When you think of collaboration in the workplace, images of employees and teams working seamlessly together come to mind. But collaboration isn't just a buzzword — collaboration is the secret sauce and a differentiator that can turn an undesirable culture into one that's productive and innovative.
Today, businesses across the globe are focusing on workplace collaboration because of the many tangible and long-lasting benefits it provides. The modern employee craves a culture of collaboration, whether they work at home or in the office.
In fact, with remote work now a viable option for many employees, collaboration is a key driver to entice people into the office. When workers consider whether to work from home or not, the ease of in-person collaboration can encourage them to come into the workplace. With that in mind, workplaces that actively promote better collaboration are better able to deliver on what employees want from coming to work.
Research shows that collaboration helps enhance productivity, makes employees happier, and makes the workplace more enjoyable. According to Zippia, people who collaborate on the job and have access to digital collaboration tools are up to 17% more satisfied with their jobs and workplace culture. Also, 86% of employees in leadership positions cite lack of collaboration as the top reason for workplace failures.
According to McKinsey, the success of large organizations often depends on the ability of its employees to work collaboratively.
Whether you're leading thousands of employees or you're the captain of your small business ship, this article will help you learn how to promote seamless collaboration in the workplace.
The Benefits of Workplace Collaboration
When your teams are collaborating properly, innovation and creativity in the workplace improve. When employees sit across the table from one another, ideas come to life. Different perspectives, experiences, and expertise lead to solutions.
Employees who have the opportunity to collaborate often report higher levels of job satisfaction. Working together brings a sense of belonging and purpose, helping everyone feel valued and appreciated. What’s the result? Turnover rates are reduced, retention rates improve, and office vibes are on point.
Collaboration is also key to realizing the benefits of a diverse workforce. Many employers are seeking diversity in their teams, but to truly benefit from diversity, you need collaboration. Sharing opinions and building ideas between staff with diverse backgrounds, values and worldviews is the best way to end up with fully considered solutions.
Leaders that prioritize collaboration in the workplace gain a competitive edge. They can adapt quickly to market changes and pivot faster. They have more success dealing with challenges and coming up with solutions.
This flexibility can even improve customer experience. When employees collaborate to address customer inquiries or solve customer problems, it leads to higher satisfaction.
Collaboration is being increasingly valued and appreciated with more and more staff working away from the office. SaaS tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Trello and other platforms are all about encouraging collaboration, bringing people together from all over the world.
Boosting Workplace Collaboration With Technology
Humans are social beings, and we crave connection in all aspects of our lives. This contradicts with the nature of working remotely, often alone in our home offices all day. According to Gallup, people still rely on social bonds to get work done.
Remote work is a fantastic thing for employers because it allows them to hire staff from anywhere, opening up talent pools and allowing staff much greater flexibility in their lives. However, it creates challenges for teams and individuals who need to collaborate to do their jobs well.
Fortunately, technology has recognized this challenge and it is evolving rapidly to meet today’s needs.
Let’s look at five ways to promote seamless collaboration using technology:
1. Sign in and out easily
One of the first steps towards improving employee collaboration is making your workplace inviting and approachable.
In today’s tech-enabled world, generations-old sign in and out books stand out as being archaic, slow, insecure and unreliable. Conversely, SwipedOn's visitor management system simplifies the sign-in process, ensuring employees, guests, and visitors can check in and out effortlessly.
Today’s workplaces can no longer assume people will be at their desks all day, every day. Remote and hybrid offices need to keep a real-time headcount, particularly for data security purposes and in the event of an emergency.
"Having the web dashboard makes it easier for the reception, and all staff, to see who is in the office, on leave, working from home or working from another site. The added bonus of being able to easily monitor any visitors onsite.” - Michael, IT Support, Sunbeam Foods
Read more: How SwipedOn allows Sunbeam Foods to manage data privacy and automate the sign in process
In-and-out technology provides transparency and visibility to the entire team — and it provides an easy way for an employee or manager to see who's available to collaborate at any given time.
