in the most unlikely places. You have so many different aspects to who you are and there is plenty of choice out there when it comes to online groups and communities, so try something different, share your message and see where it leads you!

• Showcase social proof

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people tend to make buying decisions based on the opinions of other customers. This is something that should be included in your brand strategy, regardless of whether you’re marketing a company or an individual. Why? Because social proof amplifies trust, interest, opportunities, and those all-important conversions. Simply put, social proof is the emotional preference for doing what other people are doing, because if other people are doing it, it proves that it must be worthwhile! The easiest way to collect social proof for your personal brand is asking for recommendations on LinkedIn as the platform is set up to facilitate this quickly and easily, people who use LinkedIn are familiar with it and it more than likely won’t come as a surprise to your connections when you ask. Have a read of our free social proof guide which gives you three easy ways that you can apply social proof to your personal brand marketing strategy.

• Show up

The world of work may have conditioned people to be ‘professional’ but this doesn’t mean that you can’t be yourself – a personal brand that exhibits authenticity and character has an advantage over one that showcases a ‘work character’ designed to survive office life. Mastering the art of being who you already are doesn’t need to be overly complex, but it does need to be personal. Given that all business relationships are human to human, individuality and enthusiasm can make the difference between your next big opportunity and the one that got away so the more that you show up as a person with character, stories and purpose, the broader the future opportunities for growth.

• Apply the one centimetre rule

Positioning yourself exactly where you are today won’t produce momentum. Visualise a ruler with you at zero and the biggest version of your goals or desired outcomes at 30 centimetres. As an example, let’s use ‘bestselling author’ as your 30 cm goal. Today you haven’t written a word of this book but you can position yourself one centimetre ahead of today, which might look like: a response to ‘what did you do this weekend?’ of ‘I was thinking about a book I’m planning on writing’, it may look like a social media post that says ‘Does anyone know any published authors? I’m planning on writing a book and would love to have a coffee with someone who has already done it”. You still haven’t written a single word of that bestseller, however, anyone that you’ve spoken to or who has seen your social media posts now links ‘writer, author or book’ with you. This allows your network to connect you to others, share articles that may be of interest and present opportunities that may have otherwise remained in the dark. The 1 cm rule is a fantastic way to not only hold yourself accountable (let’s face it, there are only so many times you can say you’re thinking about it!), it also moves you along that ruler at a much greater pace, taking you further, faster.

Being visible can be scary, cringe, embarrassing (*insert relevant feelings here!) and the thought of it can leave you feeling all sorts of vulnerable, but we all have ‘being human’ in common so allow yourself to make mistakes, to be supported by others and embrace the opportunities on offer. It’s important to know that brand building isn’t a race; results take time, and the most successful ones are advocates of authenticity over superficiality, connection over following and meaning over metrics.

Working from home, hybrid working, and Zoom is our new landscape so it is more important than ever to understand and embrace brand strategy as the valuable career and business development tool it is, giving yourself the best possible chance to connect to opportunity. The streets may be emptier than they were a few years ago, yet it’s busier than ever online and irrespective of how crowded it gets out there, there is always room for another authentic, human voice. And there is no good reason why it shouldn’t be yours.

Sallee Poinsette-Nash is one of the UK’s leading people-brand experts, founder of award-winning strategy agency, Brandable & Co. and on a mission to make business more human. Connect via LinkedIn

Welcome back to another episode of the In the Hub Podcast! This week, Neil is joined by Roy Callow of Nut Tree Media. Roy’s career has seen him work in a variety of production roles, including taking on technical management for popular reality shows with ITV. Roy discusses how he got his start in broadcasting, recalls a unique incident that saw cameras blackout due to a rogue porcupine, and gives us his prediction for the future of the broadcasting industry.

In this week’s episode, Neil speaks to Matt Lewns – accomplished broadcast engineer and technical supervisor. Matt’s career has seen him work with Formula 1, the Olympics and an extraordinary array of live music events for some of the biggest bands and festivals. Neil and Matt discuss technological advancements in broadcasting, his career highlights and where he sees our industry heading in the future.

In this week’s episode, Neil is joined by Amir Taki – director, executive producer and content creator at Haven Films. Amir takes us back to his days running one of the most successful Muslim faith TV channels in the world, and what the month of Ramadan means for broadcasters and the communities that rely on them.