Key Collaboration Trends for 2023
Do you remember when you took the 7.03 train into work every week day, or waved goodbye to a loved one as you stepped into your car to head off to an office? Over the past three years the way we work has immeasurably changed, and whilst individuals have found ways to adapt there are still many challenges for businesses to address, but these can also be viewed as opportunities. The so-called ‘Great Resignation’ is an excellent example of this. Millions of people globally deciding to quit their jobs could be splashed across the news as a catastrophic business downturn, but it would be just as accurate to call it the ‘Great Aspiration’. That’s because people want to change their jobs for something better, and that doesn’t always mean more money: it can be better employee experiences, or just feeling more valued by their employer. Businesses must therefore constantly adapt. Being able to quickly and seamlessly respond to challenges is vital to ensuring employees can always collaborate and stay productive, and this blog highlights how technology can help on that front in 2023.
Optimised Experiences
Hybrid working is here to stay, but many businesses are still finding it difficult to put the right processes in place, and to trust staff to work productively from home. While 87% of employees say they’re productive at work (according to Microsoft), only one in eight business leaders are confident that this is the case. The best way to bridge this gap in 2023 will be to ensure the right systems and technologies are in place to maximise productivity and transparency. There are a number of different innovations that can help, including:
- Meeting room enhancements – just 8% of the world’s meeting rooms are hybrid working-friendly. Reshaping meeting environments and using the right software and hardware can ensure remote attendees can be seen and heard just as well as those attending in person.
- Workplace management – if employees are able to book desks or meeting rooms in advance, it’s easier for them to be productive in the office and for others to organise collaboration. It also allows businesses to understand office utilisation, and make changes to generate savings where possible.
- Better communication – modern ways for employees to contact each other, such as video calls and live chat, should be better integrated into workflows and other solutions. These are largely superseding the corporate phone systems that were relied on pre-pandemic.
Solutions that enable productivity
Connected to the previous point, employees need easy access to all the tools they require to do their job, wherever and whenever they’re working. This isn’t always the case: Microsoft research has found that 62% of frontline workers say they feel they miss out on communication, largely because they don’t have regular access to emails or the internet like desk workers get. Additionally, many hybrid workers still don’t have the right professional set-up for hybrid working. Businesses need to be aware that they owe their employees a duty of care and should protect their wellbeing no matter where they choose to work from. Employees also need to have the confidence that they can be just as productive in the office, and be able to seamlessly move from one place to the other through innovations like virtual desktops. Businesses need to be able to invest in the correct productivity solutions that will support human endeavour, and artificial intelligence is proving increasingly useful in handling time-consuming, repetitive tasks. This level of automation (for example, using chatbots to handle simple customer queries instead of a human call handler) can free up time for staff to add value elsewhere in a business.
Maximising sustainability
Now more than ever, businesses have must factor sustainability into their decision-making and processes. According to Gartner, half of CIOs are expected to have metrics tied to sustainability by 2025, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies are becoming increasingly important to prospective business investors. There are many ways businesses can address these demands, perhaps the most obvious being finding efficiencies in operations that can help staff do more with less. But at the same time, there is a considerable carbon footprint attached to IT devices, and substantial reductions can be made in this area. Updating software regularly and using more flexible purchasing models, such as “as a Service” models, can help prolong the lifespan of hardware like phones and laptops, delaying the need to invest in replacements. These “as a Service” models also allow businesses to access the latest technology with fixed, predictable costs, refresh built in, and allows businesses to move from the traditional linear economy to the circular economy, where technology is refreshed on a more frequent basis. These models are helping businesses to reach their sustainability goals in 2023 and onwards.
How SCC can help
SCC’s range of solutions for collaboration are specifically designed to help you address the productivity challenges of 2023 and beyond. We can support you with:
- Meeting room optimisation that brings conferencing to life for every employee, both in-person and remote.
- Room booking and desk tools that connect the right employees to the right spaces, and allow easy management and optimisation of office real estate.
- Workplace productivity toolsets that give managers information and insights on the work their employees are doing day-to-day.
- Working from home solutions that ensure employees always have the right equipment and environment for their work.
- Technology refresh services, such as “as a Service”, that can continually update new technology, increase device lifespans, and drive efficiencies.
With decades of experience supporting businesses like yours, we can give you everything you need to ensure your workforce is productive and motivated, and ensure your business is efficient and sustainable. Find out more about our collaboration solutions here.