The Definitive Guide to Enterprise Collaboration

Table of Contents

Why Collaboration Matters ................................................................................................ 3

Frustrations with Workplace Collaboration ........................................................................ 4

The Evolution of How Work Gets Done ............................................................................. 6

The True Goal and ROI of Enterprise Collaboration ........................................................... 8

How to Modernize Enterprise Collaboration ...................................................................... 10

Conclusion: Redefining Workplace Interactions ................................................................. 12

Why Collaboration Matters in the Digital WorkplaceIn today’s economy, the communication challenges between far-flung workers are greater than ever before. Whether due to organic reasons or strategic measures, most companies’ workforces are no longer at a singular headquarters. In fact, multiple projections say a majority of the global workforce will be distributed in the next few years. Thirty-four percent of business leaders believe more than half of their company’s full-time workforce would be working remotely by 2020.1 More-over, 25 percent feel that over 75 percent of their workforce would not work in a traditional office by 2020.2

Project and team collaboration – in other words, enterprise collaboration – is as important as ever, despite the growing physical distance between workers. In the face of multiple office locations, sprawling campuses, remote workers, and globally distributed workforces, collaboration is essential. Collaboration helps connect workers who cannot meet face to face, and makes it possible for teams to work together on a single issue or document in real time – no matter where they are located.

Enabling enterprise collaboration is especially critical as companies compete to attract and retain talent, and engage their remote workers – more and more of whom are Millennials with different expectations of their workplaces and employers. Being connected, communicating in a variety of ways, feeling more engaged and productive – that’s what the increasingly dispersed and younger workforce wants.

Business LeadersBaby Boomer(1946–1964)

Workforce technology expectations

Letter

Fax

VideoApps Tablet

SMS Laptop Smartphone

Email

Email

PC Pen

Memo Telephone Rolodex

Current WorkersGen X(1965–1980)

Current WorkersGen Y(1981–1999)

Future WorkersApp Gen(post-1999)

TECHNOLOGY OF CHOICE

Smartphone

1 Fast Company, Will Half of People Be Working Remotely by 2020?, August 14, 20142 Ibid

Satisfying these expectations is core to avoiding frustration and disengagement. It’s also essential to enabling employees to work as effectively and creatively as possible, both of which ultimately help companies drive innovation.

Employees no longer tolerate work environments constrained by disconnected, disjointed communications tools. They don’t have the time to figure out and tweak the various tools they regularly use, including those for telephony, instant messaging, video conferencing, web collaboration, and content sharing.

This puts the onus on enterprises to reduce barriers between employees by enabling seamless communications and collaboration.

of app generation teens would like to work from home

of workers do not believe they need to be in an office to be productive

83%79%

Since 2008, the time spent in business meetings has risen each year.

At the managerial level, the average boss can spend

working hours each week attending meetings with more than four people.3

In a recent Fuze survey, CIOs noted that as many as 4 communications applications on average are in use.

Frustrations with Workplace CollaborationPeople have more choice in collaboration tools today. They are also using more tools than ever before. As a result, enterprise collaboration is often accomplished using a mishmash of sanctioned and unsanctioned applications that are usually disconnected from one another. In fact, on average, people use four-to-six communication apps at work daily. For many, enterprise collaboration can be summed up like this: the more collaboration tools used, the worse the overall collaboration experience.

15%

21 of his or her 47

of a typical company’s day.

It now accounts for

3 http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/is-technology-really-helping-us-get-more-done-hbr.aspx

Page 4

Gallup estimates actively disengaged employees cost the US $450 billion to $550 billion in lost productivity per year.

As shadow IT runs rampant and people download their own communication apps, different and overlapping tools often co-exist in the same enterprise environment. When employees are forced to use multiple tools for communicating and collaborating, they waste time toggling back and forth rather than focusing on the work at hand. The result for employees is a frustrating, disconnected experience. For organizations, the impact is poor adoption, lower productivity, a lack of control, excess cost for overlapping technologies, and struggles attracting top talent.

