Abstract
Microsoft embedded Teams with a series of “wellness” tools to address the mental health crisis, and it is pitching the product to employers as a means of boosting worker productivity. “Personal wellbeing experiences,” announced at the Microsoft Ignite conference last month, will arrive on Teams early next year, Business Insider reported Sept. 24. The “experiences” include “emotional check‐ins” that prompt users to select an emoji expressing how they felt about the workday, a “virtual commute” intended to give people time to reflect before and after workdays, and guided meditation sessions through a partnership with Headspace. Microsoft suggests that it is important for employers to track and encourage these behaviors if they want to squeeze the most productivity out of employees without causing burnout. For instance, Microsoft cited a study showing that reflections typically performed during commutes can increase productivity by 15%, and another that found that four sessions on the Headspace app could reduce burnout by 14%. With the Teams update, the data from the emotional check‐in tools will be used as an input to gauge employees' capacity for productivity, integrated within Microsoft's Workplace Analytics productivity tracking platform.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