2. Manage your spaces efficiently
Workplace space management can have a big impact on collaboration. SwipedOn helps you break free from the monotony of traditional cubicles and offers a more modern way to work that’s better suited to the growing number of flexible office spaces.
Co-working spaces and hot desk setups are fantastic resources for small or remote businesses, but they require an additional layer of management to enable good collaboration. The same can be said for many other shared facilities, such as communal meeting spaces.
SwipedOn is a simple solution for managing, finding, and booking desks, parking spots, vehicles and equipment, allowing your team to easily find what they need and book it in an instant, making for productive ideating conversations and meetings.
It can also provide insights on usage, ensuring facilities are delivering value on investment and helping businesses to optimize uptake among staff.
3. Leverage data-driven insights
Data is important for all business functions, and SwipedOn ensures you have the information you need. With our data-driven approach, you gain valuable information about visitor and employee behavior.
Knowing these trends and patterns can be a strategic asset for enhancing workplace collaboration. For example, imagine being able to identify high-traffic areas, peak collaboration times, and areas for improvement.
In large workplaces in particular, it can be hard to track someone down in person. They might pop out for coffee, be in a meeting, or be working remotely. SwipedOn allows staff to set custom statuses to increase transparency and allow colleagues to see where they are and what they’re doing.
With this kind of data, you can come up with better ways to encourage people to work together.
4. Monitor visitor activity at your site
SwipedOn's visitor management system for the office simplifies the process of tracking visitors, ensuring that everyone who enters your workspace is accounted for.
Manual visitor log books present data security concerns, as visitors’ private information is on display for anyone to see. It’s also unreliable, as many visitors forget to sign out when they leave.
Rather than requiring visitors to stop and sign in when they arrive, you can set up pre-registration that allows them to streamline the arrival process. With the SwipedOn pocket app, staff can invite and manage their visitors without admin permissions and impress guests with a speedy entrance to your modern workplace.
In 2024, visitor tracking needs to be secure. Not only that, but from a collaboration perspective, digital sign in processes provide real time information on who is in the office, when. This allows staff to track down colleagues and guests much easier.
Tracking visitors allows you to analyze who interacts with your team. This data can be used to foster connections, identify potential collaborators, and even plan inclusive events.
5. Seamless desk booking
Need an innovative way to boost collaboration and improve employee well-being? SwipedOn’s seamless desk booking solution allows you to restrict desks by department, allowing your team to join forces more easily. Leaders can get creative with who works where on any given day, offering a subtle way for employees to learn from one another.
Hybrid workplaces, and the rising hot-desking trend, mean many employees don’t have a set desk anymore. This isn’t a bad thing, but it does need to be well managed in order to prevent problems.
The SwipedOn pocket app allows staff to pre-book desks in advance from their phone. It has a map of desk availability so people can reserve their ideal desk before they get in to work, and have it there waiting for them when they arrive.
There’s even the ability to see who has booked certain desks, which allows team members, or even full teams, to be near to each other and collaborate together better.
The ability to reserve desks as needed also optimizes your space usage, which supports flexible work arrangements. As we have seen lately, many companies have transitioned to a hybrid workplace, where teams work both at home and in the office on specific days. Desk booking helps those hybrid employees collaborate in person on their in-office days.
Focus on Collaboration
Collaboration in the workplace is essential and provides a number of benefits. But it doesn’t just happen automatically. The way workplaces have evolved in recent years requires businesses to have strategies to optimize collaboration between staff.
Technology is a key factor in doing this. Using the right technology plays a significant role in promoting seamless collaboration at your office. SwipedOn empowers you to create a collaborative work environment where innovation flourishes and teamwork thrives, allowing your workplace to become a hub of productivity and creativity.
To find out more about how SwipedOn can supercharge collaboration in your workplace check out all the features it has to make work life easy.
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