Today, people want consistency across all the devices they use at work, whether they use a desk or mobile phone. At the same time, partners and customers expect the ability to connect with companies using the channel and device of their choosing. Simply put, employees, partners, and customers want the same experience with workplace technology that they’ve come to expect from their personal technology.

Source: http://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/improve-employee-communications-gilbane-conference-attendees-told/

The Evolution of How Work Gets Done In light of all these realities, how do IT leaders enable connections and promote engaging interactions to drive their businesses forward? To answer that question, we need to understand the trends shaping the future of collaboration.

The need for new levels of flexibilityCIOs must first reconcile the fact that some business initiatives require flexibility and resiliency that aren’t cost effective to maintain as done in the past. For instance, today even large organizations often operate with smaller teams behaving as startups, with less formal processes defining how groups operate and how projects are handled. These teams often seek to quickly create virtual meeting spaces so they can huddle to tackle problems on the fly.

Content takes center stageWithin this type of collaborative environment, content is critical. Whereas employees used to rely heavily on exchanging email attachments and files via instant messaging, they are now sharing screens and content, and even marking up content together. This in part reflects work-stream collaboration – the iterative, real-time workflows and processes that increasingly dominate workplaces.

Consumer-grade mobile tools set the standardEven though more employees are on the go or outside of the office, mobile- and social-first tools allow them to be as collaborative as possible whenever and wherever they are. In fact, employees have been spoiled by the numerous and often free consumer options at their fingertips in app stores and the like. This has set the bar high for quality and experience.

Enterprises are rising into the cloudsEnterprises are challenged to address all these demands while consolidating the costs associated with various collaboration and communication tools so they get more out of their budgets and workforce. It’s no wonder more IT groups are pushing for a single solution that addresses a wider range of needs.

The market is responding by delivering cloud-based platforms covering more functionality and features, obviating the need for enterprises to implement, integrate, and manage multiple standalone systems. This convergence is essential since the availability and accessibility of information are what drive the ability to quickly make meaningful decisions across the business.

Consider how the convergence of three important business tools – a personal digital assistant, day planner, and mobile phone – in the form of a smartphone transformed the business world. Similarly, the laptop redefined the way people work. The correlating impact of both changes on productivity has been massive. It’s similar to the sea change that happened when the Pony Express was replaced by the telegraph. Messages that had originally taken 10 days to transmit then took mere minutes.

Check out the infographic:http://fuze.to/mJ4I307LhGb

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Enterprise Collaboration in actionWhen The Associated Press was tasked with bringing the 2016 Rio Olympics to life by delivering as-it-happened news to a global audience, it equipped its team with the Fuze platform. Because the Fuze app provided unified communications – voice, video, and chat – on their personal devices, connecting was intuitive and felt like a natural extension of the off-duty routine for both new and veteran users.

According to Steve Moyes, AP’s Director of Technology Support EMEA/Asia, “We needed a superior UX to make sure that calls were made at the right place and the right time to keep track of changing schedules, facilitate introductions and meet tight deadlines – all without having to invest in expensive hardware for local calls or excessive international dialing fees, which can quickly add up without flexible cloud-based communications. A trusted network and a seamless user experience on their own devices made the process familiar despite the foreign assignment.”

Generational Preferences Set the ToneThe way Millennials view interpersonal relationships differs from generations past, and this informs how they engage in workplace communications. Because Millennials prefer group interactions, video, messaging, cloud-based collaboration tools (e.g., Google Docs) are becoming more ubiquitous.

Enterprise Collaboration Tools

Then Now

Complex

On-Premises

Licenced

“Enterprisey”

Disconnected

Non-Social/Mobile Social + Mobile

More Artifact Centric More Conversation-Centric

Lightweight

Subscription

Consumerized

Connected Integrated

Cloud

The True Goal and ROI of Enterprise CollaborationEnterprise collaboration is not simply a matter of making it possible for employees to interact, it is in the service of everyone doing their jobs more efficiently. Downstream, this manifests itself in more effective knowledge sharing, transfer, and capture. Upstream, this translates into better business results.

