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Hybrid meetings aren\u2019t new. Microsoft is a global company, and even before the COVID-19 pandemic, teammates dialed into conference rooms from all over the world. But when everyone started working remotely in March 2020, all our meetings moved to Microsoft Teams. And the truth is, all the amazing features available in Teams changed how we think about meetings. We’ve come to rely on technology to provide everyone an equal opportunity to be seen and heard.<\/p>\n
Microsoft has fully embraced being a flexible workplace<\/a>, which means that hybrid meetings\u2014where some people join remotely and others join from a Microsoft worksite\u2014are increasingly common.<\/p>\n What does that mean?<\/p>\n From May to November 2022, the number of monthly hybrid meetings we\u2019ve held at Microsoft increased nearly 92 percent. To put that in perspective, during those six months, we held nearly 2 million hybrid meetings here at Microsoft.<\/p>\n With that in mind, how are we making sure our hybrid meetings are inclusive and effective for everyone involved, no matter how they\u2019re joining? In theory, it\u2019s simple:<\/p>\n You\u2019ll notice these focus on behavior. We\u2019re not asking people to use new technology; we\u2019re asking them to change how they use existing technology. And as most of us know from personal experience, changing behavior is hard.<\/p>\n In Microsoft Digital (MSD), we power, protect, and transform the employee experience and provide the blueprint for customers and partners to follow. We wondered, how could we help people at Microsoft shift habits and change how they think about meetings to build a healthy meeting culture?<\/p>\n Eighty percent of US workers<\/a> believe game-based learning is more engaging than other types of training. When Avanade (a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft) gamified sales training<\/a>, the region with the highest program participation had 33 percent higher sales. There\u2019s science behind the benefits of play-based learning, too. Psychiatrist Stuart Brown<\/a>, founder of the National Institute for Play, has said, \u201cNothing lights up the brain like play. Three-dimensional play fires up the cerebellum, puts a lot of impulses into the frontal lobe\u2014the executive portion\u2014helps contextual memory be developed.\u201d<\/p>\n So we teamed up with the Minecraft Education team to explore whether we might develop a Minecraft learning experience about hybrid meetings. Minecraft: Education Edition is a game-based learning platform used by millions of teachers and students. Learners can explore a wide range of subjects in immersive, blocky worlds including computer science, reading and history, and sustainability.<\/p>\n In the past, the Minecraft team has collaborated with partners including Microsoft\u2019s Inclusive Hiring team, Sustainability, and Real Estate & Facilities on Minecraft worlds that illuminate key topics or support company initiatives. We pitched the concept of a hybrid learning map to the Minecraft Education team, and they were immediately supportive.<\/p>\n Having a deep background in gaming, I am very aware of the magic that can happen during gameplay. When Laura came to us with the idea for a game, we wanted to understand if it would resonate with our large and diverse internal audience. After a couple of conversations about the value of gameplay in learning, and the broad appeal of Minecraft, I was all in.<\/p>\n \u2014Sara Bush, principal PM manager, Seamless Teamwork team<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cFiguring out how to portray a business setting in Minecraft (with mobs!) sounded like a fun challenge,\u201d says Bryan Bonham, senior business program manager for Minecraft Education.<\/p>\n It was a natural next step to partner with the team at Microsoft that is trying to help employees get more out of the many hybrid meetings that they now attend every day.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving a deep background in gaming, I am very aware of the magic that can happen during gameplay,\u201d says Sara Bush, principal PM manager on MDEE\u2019s Seamless Teamwork team. \u201cWhen Laura came to us with the idea for a game, we wanted to understand if it would resonate with our large and diverse internal audience. After a couple of conversations about the value of gameplay in learning and the broad appeal of Minecraft, I was all in.\u201d<\/p>\n Remote and hybrid work has led to some funny moments for all of us. I think adding some humor helps when learning something new. Best not to take yourself too seriously, we all make mistakes as we learn!<\/p>\n \u2014Bryan Bonham, Senior Business Program Manager, Minecraft Education<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This was a first-time collaboration between MSD and Minecraft and the first time Minecraft was used within Microsoft to support employee learning.<\/p>\n The concept we landed on was \u201cHybrid Hero: The game where the fate of a meeting lies with you!\u201d The player experiences different scenarios and must make the right choices to ensure their meeting is effective and inclusive. We based the game\u2019s script and decision points on the Microsoft Teams Meeting Guide<\/a>, which is full of research-based guidance.<\/p>\n Early on, we decided that humor was key.<\/p>\n \u201cRemote and hybrid work has led to some funny moments for all of us,\u201d Bonham says. \u201cI think adding some humor helps when learning something new. Best not to take yourself too seriously. We all make mistakes as we learn!\u201d<\/p>\n We also wanted to make sure Hybrid Hero was accessible and fun for everyone at Microsoft even if they\u2019ve never played Minecraft before. In every round of testing, we looked at the game from a newbie mindset.<\/p>\n “I’ve never played Minecraft before but figured that if preschoolers are playing it, I can surely play it, too,\u201d says senior program manager Chanda Jensen, who supports meeting technology for Seamless Teamwork. \u201cMost of the game was intuitive and really easy to get the hang of, and it was a fun way to teach hybrid-meeting best practices. As an added bonus, my kids now think my job is \u2018cool.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In early testing, 93 percent of players responded positively to the game as did 88 percent of first-time players. Making sure the game was beginner-friendly paid off.<\/p>\n Since it launched in September 2022, Hybrid Hero has been played by Microsoft employees in 40 countries, and we\u2019ve heard from global teams who\u2019ve used it as both a learning opportunity and team morale event. The game\u2019s internal marketing campaign has garnered over 350,000 impressions on Yammer, helping to spread the word about hybrid-meeting best practices.<\/p>\n Hybrid Hero was truly a \u201cOne Microsoft\u201d effort, requiring all team members to think outside the box and approach the project with a growth mindset. Employees are eager for innovative learning opportunities, and we\u2019ll continue to do our best to innovate and create exceptional experiences for them.<\/p>\n For more information about teaching and learning with Minecraft: Education Edition, visit education.minecraft.net<\/a>. Anyone can download a few demos of the game<\/a> and try lessons like the Minecraft Hour of Code. Microsoft employees can sign in with their corporate email account to access the full game features and content.<\/p>\n\n
Changing behavior is hard. Gamification can help.<\/h2>\n
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From idea to execution<\/h2>\n
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Let the games begin<\/h2>\n
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