74% of organisations in the US today are hybrid working in some shape or form. And to power their more flexible ways of working, 84% are now spending more time using cloud-based collaboration tools and apps.
As workforces become more experienced with these tools, they’re becoming more willing to embrace new features, with 84% actively wanting to use the latest collaboration software such as instant messaging (IM), screen sharing, internal social media and video.
When asked which new functionalities would be most useful to their organisation, they said:
Many research respondents recognised that collaborative tools and apps in the cloud are already benefitting their organisation:
78%
said that employee wellbeing has improved
77%
said that they’re more productive
44%
said that they can fit in more meetings
82%
said that introverts prefer a homeworking option
The vast majority of respondents (93%) however recognised that their organisation could still improve the way it collaborates, both internally and externally. 76% said that they’ve been confused by the complexity of tools or the number of tools available to them, with 17% saying that they’re always confused.
Crucially, 77% said they believe that better collaboration would make a big improvement to their organisation’s success.
Many organisations are already responding by taking proactive steps to deliver improvements. 77% are planning to update their tools and applications, with many looking to make investments in a number of key areas:
When asked about the future of collaboration, our respondents gave mixed predictions about how cloud collaboration tools will shape workplaces:
Over the last few years, workforces have shown remarkable resilience – responding quickly to rapid changes in the workplace and learning to adopt new technologies. Today, many employees see cloud collaboration tools as a critical part of their everyday working lives and their expectations for new features and an improved user experience will only to continue to grow.
Our research paper ‘The best of both worlds: building a successful hybrid workplace’ looks at how taking care of your cloud connectivity and applications can motivate a productive and collaborative workforce.
