Unify, the Atos brand for communications and collaboration, recently started a campaign to create the UK’s perfect workspace. Following visits to their dedicated website, the likes of Specsavers, Vision Express, Proctor and Gamble, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s have all taken part in the research to find out their collaboration persona. The UK results differ somewhat to the US results. Let’s drill down into the details.
UK results
The league table for the UK is as follows:
| Model Pro | 1,066 | 42% |
| Buzzword Bill | 832 | 33% |
| Positive Penny | 190 | 7% |
| Steven Seagull | 164 | 6% |
| Side Stepper | 145 | 6% |
| Secret Agent | 144 | 6% |
According to Unify, the model pro is the only one who knows whats to do in any situation. Unify describe this colleague as the one that will never let you down. More reliable than a Japanese train run on a Swiss clock by a German stationmaster, this is the go to person in any company. They can however sometimes take on too much work in their desire to please.
Unify provide a key tip on how to work with model pros. The model pro will always add value to a project and is the ideal person to turn to. Keep them informed on all projects and address them directly in group collaborations when their advice is needed.
US results
The league table for the US is as follows:
| Positive Penny | 548 | 61% |
| Model Pro | 247 | 27% |
| Buzzword Bill | 78 | 9% |
| Steven Seagull | 17 | 2% |
| Secret Agent | 8 | 0.70% |
| Side Stepper | 4 | 0.30% |
Positive Penny, on the other hand, is the one who wishes the weekend wasn’t so darn long. Like the love child of a college cheerleader and the Duracell bunny after they’ve drunk a bucket of espresso, Penny positively reeks of positivity. Like a ray of light that makes the sun feel like quitting the day job, this team player is an invaluable member of any company. Penny can be a little too much on a Monday morning … and Tuesday morning. In fact, every morning before you’ve had your coffee.
Unify’s key tip to working with Positive Penny is to share every part of the project with Penny and let her comment openly so the rest of the team are energised by her positivity.
Buzzword Bill
Buzzword Bill is a character that needs to quickly disappear from the workspace – particularly in Unified Comms. With the sheer amount of jargon in this industry, the respondents in the Unify research total over 900 Buzzword Bills. As customers require simplified marketing and sales materials to fully understand the business benefits, the Buzzword Bills need to evolve into other personas in workUtopia.
It certainly seems the UK could learn a thing or two from their US counterparts. As campaigns like workUtopia continue to help businesses discover their collaboration needs, it can only be a matter of time before Buzzword Bill’s are a thing of the past and the future of work is a reality.
Due to the recent success and uptake of the workUtopia research, Unify has released a follow up eBook: A practical guide to more effective collaboration. In here, you can find out how to choose the most productive collaboration tools to overcome key issues affecting workplace communication.
