Microsoft Team Reduces Employee Turnover and Strengthens Remote Culture with SoWork
Alice, Director of Innovation & Technology at Microsoft
We realized our team’s engagement was suffering without the time we used to spend together working from a shared place. Everyone felt isolated when we lost those impromptu hallway conversations.
Feeling Disconnected in a Remote World
Microsoft’s Innovation & Technology team had mastered productivity while working remotely, but employees increasingly felt isolated. Scheduled meetings and messaging apps kept projects moving, but the casual, spontaneous interactions that drive engagement and creativity were missing. Leadership noticed morale slipping and realized that restoring connection was essential for retention and long-term performance.
A Persistent Virtual Office
The team adopted SoWork as their persistent virtual office, creating a central hub where employees could see who was online, pop into rooms for quick collaboration, and join meetings seamlessly.
Presence indicators: Allowed team members to know who was available for spontaneous collaboration.
Centralized meetings: Ensured alignment without juggling multiple tools.
Human-centered interface: Made interactions feel natural, restoring the energy of an in-person office.
The ability to see who’s online and have informal, spontaneous conversations has completely transformed our remote collaboration. It’s like being in the office again, even though we’re distributed.
Bringing Engagement Back
By moving collaboration into SoWork, informal interactions returned. Quick questions no longer required scheduling, and employees could feel connected throughout the day. The platform also helped preserve the team’s culture by replicating casual interactions that are often lost in remote work. “SoWork made us a team again. It brought the humanity, spontaneity, and collaboration back into our work in a way nothing else could,” says Alice.
Restored informal collaboration and boosted morale.
Increased visibility across projects, reducing delays.
Rebuilt a sense of team presence and alignment across distributed locations.
Results That Last
With a central, human-centered workspace, Microsoft employees are now more aligned, energized, and engaged. Decisions happen faster, and the team’s culture thrives, even across multiple time zones.
