Team collaboration is the beating heart of most organisations, as colleagues work together to ensure projects succeed and targets are met. Traditionally, collaboration was often seen as in-person meetings and interactions conducted in the office. But that was redefined when the pandemic hit and the majority of organisations and their teams had to learn how to collaborate virtually. We gathered together industry experts to discuss how team collaboration has transformed over the past year and a half and what it might look like going forward. Our panelists are from Mitel, Avaya Workplace From Facebook, RingCentral, and Nureva.
How has team collaboration had to evolve over the course of the last 18 months?
Nancy Knowlton, CEO of Nureva: “When the pandemic hit and everyone began WFH, collaboration meant a seemingly endless stream of Zoom meetings – face-to-face meetings just moved online. “When people realised we would stay home longer than a few months, more structure was introduced into the process. Focus time was carved out of the day, and there was more discrimination around the need for meetings, who should attend a meeting, and always having a stated purpose and agenda. The process began to evolve and individuals and teams consciously considered what worked and what didn’t.”
Nick Riggott, Country Sales Director UK&Ireland at Mitel: “While technologies like videoconferencing had been around for a while, their use was much more limited. It took time for some to get to grips with the tech on a functional basis – and the many comical scenes of things going wrong that have been shared on social media are a testament to that. “What came next was more interesting: when work is fully office-centric, presenteeism can set in. Some staff need to be seen as busy, rather than productive. Now it’s all about the output – your teammates only see what you bring to the table, and that’s a boost for productivity and puts team collaboration tool at the forefront.” Nazir Ul-Ghani, Head of EMEA, Workplace from Facebook:
“Companies have realised that ‘getting work done’ doesn’t mean hours of video calls. To truly get work done virtually you need tools that allow for synchronous and asynchronous ways of working with colleagues"
“While the pandemic accelerated our use of tech at work, it also shone a light on the ‘office biases’ companies hold. The truth is that many employees didn’t stop coming to the office due to Covid-19 – they never worked there to begin with. Frontline workers have always been ‘remote’ and often not given the tools to connect and collaborate with colleagues. The last 18 months have given organisations the opportunity to level the playing field and give these workers a voice.”
Rob Carmichael, Workplace Specialists at Avaya: “Team collaboration has had to rapidly evolve and mature. Security, privacy, and reliability-related features have rightly been identified as key capabilities to support an exponential uptake in usage. Now, the integration with these tools into our existing communication channels is key, as it will help drive productivity gains from the new ways of working.”
What technology has seen a rise in popularity?
Nick Riggott, Country Sales Director UK&Ireland at Mitel: “There’s one clear answer – video conferencing (VC). VC is now not only ingrained in our day-to-day work practices but our work culture.
“This isn’t a blip – it’s changed the concept of what a team can be: perhaps most interestingly, they can now be truly global, with talent drawn from across regions collaborating in real-time”
Rob Carmichael, Workplace Specialists at Avaya: “Video as a channel of communications has, of course, rapidly taken off. Where once people would have been content to join a call via audio, colleagues and managers have wanted a more natural interaction with their teammates.
