Five Reasons Virtual & Hybrid Collaboration Improves Productivity

By Eric Bixler, National Director of AV Solutions - 18 Nov, 2021
Collaboration
4 Minutes Read

Virtual Reality is increasing in popularity

Virtual Reality is becoming part of the design process, education experience, and hiring events, conferences, and more. Hybrid reality mixes virtual reality with real experiences. An example could be taking actual content vs. computer-created content and creating something together.

Creating an equitable user experience is a critical function for organisations adopting a hybrid experience for employees. In the collaboration world, it’s essential to make those joining the meeting feel like they are getting the same experience related to remote or in-person experiences. Let’s walk through the ways virtual, and hybrid collaboration can improve productivity.

Increased Flexibility

Some projects require face-to-face interactions, hands-on work, and other tasks that traditionally necessitated employee travel. Thanks to advances in video conferencing technology, distance is no longer the obstacle to collaboration that it once was, and companies are finding it easier than ever to get the right people on projects regardless of their physical locations.

Solutions such as “Raise Hand” or “Ask a Question” in video collaboration platforms can create opportunities for companies to allow their employees a level-playing field while collaborating more efficiently.

Easier Project Management

Keeping tabs on everyone who has a hand in each project can be stressful and time-consuming for project managers. When companies embrace virtual collaboration, they enable their project managers to stay in touch with everyone on a project much more quickly and easily. Again, distance isn’t a factor. Mobile technology keeps people connected to their work, enabling virtual collaboration whenever necessary.

Everything in its Right Place

Managers can use many useful tools to encourage virtual collaboration, and improved communication is only one of the many benefits they offer. Employees can not only communicate instantly over vast distances; they can also get a nearly firsthand look at a project in progress. Additionally, the people involved in that project can typically submit their contributions to one platform, which means less time wasted tracking down loose ends, figuring out which deliverables are missing, or who hasn’t checked in with a progress report. These tasks are seamlessly interwoven into the various collaboration tools and applications.

Instant Collaboration

The importance virtual collaboration has on productivity cannot be understated in today’s business world. Modern companies are embracing agility which provides the ability to quickly change when necessary and touching several different types of projects in rapid succession. Virtual conferencing technology not only improves collaboration—it allows it to happen instantaneously regardless of the physical distance between the parties involved. Instead of waiting for an email, a return phone call, or a colleague’s plane to land, virtual collaboration tools allow the parties participating in a project to connect from anywhere instantly.

Real-Time Teamwork

Collaboration is a cornerstone of teamwork. When your employees can quickly and easily put their heads together on a project unimpeded by physical barriers and distance, collaborative efforts are much more successful. That success is usually found more quickly than with traditional collaboration methods. Modern employees also yearn to feel personally connected to their work, and encouraging collaboration allows them to see the fruits of their labour and their impact on projects. This collaboration naturally bolsters employee satisfaction and retention.

Additionally, video conferencing enables quicker feedback on projects and workflows, and this helps everyone involved. Instead of secondhand status reports and updates, everyone involved with a project can work together seamlessly with what is essentially firsthand knowledge. Approvals from upper management and the C-suite typically happen much more quickly when they can see the work in front of them firsthand, regardless of how far away they may be. It’s also easier to get buy-in on future team projects once the results of virtual collaboration are made apparent.

These are just five reasons to value virtual and hybrid collaboration, but every organisation is sure to find several other reasons unique to their business models and strategies. Agility is crucial in the modern business world, and providing your employees with the tools they need to stay agile is invaluable.

New Era Technology can help bridge technologies to identify what is currently working, identify a solution, and talk through the benefits and consequences of that strategy.

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Author: Eric Bixler, National Director of AV Solutions