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DAVE CITRON: Hi, everyone.
My name is Dave Citron, and I'm the Director
of Product Management for voice and video
products in Google Workspace.
I'm pleased to welcome you all to this breakout session
on boosting collaboration in the hybrid workplace.
Today, we're going to learn about a real life
journey of a customer that has adopted
Google Workspace for their hybrid workforce
and the challenges and successes they found along the way.
I'm also going to share some product updates
on new features coming to Meet, Calendar,
and Chat that will make a real difference for hybrid teams.
First, I'd like to share some research that's
helping shape how we think about hybrid work at Google.
Working with Economist Impact, we deployed a global survey
to assess hybrid work across more than 1,200 employees in 12
different countries and gain some really important insights.
First of all, more than 75% of respondents
said hybrid or flexible work will
be a standard practice within their organization
in the coming three years.
Only 24% of those respondents believed
their organization has the right mix of policies and technology
to make this sustainable.
That's a big gap.
And since research shows more than 55% of employees
want to work remotely at least three days a week,
we know this is something Workspace customers are
experiencing right now.
To better understand how our customers are working
to overcome these challenges, I'm
excited to welcome Nerina Martinez, Senior Technology
Director at Iron Mountain who led their transition to Google
Workspace.
Marina, it's such a pleasure to have you here today.
Thank you for your time.
NERINA MARTINEZ: Thank you, Dave.
Happy to be here.
DAVE CITRON: For some background,
can you tell us a little bit about Iron Mountain?
NERINA MARTINEZ: Yeah, absolutely.
So Iron Mountain is the global leader
for storage and information management services.
We are trusted by more than 225,000 organizations
across the globe to protect billions of valued assets.
And our services include information management,
digital transformation, secure storage and destruction,
data centers, Cloud Services, and art storage and logistics.
DAVE CITRON: Thanks, Nerina.
Tell us about your transition to Workspace
and what drove that decision.
NERINA MARTINEZ: Sure.
So back in 2018, there was a lot of focus
around how Iron Mountain can support
our customers through their digital transformation
journeys.
And it was also a time for us to reflect internally and think
about the culture that we wanted to create in order
to enable this growth.
The three areas of focus that we identified
were real-time collaboration, anywhere, any device,
so a platform that could be supported across all devices,
video enablement.
Google stood out in these areas because
of their rate of product innovation
and ease of use for our employees.
But of course, all of this had to be underpinned by world
class security and performance.
And with Google Workspace, we were actually
able to simplify our security stack
because a lot of the security tools
are already built into the platform.
And we have more control over our users' data
with features like DLP and Google Drive visitor sharing.
And we went live on Google Workspace in January of 2020
not knowing what was coming ahead.
But it's really been an incredible journey thus far.
DAVE CITRON: It's so great to hear how Workspace
is helping Iron Mountain.
As so many companies are starting to experiment
with hybrid work, could you share
some of the biggest hybrid pain points you've experienced
and how Workspace has help you solve them?
NERINA MARTINEZ: Absolutely.
So when the pandemic first hit-- and I
think this is probably true for many of us--
everything was changing so quickly from day to day.
We had our front line employees that
were showing up on site to our facilities
to support our customers.
And then, we had a large percentage of our workforce
that was transitioning to a fully remote working situation.
And it was amazing to see how teams were coming together
in Google Workspace to get things done.
One of my favorite examples is, within a matter of days,
we were able to set up a process to track and report
on employee health, personal protective equipment, PPE,
and facility closures by simply using Google Docs, Sheets,
and Data Studio.
And then, as we transitioned into more
of a hybrid working rhythm, Google
launched Smart Canvas for Google Drive.
And with features like Smart Chips,
page list docs, and action items, and these things
might sound small, but they really
made working together easier and more efficient
for all of our employees.
The third thing I'll mention was the adoption
of video actually happened really quickly for us.
We were not using video at all on our previous platform.
And I think this was a really critical component in helping
to improve our employee well-being during a time
when many felt so isolated.
And seeing the adoption of video,
we used that as an opportunity to outfit
many of our conference rooms with Google Meet hardware
that we were able to install for about a quarter of the price
to our previous video conferencing solution
and with a much better user experience for our employees.
DAVE CITRON: That's great.
I love hearing stories of how Google Meet helps
teams feel connected, even when they're apart.
Could you highlight some Workspace best practices
that have helped Iron Mountain in your hybrid work transition?
NERINA MARTINEZ: Sure.
So Google Chat Spaces have really
been instrumental in changing how we work.
So in many of the projects that I'm involved in,
we do not use email at all to discuss the project.
We use Spaces for everything from brainstorming
to decision making.
And it just really helps us all be more agile as a team.
The second thing I'll mention is we also
promoted the use of speedy meetings, which moved us away
from an hour long meeting mindset
to now averaging 31 minutes per meeting,
which is really amazing and we're very proud of that.
And then, finally, when Google introduced Companion Mode,
it was a huge win for those that were heading back
into the office because it still gave them the ability
to contribute to the meeting as an individual
by sharing their screen, raising their hand,
as they did when they were at home, even though they
were physically in a conference room.