The cognitive cost of toggling between tools 5

Each time a user has to switch between different tools to perform even simple tasks, it can cost up to 10 IQ points.

Too many emailsTeam members are overwhelmed by email. With the constant stream of daily emails, staying focused on top priorities is a challenge.

Information is not easily accessible Who has done what and when? Where can I find the latest version? Project managers experience that timelines, project status, documents and data are difficult to share.

Lack of workload visibilityHow can we efficiently keep track of what is going on and who’s working on what? Team members are overcommitted or underutilized resulting in stress, overtime and project delays.

Confusing cross-functional team collaborationPeople find it difficult and chaotic to collaborate across departments,functions and offices. Traditional and different ways of working clash,making it unproductive.

The bring your own software dilemmaThe vast availability of productivity tools increases the freedom for the individual team member, but can cause communication chaos decreasing team efficiency.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

45%

40%

39%

35%

33%

5 http://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/the-collabora-tion-communitys-big-dirty-productivity-secret/

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The ROI of enterprise collaboration can be measured in many ways:Higher engagement levels in meetings and overall interactions. On average, it takes 16 minutes to start a meeting in a physical room with a remote connection. During that time, attention drifts and patience is tried. By the time the meeting begins, the participants are a bit disengaged. Simply improving this factor can lead to significantly better engagement. Plus, when video is used, employees are more likely to attend and participate in a meeting.

Cost reduction. By moving from multiple, largely on-premises technologies to a single, cloud-based platform supporting multiple tools, IT can significantly drive agility and cost efficiency in their organization.

Freed-up IT resources. What’s more, without multiple systems to manage onsite, IT resources can focus on additional strategic improvements within the company.

App consolidation. Cloud-based enterprise collaboration eliminates the security and troubleshooting issues associated with shadow IT. With everyone using standardized tools, IT can manage them and the associated data centrally without needing to hire specialists to work at every location.

Higher productivity and inclusivity. When employees are forced to use multiple tools for communicating and collaborating, they experience friction. Rather than focus on the work to be done, they waste time toggling back and forth between different apps and experiences. With consistency across all the devices they use, including their desk phones, they can more quickly and efficiently schedule, host, attend, and participate in meetings, regardless of their communication preferences.

How to Modernize Enterprise CollaborationTo make enterprise collaboration feasible within the parameters of today’s digital workforce, businesses need to reimagine enterprise-wide communications. With a well-considered plan and strategic approach, any enterprise can ensure success with collaboration. Here are best practices for addressing the processes and technologies that enable enterprise collaboration.

ProcessesThe challenge for IT leaders is ensuring adoption. Fuze research found that 76 percent of CIOs say the success of new technology depends on the satisfaction of employees who use it. No wonder 46 percent of CIOs are focusing on reducing the number of apps within their organizations to simplify/improve the employee experience.

With that in mind, IT leaders should:

Survey staff. Employees won’t adopt a new collaboration platform if it doesn’t meet their needs so determine the modes of communications your workforce already prefers and uses. List the ways they collaborate and the tools they (even if unsanctioned) to determine their needs. For example, do they just need to have a quick conversation with someone in another country? Or do they need the ability to share and mark up content in real time with a dispersed team?

Complement what’s already in place. It’s challenging to get people to change their behaviors so choose a solution that is easy to learn and use and provides a great experience in the context of how work is already handled.

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TechnologiesToday’s generation cut their teeth on consumer-grade tools like WhatsApp and Skype that are elegant and easy to use. This “app generation” carries these same expectations to work. It can and will get the tools it wants if enterprise tools aren’t good enough.

At the same time, companies need a greater degree of flexibility and connectivity between different technologies and across the organization in terms of support for communications and collaboration. To that end, they need to resolve their technology silos and overlaps. By doing so, companies will reduce significant frustration and expense.

