Ever since the pandemic transformed the way companies around the world operate, organisations have begun to look differently at the future of work. Concepts like open offices and huddle rooms are being replaced by a new demand for flexible, remote, and hybrid work. These new workplace strategies are underpinned by a range of valuable cloud-based tools. In particular, team collaboration solutions have become a crucial component of keeping evolving, distributed teams synchronised and productive. In fact, the market for team collaboration tools is approaching an incredible predicted value of $56.67 billion by 2030. As the world of work continues to transform, certain trends are contributing to the evolution and implementation of team collaboration solutions. Here are some major trends impacting brands as they plan strategies to empower tomorrow’s teams.
Hybrid Working
Perhaps one of the most significant trends to influence the future of work in the last couple of years has been the rapid implementation of hybrid working strategies. Around 76% of employees in one study have said their companies are already embracing a hybrid working model. Other organizations are shifting rapidly to a remote and globalized work strategy. The cloud environment and digital transformation have opened the door for a future of anywhere work, where employees can remain productive wherever they are. However, to ensure teams remain synchronised and company culture thrives, brands need the right team collaboration tools. Increasingly, these tools are evolving to focus on bringing different types of teams closer together. Modern team collaboration tools come with solutions not just for office workers but also for field-based employees and remote staff. What’s more, they leverage AI tools and innovations to help ensure employees maintain the same degree of “presence” in the workforce, wherever they are.
Team Collaboration as the Work Hub
As modern employees become more diverse and distributed, the office is gradually disappearing as the central “hub” for work. Today’s team members need to be able to access all of the knowledge, support, and technology required for productivity in a single digital environment. Team collaboration tools are therefore emerging as the new “workplace”. The right team collaboration software supports staff members in sharing ideas and connecting with colleagues through messaging, file sharing, whiteboarding, video and audio. These solutions can also regularly integrate with other essential solutions for the day-to-day workflow of employees. This provides staff with a single pane of glass environment for productivity. Within the right collaboration environment, businesses can support their teams with access to crucial resources and knowledgebase documents, communication tools, automation, and bots. There are even solutions for tracking important workplace metrics like engagement. Additionally, many tools are beginning to implement options for “inter-company” collaboration, so guests and contractors from outside of the workplace can still take part in collaborative sessions.
Staff Wellbeing and Empathy
One of the major trends to emerge in the workplace throughout the pandemic was a stronger focus on employee well-being and empathy. In the age of the “Great Resignation” talented team members started searching for employers capable of understanding their emotional needs. As such, team collaboration tool vendors have started to focus more heavily on tools for wellness. Today’s team collaboration tools come with access to automated polling systems and bots capable of checking in on employees who might not be visiting the traditional office. The right tools can offer integrations with well-being apps designed to offer staff tips on managing stress and anxiety. There are even tools built into certain ecosystems which assist employees with managing their day more effectively. For instance, Microsoft Teams allows staff members to set aside blocks of time in their schedule where they might want to avoid meetings with other team members. In-built analytics also allow staff to track common productivity drains and set up strategies for lowering stress.
