Boosting productivity with visual collaboration technology
The right collaboration tools make it easier for team members to be productive, work flexibly and creatively, writes James Harkin, Senior Director of Sales for Asia Pacific at Lucid.
Research shows the average worker is spending 13.5 per cent more time in meetings than they did pre-Covid, and with precious little to show for it. In fact, the reverse: 70 per cent of those meetings were found to be an impediment of getting quality work done.
At the same time, hybrid work isn’t going anywhere with 50 per cent of Australian companies now implementing this work style according to Adaptavist’s ‘Reinventing Work Report’ published late 2022. However, teams need the right tools in place to streamline processes and align quicker.
Want to overcome meeting malaise? Make it visual and collaborate
Meetings aren’t the only way for teams to collaborate. Whether it’s asynchronously or in real time, leaders are looking for ways for teams to engage with each other effectively and turn ideas into reality.
Enter visual collaboration. Teams can come together to progress projects and advance organisational objectives, even when they’re toiling at different times and at opposite ends of the country.
The term ‘visual collaboration’ can be used to refer to a myriad of activities and methodologies, including brainstorming and whiteboarding, process mapping, the creation of organisational charts and the tracking of projects, via timelines and roadmaps.
Many of us acquire and retain information most effectively when it’s presented visually, and the use of such schema can make it easier to share complex concepts and plans with colleagues, without the need to bring everyone together physically or virtually.
Further reading: Improving teamwork through visual collaboration tools.
Streamlining the tech stack (tools to make the task easy)
Visual collaboration is not just an alternative to an overload of meetings. It also helps streamline various projects and workflows by utilising compatible integrations with different workplace apps to ensure projects and workflows are aligned and teams are productive and engaged.
Indeed, a cloud-based visual collaboration solution can promote productivity by enabling team members to brainstorm, collaborate and problem solve, in real time and asynchronously, from any time zone.
All workers can table their input regardless of their specific job roles, experience and personality traits, rather than having to pipe up in meetings, in the hope of obtaining a hearing and support for their concerns and ideas. Alternatively, they can use features such as polls, emoji reactions and surveys to ensure their voices are ‘heard’ by their colleagues.
Promoting long term productivity
Workplaces have changed immeasurably in recent times. The Covid-19 pandemic forced Australian businesses of all shapes and sizes to embrace new ways of operating, and propelled remote working into the mainstream, in the space of a few short weeks and months. All signs suggest the practice is likely to remain prevalent, even as the threat posed by the virus continues to recede.
As a modus operandi, it comes with plenty of positives but more time spent in meetings, online and in real life, is not one of them. If taking back some of that time and supercharging the productivity of your team members, wherever they happen to be located, is a priority for your organisation in 2023, now may be the perfect time to see what visual collaboration technology can deliver.