Voice, video, and messaging are the three pillars of today’s communication experience. For all three to live up to their potential, they need to work together in harmony. The combination of voice, video, and messaging – where the different types of functionality are incorporated into a common software experience. With a unified solution, someone can group message, place voice calls, and conduct video collaboration sessions all from within the same software client. One client covering multiple interaction modes minimizes the friction that typically comes with shifting between different communications channels.

Enterprise collaboration also calls upon tools that enable knowledge management, content management, and the social enterprise (such as LinkedIn, Workplace by Facebook, Yammer, Jive, etc.). Companies must recognize that many enterprise workers also live in CRM and other apps, while line-of-business or departmental team members rely upon apps that support their specific needs, such as Zendesk for customer support. Data stored in these other enterprise applications can prove valuable when accessed by the rest of the organization. For instance, if a customer contacts the finance department about a billing issue, it might be insightful for the accounts payable rep to see that the customer has an open ticket with the support group.

Within all of these apps, the ability to smoothly interact around content and move from the idea phase to the delivery of a product or service is key. To that end, IT needs to figure out: • How the tools complement and help coordinate the others. For instance, is there a centralized database, does the vendor provide API connections, and is the solution customizable?

• How the technology integrates into existing line-of-business (LOB) and other work streams so people don’t need to switch context to collaborate with others. For example, any enterprise collaboration platform should include the full company directory and integrate with LOB systems so employees can easily schedule meetings and discuss, share and collaborate on whatever is important to the company. That could include anything from inventory on hand to the quarterly budget and HR policies.

Avoid communication islandsAlone, communications tools can create a divide. Together, they can create a bridge for more comprehensive and effective collaboration between teams.

Best practices for enterprise collaboration

Ensure tools seamlessly integrate with existing processes and workflows

Satisfy employee preferences for communications

Make it easy to access and use the tools

Secure executive buy-in and champions

Facilitate adoption

Devise a PlanOnce the IT group has conducted its due diligence and researched and documented existing processes and needs, it’s time to put in place a thoughtful plan to displace existing tools and approaches. On a basic level, IT needs to think through how to activate the new enterprise collaboration service, which requires them to take on the role of marketing to drive interest and buy-in. While it’s easy to think the process will be simple when the solution is in the cloud, rolling out to a larger enterprise still requires careful planning. To that end:

• Audit to determine the types of devices that must be integrated with the new solution. • Develop a detailed project plan, covering rollout to a small group to build internal champions, training sessions, and marketing materials for communicating the new approach. • Think through what is being used today and how to bridge it with enterprise collaboration. The IT group may need to reimagine collaboration rather than just replace the existing technology.• Partner with a vendor that will help facilitate adoption. The more the enterprise can partner with the vendor, the better and smoother the experience.• Find champions to drive adoption. Identify key influencers within the company who embrace enterprise collaboration but are in groups not usually associated with technology adoption, such as HR, finance, and others. Make them part of the deployment process and tap into them as evangelists for adoption. • Join forces with HR. Tap into the HR’s department experience rolling out and training employees on how to make best use of enterprise-wide tools. • Create Getting Started guides. To help with training, develop guides that help employees understand how to use the tools in the context of their daily work. Some solution vendors offer knowledge bases that can provide useful, relevant content for these guides.

Conclusion: Redefining Digital Workplace Interactions

Business agility and innovation hinges on empowering employees to work the way they want and where they want. The mandate for enterprises is to give the digital workforce the control to extend their physical office and support ad hoc conversations, meetings, brainstorms and work-share preferences, however, wherever, and whenever it’s most convenient.

Responsive organizations are taking steps to enable the enterprise collaboration that is required to get work done in their environments – and that helps attract and retain today’s talent. By empowering distributed organizations to ditch the communication silos that limit the quality of employee engagement, enterprises can tap into the true power of remote, mobile, and global communications.

At the end of the day, it’s not about what communication methods the enterprise chooses, but how easily employees can move between those methods. The ability to seamlessly transition from one communication preference to anoth-er will encourage workers to use the tools available changing the way people work – for the better.

Ready to advance how work gets done in your enterprise? Watch Fuze in action.

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