Episode 2: Are Virtual Town Squares the Future of Workplace Socialization?

We are back with the 2nd episode of the @Radisys' Let's Engage #podcast!

In this episode @Marc Beattie of @Wainhouse Research discusses with @Al Balasco, Head of Media and Applications at @Radisys about one of the biggest downsides of virtual and hybrid work - the loss of informal interaction and camaraderie employees get from being in the same physical office as their colleagues, and the increased friction in the flow of information and ideas. The discussion focuses on how this affects companies and how businesses can overcome these challenges.

In this episode of Radisys' Let's Engage podcast,  we are going to discuss how companies are dealing with one of the downsides of virtual and hybrid work: the loss of more informal interaction and camaraderie employees get from being in the same physical office as their colleagues, and the increased friction in the flow of information and ideas. We’ll focus on how this affects companies and how businesses can overcome these challenges. I am your host, Al Balasco, Head of Media and Applications at Radisys 

Our guest for the podcast is Marc Beattie, the Managing Partner & Principal Analyst at Wainhouse Research, an industry research firm focused on workplace communications and collaboration.

This podcast will discuss the following topics:

1. What are the downsides of the Work From Home and Hybrid Workforce culture?
2. What are businesses doing to solve these challenges and who owns solving this problem? 
3. Why are the existing workplace communication tools not sufficient for the job?
4. Are there any purpose-built tools or initiatives businesses have tried in the last few years to overcome these challenges, and if so what kind of success or issues have they had?
5. The emerging trend of workplace socialization can be framed in many ways:  virtual town squares, virtual water cooler huddles, or Digital HQ.  Why should businesses pay attention to this trend?
6. Is there a large market for workplace socialization tools?
7. What strategies can be employed to ensure virtual town squares remain an active and engaging space, and what challenges do they present for remote employees?
8. What is the best way to measure the success of investments in workplace socialization?