The Future of Work: Workplace Collaboration
A collaborative environment
As traditional managerial hierarchies have broken down and matrix management structures with multiple stakeholders become the norm, so we now see the workplace as more of a collaborative environment. It’s a cultural expectation that has driven exciting new innovation and Sharp’s connected technology is proud to be leading the way.
Power of People
Living on-line lives means that we have never shared more, expressed more or collaborated more, both personally and professionally. As the rise of platforms such as Facebook and Twitter encourage us to have our say in a social world where your opinion counts, so we now also expect to connect with our colleagues as a community that builds new ideas, processes or systems together. Teamwork whether face to face or increasingly virtual, is totally ingrained in doing business today.
Teamwork driven by technology
There can be no doubt that an agile team united behind a single vision, built on having the same level of information consistently shared, leads to achieving business goals smarter and faster. It explains why the rise of collaboration software or ‘groupware’ has been huge – both for office environments and remote sharing.
In fact, Global Market Insights predicted in April 2020 a further 14% growth to 2026 in a market currently worth $9 billion, with a particular focus on SMEs using Bring Your Own Devices (BOYD) to reduce office space required, and as attitudes to remote working change even amongst the smallest of businesses.*
*Compound Annual Growth Rate predicted by Global Market Insights, April 2020. Report ID: GMI711
End to end collaboration
The proliferation of collaboration technology means that there are now a whole host of devices and platforms to use whether the team is just starting to create their shared plan, right through to when they are ready to communicate the new vision.
Firstly, unified communication platforms such as Microsoft Teams & Google Workspace, ensure that everyone has the right information upfront and the ‘stuck in an e-mail inbox’ scenario is a thing of the past. Equally, world-first innovations, such as 4K 70” Windows collaboration display from Sharp, have been designed to further enhance tools such as Microsoft Teams, allowing members to start working together instantly and ensuring those in the office are seamlessly linked to remote contributors. Through the power of AI, the perfect environment to work in can even be created.
Some collaboration technology such as Sharp’s BIG PAD even aids collaboration both in terms of creating ideas, with hand-writing recognition that allows up to four contributors to capture their thoughts, as well as sharing ideas through teams interacting with the screen while presenting. Finally, real-time editing platforms such as Google Docs enable multiple users to build presentations together, comment on work instantaneously and deliver output that is truly collective.
Keys to successful sharing
Today’s collaborative workplace can sometimes mean a lot of noise, over-communication and information overload. Equally, there may be less time for individual-focused work which is best done alone. Finally, collaboration teams can become lopsided with an average of 35% positive contributions coming from only 5% employees, with these same people becoming bottle-necked with requests. As with any technology, collaboration software is only ever as effective as the people using it.
The answer is as always to keep the operating model simple, with tight core teams as well as fewer and deeper interactions between members. Boundary setting is also vital; we’ve all come across meeting-mania with too much talking and not enough action. Clear individual responsibilities pre- and post-collaboration, shared out amongst everyone, helps to ensure the balance is weighted towards contribution rather than just attendance.
Era of one-click collaboration
Used smartly, the value of collaboration is still unquestionable. Bringing together shared passion and an eclectic range of ideas leads to revolutionary work. From the twenty-year European collaboration that delivered Airbus through to ensuring a new server is up and running on time, working together can change our daily world. Now the huge power of collaboration is truly a click away.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or would like to find out how Sharp can help turn your business into a collaborative workspace, then get in touch.