Following its successful use during lockdown with many employees working remotely from home, UK financial institution Nationwide Building Society now plans to embed Microsoft’s communication platform Teams into its brand new digital centre.
Integration following extensive use
In the month of June, Nationwide employees made an estimated 2.5 million Teams video calls, representing a 3,000% increase on the total reported in February, as staff worked to arrange and provide support for its members impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. This extensive task involved Nationwide creating, testing, and launching an online hub within a mere eight days, so it could provide a variety of aid, including mortgage payment breaks for homeowners financially impacted by the pandemic.
This period of time also saw an increase of 750% in screen shares, while around 12,000 nationwide employees carried out their roles from home, communicating with colleagues, participating in product update briefings, training events and daily meetings via a wide range of different mobile devices.
Chief Operating Officer for Nationwide, Patrick Eltridge, said:
“Having Teams in place prior to COVID-19 has ensured we could react to lockdown rules very effectively as we prepared the organisation for new ways of working. Teams has enabled us to convene large groups of people in a way that isn’t possible in a meeting room. It’s not a contingency service for us but something we will continue to build on in the future.”
Designing for future needs
Nationwide recently outlined its new aim is the integration of Microsoft Teams into each of its meeting rooms, including its newly created digital hub based in the Post Building on Museum Street in London, due to open later on this year. This new initiative will empower Nationwide staff to remotely attend gatherings held in physical meeting rooms, supporting both enhanced collaboration and efficient operations.
The new site in London’s Holborn will also provide a base for a dedicated Digital and Technology Centre for personnel working in a wide spectrum of specialisations, including Design, Development Operations, Data, Digital, Architecture, and Engineering. These specialists will then build upon technology already in place to construct platforms to answer the evolving requirements of Nationwide’s massive membership of 16 million.
Eltridge commented:
“Technology is essential as it provides the infrastructure needed so we can work dynamically, while still collaborating with colleagues across Nationwide and continuing to be productive and efficient with their time. This is the workplace that Nationwide is creating right now.”
Many enterprises and individuals have found Microsoft Teams a valuable asset during the recent lockdown, with over 75 million individuals now using the communications solution across the globe.
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