DAVE CITRON: Thanks so much, Nerina.
I'm really glad to hear you're having
success with Companion Mode.
And we have some exciting news to share
on Companion Mode coming up.
It's amazing how far Iron Mountain has come.
And your experience speaks to the fundamental challenges
we see for many of our customers in their transition
to hybrid work.
And we've been working hard to solve these challenges
associated with hybrid work.
First, a key concern for our customers
is that not having a successful hybrid meeting strategy
will deter employees from going back into the office.
So we're working hard to create a productive, in meeting room
experience for hybrid meetings.
Second, we see customers needing to build community
among their hybrid workforce based on shared interests
and authentic human connection.
And finally, we understand that companies
want to help workers to be more productive by providing tools
that work together seamlessly and help them manage their time
and attention.
So first, let's start with hybrid friendly meetings.
We've certainly experienced these challenges at Google.
As we've moved into hybrid work, it
was apparent the dynamic of having remote
and on site meeting attendees was a step
behind from the fully remote experience we
had grown accustomed to.
It was difficult to provide an authentic and inclusive
experience for all participants.
To help address, this we added a number of exciting innovations
to Google Meet including Portrait Restore
to address issues with video quality caused
by low light, low quality webcams, or poor network
connectivity.
And automatic noise cancellation to filter out background noise
so you can have conference room audio
quality whether you're in a basement, a kitchen,
or on the go.
This embedded intelligence is made possible
by Google's machine learning technologies.
As people were returning to offices,
we worked to solve another challenge.
People expected the same meeting tools
they had when working from home.
So we introduced Companion Mode giving in-person participants
the ability to participate in Q&A, chat,
and also be able to easily share content from a conference room.
On top of that, we are also enabling people
in meeting rooms the ability to send their personal video
tile into the meeting through their laptop.
That way, they can show up as an individual,
much like they would when they were remote,
rather than a small part of the conference room tile.
And we also recently updated our Google Meet conference room
devices with an easy to use frame people
button that automatically frames people in the room.
And while this is a step in the right direction,
we want to provide even better options
to bridge the divide between the home office and conference
room.
That's why I'm so excited about the new adaptive framing
capabilities and Google Meet rooms.
These new framing capabilities are
designed to better represent meeting room participants
within the virtual meeting.
Over the next several months, we'll
be introducing continuous framing,
speaker tracking, and audience reaction into Google
Meet meeting rooms with our partners Huddly and Logitech.
And today, I'm excited to show you how it will work.
We've all seen when a conference room
dials into a hybrid meeting and everyone
is so small you can hardly tell who is speaking.
Well, with the new speaker framing feature
coming to Google Meet Series One hardware,
everyone will be able to clearly see who is speaking in the room
because the active speaker will be perfectly framed.
Series One devices will alternate
between active speaker view and an overview of the room.
Both are made possible through a single Huddly camera.
But it's not enough just to see the active speaker.
To see a full understanding of the meeting,
you should also see audience reaction.
Both of these features will be supported on Series One devices
through a three camera system.
This system tracks and quickly switches
between active speakers and other participants in the room
giving the audience full context of what is happening.
For customers using Meet on the Logitech Rally Bar or Rally Bar
Mini, the new Logitech Sight helps remote employees
get the best perspective in every hybrid meeting
through AI-powered video and crystal clear audio.
I'm lucky enough to have an early sample of Sight
to show you today.
This tabletop camera works hand in hand
with a Meet-certified Rally Bar or Rally Bar Mini
to capture and present virtual attendees with the best view
of the meeting room action.
In this video, you'll see how Logitech Sight uses audio video
and AI to detect active speakers around the table
and accurately frame the participants.
It features two cameras, each offering 180 degrees
to give a face forward view of all participants automatically
cropping and framing the appropriate people.
With Huddly and Logitech, we are working
to bring meeting room participants front and center
so that they can be fully represented in the meeting.
And we're also expanding our Companion Mode capabilities
to help in-room participants better represent themselves
in hybrid meetings.
Sometimes, bringing your laptop to the room
to use Companion Mode isn't possible.
That's why I'm so excited to bring the Companion
Mode to mobile, and early next year to tablets,
both Android and iOS.
These enhancements will give you much more flexibility
in joining Companion Mode with the device of your choice.
Now you can just walk into a room
and easily connect to your phone without thinking about it.
That's certainly become the preference for me and my team.
But equal representation in the conference room
goes beyond good video.
It's important for everyone on the call
to be able to know who's in the conference room.
For large, extended team meetings,
we sometimes meet with people we're not familiar with.
Today, when someone joins from the meeting room,
it's the name of the meeting room that shows up
rather than the people in the room.
To solve this challenge, Google Meet hardware
will soon allow room participants
to check into the meeting.
When you check into a room, your name
will start to appear next to the room name
and within the Meet people list so it's
easy for remote participants to identify you on screen.
We're bringing check-in first to Companion Mode, and next year,
via QR code to make check-ins a regular part
of every hybrid meeting.
