Is Simpler Technology the Key to Successful Hybrid Work? Business News

With 80 percent of businesses wanting easier collaboration, today’s video conferencing tools can be a barrier to effective teamwork

The debate on hybrid work elicits strong opinions. But the emerging consensus is that allowing people to work from home more frequently, while commuting regularly to the office, will provide the best balance for businesses and employees.

There is also a consensus that video collaboration solutions will be essential in creating a hybrid work culture. After all, video has kept the global economy spinning during the pandemic, and experts predict that investment in video conferencing will increase dramatically as companies increasingly see hybrid work as an important strategic initiative. This can reduce both costs (office rental, office space, business travel) and the organization’s carbon footprint.

A solution for everyone?

Outside of the IT community, relatively little attention is paid to the differences between video collaboration platforms. Attention tends to focus on the (admittedly critically important) areas of security, reliability and compliance. But what about the user experience? Can the choice of platform really have a big impact on the job satisfaction of people and therefore on the productivity of an organization?

I passionately believe that it is possible. Why? Because people’s mental well-being has a big impact on their productivity, and I believe people are happier and more productive at work when they are fully and effortlessly connected.

Collaboration frustration

To test whether these beliefs are widely held, in May 2021, we commissioned a survey of over 1,000 business users of a leading video conferencing and collaboration platform. Respondents were from both SMEs and companies, and they used the platform as their primary tool for professional communication with colleagues and external contacts – for messaging and audio calls as well as for video meetings.

Our survey aimed to find out if users were happy with the platform provided to them and what they lacked if not.

When asked to describe their productivity when using the platform, 27% said their productivity declined compared to working in the office before the pandemic. While 92% said the platform made them less collaborative than when they were at their regular workplace.

We were particularly interested in whether the platform’s many complex features were a barrier to effective teamwork, and it appears they are overwhelmingly so. 80% said they find the platform complex and frustrating to use, and in fact 20% of all users are so frustrated that they are actively looking for an alternative vendor. Imagine spending 20 hours a week feeling exasperated and unable to work because of a technology platform. It’s too long by anyone’s standards.

It’s no surprise, then, that 67% of those surveyed said they would support a simpler, cleaner, and easier-to-use collaboration tool.

Simpler is smarter

These results prove that a significant proportion of businesses want an easier way to connect and collaborate.

We did not delve into whether our survey respondents used their platform at home or in the office, or both. But given that it is uniquely designed to work in both environments, I firmly believe that the challenges facing our survey respondents apply across the spectrum of hybrid work.

There is a better way. At StarLeaf, we’ve consciously designed and built a more intuitive way for people to message, meet and call: at home on their computer, on the go on a smartphone, or in a meeting room in the office. . Meanwhile, our reliability and accreditation to the highest industry standards for data security means ease of use comes with performance you can trust.

If you are considering a future of hybrid working in your business, I strongly advise you to consider choosing a simpler collaboration platform such as StarLeaf. It frees your employees from complex tools that frustrate creativity, productivity and innovation, allowing them to focus on what really matters: creating the human connection at work.

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Originally posted on Business Reporter