Contrary to initial expectations, studies have consistently shown flexible workers to be more productive. In research from McKinsey in June 2020, Forty-one percent said that they were more productive than they had been before and twenty eight percent that they were as productive. Although these initial reports suggest individuals have been more efficient with their own workloads, team tasks that require collaboration and innovation have undeniably suffered.
Whilst productivity should be a priority for all organisations, the ability to foster a culture of innovation is essential in continuing to evolve and grow in a competitive landscape. However, to do so across solely digital interactions is proving to be a challenge when utilising current solutions. In a survey conducted last year, 56% of executives considered their companies to be innovative with products and services. That percentage dropped to 40% in 2020.
According to the study’s author, the cost of a highly dispersed workforce is “a loss of sense of purpose, which at work, is largely driven through strong and cohesive relationships and seeing how your tasks have impact on others,” reports Dr Michael Parke, assistant professor at The Wharton School of University of the Pennsylvania and research collaborator. “Both of these are more easily accomplished when people work co-located and are more challenging when working virtually. ” Continuing to inspire innovation digitally calls for innovation in the approach to new tools and new ways of collaborating.
Empowering Workers to Innovate: The Ideal Solution
A Study from Oxford Economics found that 49% of employees ranked having space to collaborate with co-workers easily and effectively as the most important feature for a productive work environment. Designing spaces that promotes collaboration is essential to ensuring that your team feel content and productive and are adequately equipped to share their ideas without compromising on concision or scale.
The ideal solution gives you the infinite space you need to seamlessly articulate complex concepts and thoughts and allows you to feel unconstrained in your ability to share and develop ideas; driving your businesses shared vision forward. To achieve this, it needs to allow you to draw and write on infinite screen real estate, from all your devices simultaneously. This freedom of expression facilitates a culture of innovation and inspires individuals to capture their best ideas.
In visual communication environments, individuals can often feel like “Just another face on a screen”. These were the words of HSBC’s Head of Innovation Jeremy Balkin in June 2020, speaking as a guest on Laduma’s podcast. Balkin believes that companies must nurture an environment where it is not the idea attached to the executive with the loudest voice and the most expensive suit that prevails, but simply the best idea in the room.
The now seemingly archaic analogue meeting experience of ten people crowded around a spider phone, with a crackled voice cutting through the silence is now more of an anecdote than a reality. And whilst video conferencing tools have provided a more interactive, palpable experience, they still fail to offer the opportunity for everyone to have their voice truly heard. The ideal solution allows you to draw, write and share your ideas in real time, whilst others join in and add to a collective vision. Everyone in the meeting has equal opportunity to have their voice heard, levelling the playing field of the modern team meeting.
Why Laduma?
At Laduma, we believe that the new breed of Hybrid Workforce needs a new breed of Hybrid Workspace. One singular platform where you can bring all your favourite applications and tools with you to do your best work together.
We know that empowering your team and optimizing your assets is the key to doing this – prioritising space, people and process in everything that you do.
Our solution addresses the issue of space by transforming your meeting room walls into 360-degree immersive displays, where you can intuitively drag, drop, and resize content in any configuration you choose. Have everything you need always in view, on a laptop, phone, tablet or wall, helping you to improve your daily processes, maximising situational awareness and people performance.
To find our more about how our digital workspaces could benefit your organization, request a demo.