Speaking of giving meeting rooms better representation,
we're also making it possible for Google
Meet devices to join breakout rooms.
Breakout rooms allow meeting organizers
to easily split the meeting into smaller groups for small group
or topic-based discussions, or to help increase engagement
and creativity within the meeting.
Now, meeting rooms can easily join those breakout rooms,
extending this powerful meeting tool
to work whether participants are fully remote or in the office.
Next, let's talk about community and connection.
Even with all these hybrid friendly meeting improvements,
the answer isn't always just another meeting.
As Nerina mentioned, hybrid workers
want to connect and collaborate at the times that
work best for them.
That's why some recent enhancements
for Spaces in Google Chat have made
a real difference for my team.
Spaces give teams a place for topic-based collaboration
inside of Google Chat with powerful integration
with other Workspace tools like Drive, Tasks, Docs, Sheets,
and Slides.
The ability to search discover and join Spaces
has made it possible to connect with other teams
and find answers anywhere within your organization, not just
within the existing workgroups.
Of course, whenever teams are working
on something confidential, it's easy to keep Spaces private
and invite only.
Previously, Spaces worked really well
for small to medium project teams.
But now that an individual space can support up
to 8,000 members, we're seeing new communities and connections
merge all across Google.
And the new threaded conversation model
announced earlier this year and coming soon to all Workspace
users lets people have deep conversations
on specific topics without interrupting
the overall flow of the conversation within the space.
Whether your interest is fitness, travel, pets,
or yes, tacos, Spaces enable you to create a place
to connect with others.
And new custom emoji make the conversation
more personal and expressive.
But large spaces aren't just for fun.
For example, you can set up a space
to communicate with your front line workforce.
And early next year, we're enabling organizations
to create broadcast only Spaces for announcements and updates.
Finally, we're continuing to add new features to Spaces
that ensure that conversation stays healthy, safe,
and inclusive.
The ability to establish additional space managers,
released earlier this year, lets you scale the moderation
responsibilities across multiple members of a community.
Space managers can post public guidelines
that establish clear standards of conduct
for a given community and delete inappropriate content whenever
they find it.
Early next year, we're enabling individual users
to flag messages that violate community
standards and a back-end reporting view in the Workspace
Console.
With this range of new and existing features,
I'm excited for the vibrant inclusive communities
that will become possible for Workspace users.
Now, let's shift gears and talk about productivity and focus.
While staying connected is important,
it's imperative to find focus and efficiency so that you
can stay productive and be your best self,
both at work and at home.
Smart Canvas has transformed how people collaborate
through a flexible, intelligent Canvas that collapses
boundaries between apps.
Smart chips, building blocks, and templates
speed content creation and provide you
with rich information from a variety of sources
directly in your dock, which eliminates context switching
and helps you be more efficient and focused.
Today, we're excited to announce three new Smart Canvas
innovations, including third party smart chips, which
bring rich data from non-work Workspace apps
directly into your dock.
Custom building blocks, which allow organizations
to easily create their own building
blocks for anyone in their organization.
And finally, Smart Canvas is coming
to Sheets, which will allow users to insert people
and document chips directly into Sheets making
it even easier to keep data in sync
across your Workspace users.
When it comes to time management,
I love hearing how Iron Mountain reduced their average meeting
time from one hour to 31 minutes using Speedy Meetings
and Calendar.
That's a big win.
On my team, we use some additional tools in Calendar
to better communicate our availability and working hours
and to protect our ability to focus on deep work.
As a team, we've agreed to share working time
and locations in Calendar.
This helps set expectations with coworkers about availability
and working hours.
It's easy to set up as an ongoing schedule,
and then, only update it when you need to make a change.
We use this information to coordinate time together
in our physical office.
No more showing up for your in-office days
and being the only one there.
It helps us respect work-life balance of our teammates,
and especially in different time zones.
For me personally, the ability to carve out
dedicated focus time has been huge.
I reserve a couple of blocks of focus time each day.
These repeat every week on the specific days
I select and I can set them to automatically
decline new meeting requests and to set my status
to Do Not Disturb.
I encourage my team to do this as well.
And we found that having specific time set for deep work
helps us show up and be more present when
we're connecting in real time.
Time Insights is also another useful feature
to explore how investing my time at work.
Time Insights shows a breakdown of your working hours
based on event type, time spent in meetings,
and who you're regularly meeting with.
I check in a regular basis to make
sure I'm spending comparable amounts of one
on one time with all of my direct reports,
not just folks who ping me all the time.
This has helped me ensure that my team
culture is more inclusive and every voice is getting heard.
With that, I want to express a huge Thanks to Nerina Martinez.
The Workspace team is proud to be a part of Iron Mountain's
hybrid journey.
Workspace is the best way for people and teams
to connect, create, and get things
done in the hybrid workplace.
I'm excited about our announcements today
and we'll share more as we continue
to innovate for hybrid.
To learn more about how Workspace
can help your organization make this journey,
download our handbook, which we've just
updated to reflect our newest insights and recommendations.
Thank you so much for joining us today
and enjoy the rest of Next 2022.
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