Technology has been implementing features that enable ‘work form anywhere’ for a few years now, but the onset of the pandemic meant that those capabilities were no longer a nice-to-have but an absolute necessity.
We spoke with Neal McMahon, Regional Sales Leader UK&I at Avaya and Sion Lewis, VP and MD EMEA at LogMeIn to gather their insights on how working from anywhere has developed recently and how they expect it to evolve next year.
How has the trend of anywhere work developed over 2021, particularly as parts of the world have opened up?
Avaya’s Neal McMahon stated that the digital workplace has now arrived, and collaboration has advanced to where employees are empowered to meet unplanned work head-on.
“By fusing employee experience with customer experience through the new, always-on, online front door, organisations support the fluid nature of problem-solving to drive experiences across the enterprise that are successful and fulfilling for everyone, meeting the challenges of a work-from-anywhere world with multi experience collaboration that crosses devices, touchpoints, and modalities,” he said.
The compulsory shift to remote working as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has also widened the pool of talent that organisations can tap into, as well as allowing employees to determine their own working conditions and locations, said LogMeIn’s Sion Lewis, who further warned that these companies must “embrace” the will of workers as the pandemic is still very much with us.
“Employees must feel empowered to ask for working arrangements that not only make them the most productive employee but also take into consideration a work-life balance,” he advised.
“We need to change our style to create a people-first culture – ensuring team members are connected and have strong workplace networks that are above all else equal regardless of their location. Shifting to an ‘anywhere’ work programme is not a simple task, but it is critical for business success. It may have taken a pandemic to bring this to light, but it is an outcome we can embrace”
How has this changed the demands of the technology that people use to work – particularly out of the office?
The need for remote access and support solutions that offered more security while ensuring user productivity has increased dramatically over the pandemic, said Lewis, adding that collaboration technologies have also been “fundamental” in allowing teams to work closely together.
“Imagine not having a digital human connection when working remotely?” he pondered.
These tools can do more than help teams get work done and if staff are having to deal with back-to-back meetings, keeping office culture alive and adding a little fun and social into the mix is a great boost to everyone’s engagement and mental wellbeing. Given many teams will be spread across the globe and working in various time zones with flexible hours, collaborative technologies will remain a central component to businesses.”
Avaya’s McMahon agreed that collaboration tools are essential for connecting “geographically distanced” colleagues, adding that such tools must provide consistency and persistence.
“Collaboration tools must provide persistency, ensuring work continues to progress across time and location allowing an expert-centric approach to business and customer problem solving, ensuring that the right subject matter experts can flow into and out of teams and customer interactions as required, he said.
“Collaboration happens organically in response to shifting priorities and the availability of team participants, and what they’re currently sharing. In a traditional environment, this kind of activity results from bumping into colleagues or impromptu discussions; with the new digital workplace, they occur unbounded by time and geography aided by immersive interaction tools easily accessible within one app”
What technology has proved particularly popular?
Composability and AI have been two technologies that have stood out to Avaya’s McMahon.
