Innovative collaboration strategies are transforming businesses of every size and industry. From comprehensive, collaborative platforms that unify and streamline your tech stack to generative AI copilots and extended reality, opportunities for transformation abound.
Used correctly, the right technology doesn’t just improve team productivity. It also has the potential to increase employee engagement and retention, enhance performance, and boost efficiency. You may even save money on everything from travel to office expenses.
The question is, how do you compare and choose the right innovative collaboration tools for your organization? Here’s our step-by-step guide to making the right choice.
Step 1: Define Your Work Model
The first step in comparing innovative collaboration tools is figuring out what kind of working model you will embrace. Despite increased return-to-office mandates over the last year, demand for hybrid and flexible work is still high.
Many companies will struggle to attract and retain talent without at least some flexibility. However, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to the future of work. The work experience of your team members will influence what kind of innovative collaboration solutions you need.
If you’re embracing a hybrid or “office neighborhood” approach, you might create VR offices in the metaverse. Or you could invest in flexible collaboration platforms to unify a range of tools for your team members to access instantly in the cloud.
If you’re hiring remote and global workers, you might invest more heavily in AI for language translation and more intuitive meetings. Alternatively, you may leverage augmented and mixed reality tools to help align remote staff members.
Step 2: Focus on The Employee Experience
The most powerful tools for innovative collaboration should directly impact your employee’s performance, engagement, and well-being. In recent years, we’ve seen a growing focus from collaboration leaders on the “user experience.” Microsoft built an employee engagement platform (Viva) to boost workplace experiences.
Zoom constantly enhances its ecosystem, making it simpler and more user-friendly for every employee. When investing in collaboration tools, consider the major challenges your employees face in their day-to-day workflows.
Do they struggle to arrange meetings with employees in other time zones? If so, look for an AI-driven tool that can help with scheduling. Are they overwhelmed by too many distributed apps? Focus on finding flexible platforms that support integrations. Do they feel excluded when working remotely? Look into immersive collaboration and metaverse opportunities.
Step 3: Consider Your Existing Tech Stack
Investing in innovative collaboration methods doesn’t have to mean replacing all of your existing technology. One of the biggest headaches collaborative teams face today is constantly switching between different apps and tools. This “context switching” process leads to significant drops in productivity and efficiency.
Fortunately, many innovative, collaborative vendors embrace the growing desire for an “all-in-one” collaborative environment. Companies like Microsoft, Zoom, Google, Cisco, and others allow companies to align their existing tools with new solutions and innovations.
Some solutions make it easy to combine UCaaS and CCaaS platforms, bridging the gaps between teams. Evaluating your existing technology stack will help you determine which solutions you want to link, consolidate, and connect to improve employee experiences.
Step 4: Explore Innovative Collaboration Options
The term “innovative collaboration” can cover a wide range of concepts. For some companies, innovation in collaboration will mean leveraging the latest AI tools. Generative AI assistants like Microsoft Copilot, Google Bard, and Zoom’s AI companion have exploded in recent years.
Embedding generative AI solutions into collaboration platforms and apps can have a host of benefits for businesses and their teams. These solutions can streamline repetitive tasks, like summarizing meetings, help with content generation, and even bridge language gaps.
Other brands may look for opportunities to innovate in the metaverse. Extended reality technologies, like Microsoft Immersive Spaces, allow companies to create a new digital workspace. They can strengthen connections between employees and enhance feelings of inclusion.
Alternatively, you may focus on other simpler forms of innovation, such as finding a collaboration platform that integrates with your existing software and contact center. This could boost efficiency and improve knowledge sharing in the workplace. Or you may experiment with advanced automation to save teams time when scheduling meetings or completing tasks.
Step 5: Prioritize Business Insights
Implementing any new software, solution, or strategy into your business has risks. The only way to know whether your innovative collaboration tools positively impact your teams is with the right insights. When investing in new tools, from AI chatbots and assistants to metaverse-as-a-service offerings and customizable platforms, look for insights.
The more information you can collect about your employees and workflows, the better. Think about how you can track how team members are using meeting room technology and hardware or how often they’re working with AI bots. Consider how you can track engagement and employee satisfaction with surveys and feedback.
Many of the world’s leading collaboration platforms come with tools for data analytics. They can help you understand how your teams prefer to collaborate and which resources they rely on. This can also save money when buying new software licenses and investing in future innovations.
Unlock the Benefits of Innovative Collaboration
Today’s companies have endless opportunities to experiment with new forms of innovative collaboration. Next-generation technologies are everywhere, from flexible platforms to generative AI tools and extended reality solutions. Proper planning is critical to ensuring your approach to innovative collaboration pays off.
Make sure you clearly understand your work models and the needs of your employees and examine the potential benefits of each new form of technology. Most importantly, ensure you can closely monitor how your new systems benefit and support your staff members.
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