Research recently revealed by UC EXPO – the largest unified communications and collaboration event in Europe, suggests that a lack of proper education could be stopping the collaboration world from discovering its true potential. According to the study, around 56% of Working Brits believe that the current curriculum doesn’t do enough to give students the collaboration skills they need for the modern workplace.
These results come during an important time in the communication world, where collaboration is becoming increasingly crucial to workplace productivity. Brands from every vertical are looking for ways to enable smarter collaboration solutions in the work environment, with 70% of the UK saying that collaboration is key to success.
Teaching Better Collaboration in School
Despite the rising importance of good collaborative skills in the workplace today, just over half of the people surveyed by UC EXPO said that they never received any collaboration education in school. In fact, 37% suggested that collaboration wasn’t an important aspect of their education, and 55% of the individuals working in education feel that students aren’t provided with the correct collaboration skills.
One teacher drew attention to the fact that students in UK schools face a significant emphasis on passing exams, rather than developing skills for teamwork. Although some educators will put their own collaborative lessons into the mix, the curriculum is sorely lacking. This might not be a surprising revelation to some. After all, about 10% of Brits say that they never collaborate at work, and 5% will try to avoid collaborating. On the other hand, 15% of respondents said that one of the reasons they don’t collaborate is because they consider it to be a waste of time.
How Valuable is Collaboration?
Although collaboration might not be a crucial thing for some employees, many experts agree that as professionals continue to rise through the ranks, they’ll find that collaboration grows increasingly important. In fact, 83% of the C-level executives that took part in the UC EXPO study said that they often collaborate in their roles – compared to a much smaller 47% among entry-level staff.
It’s worth noting, of course, that the nature of collaboration in the workforce may begin to change as younger generations continue to enter the workplace. Indeed, 71% of 18 to 24-year-olds say that they have collaborated often in school, compared with much fewer collaborators among older generations. This could be an indication that we’re starting to see a positive shift in the work environment.
While countless recruitment companies prize collaboration skills when searching for top-tier talent, it seems that there hasn’t been much done up to this point to prepare students for a collaborative work life. However, now that technology is perceived as a supporting aspect of the work environment, rather than an inhibitor, things are finally changing.
Helping Organisations to Work Together
Today, individuals in any industry need to be able to work well with their colleagues to thrive in a competitive marketplace. If companies can work alongside the education sector to provide people with the right skills for future collaboration, the workforce of tomorrow could be a better, and brighter place.
To find out more about smarter collaboration, register for the UC EXPO on the 16 & 17 May at the ExCeL London.
