6 ways to empower your team through better office tech<

The stakes are high for modern businesses when it comes to adopting the right tech. Get it right, and you boost collaboration and productivity right across the organization. Get it wrong and employees are left frustrated and annoyed.

Tech issues, collaboration, and communication are still the three biggest pain points for employees – and that hasn’t changed for the last three years, according to our 2024 Workplace experience trends & insights report.

One of the key ways to fix these issues is to reduce friction across your organization – and that means taking a closer look at communication and collaboration tools, flexible work solutions, employee development, and better ways to foster innovation. So let’s dive right in.

1. It’s time to get communication flowing.

In the work-from-anywhere era, many organizations struggle with keeping dispersed employees engaged and connected. The top challenges for those working remotely are feeling a sense of camaraderie with co-workers and feeling connected and engaged with work, our research found. That’s often because remote and hybrid work equals siloed teams and fractured communication.

Employees are increasingly turning to a plethora of often unauthorized, insecure tools to get things done. But if your trusted tools are better and provide easier ways to communicate, you bypass that problem.

With the right employee communications solution, you can bring your teams together, wherever they work. You can share important updates, spark meaningful conversations, and deliver personalized employee communications.

Imagine breaking down communication barriers with easy auto-translation and keeping everyone in the loop with familiar social tools, engaging blogs, and timely notifications.

2. Boosting collaboration? It’s easier than you think

Over a quarter of in-office workers struggle with collaboration and communication. According to our research, a whopping 54% even feel that “going to the office is a waste of time,” while 73% believe their employer could do more to improve the office environment.

The solution? Remove friction for those who do use the office. Equip your team with tools that foster seamless collaboration, whether they’re remote, hybrid, or in-office.

Tools that support collaboration are essential for any organization with a remote and hybrid workforce. Effective employee communications solutions help improve collaboration by making it easy to work together and keep information organized and accessible.

Now imagine you could also publish content through digital signage software that’s accessible to both in-office and remote employees. And what if you could have space reservation tools in the palm of your hand too (so you could reserve desks, workspaces, and meeting rooms on the go)?

3. Offer flexible work solutions (it’s really a no-brainer)

Research shows employees prefer hybrid over remote working for the first time since the pandemic – and there’s a big trend in re-shaping office spaces to suit more hybrid workforces.

Meeting the differing needs of remote, hybrid, and in-office workers means flexible solutions that help them stay productive, engaged, and connected from anywhere. Scheduling and booking tools, virtual meeting solutions, space reservation, hot desking and desk hoteling capabilities make it easier to meet those needs.

It should be easy for people to reserve workspaces – for their own use or for collaborative work. And your employee comms solution should easily integrate with tools Google Meet to enable productive conferencing for all attendees, no matter where they’re located.

4. Use real-time analytics and feedback

Any organization’s workplace management and communication strategies need smart data behind them. Do you know how (if?) resources are currently used? How your teams communicate? Where the blocks to collaboration are?

Real-time analytics and data measurement are key to making your business work more effectively for everyone.

You can hone your strategies by using analytics to help you make decisions about how to keep employees engaged and where your teams might need support. Examples include:

• Optimizing your spaces and real estate with detailed insights and trends showing you what resources are being booked, who’s checked in, how long they were there, the number of attendees and more.
• Tracking how published information performs to see what resonates with employees across regions, departments, etc.
• Viewing activity to see which content creators are interacting with your team members.
• Seeing which communication channels do better than others, and which could use support with different or more content.
• Identifying which types of content and topics elicit the most response from your employees.
• Tracking project progress and employee performance to monitor productivity and timelines.

5. Make it easy for people to access resources and training

66% of employees feel they need new skills to keep pace with their job, according to research. Giving them access to resources and training is a must if you want to increase retention and improve skills across your organization.

A simple way to get started? Make sure all your essential materials – online courses, how-to guides, company handbooks, and HR docs – are easy to find and available right away. This levels the playing field for everyone, especially new hires, and keeps knowledge consistent across your organization. Plus, it gives people the flexibility to learn at their own pace, whenever it works for them.

6. Support a culture of innovation and see where it takes you

How often have you had your best ideas in the shower? Or while walking the dog?

There are plenty of ways to foster innovation asynchronously, making sure you’re getting ideas from a more diverse workforce, right across the organization – helping spark ideas between remote and in-office workers and from those in different time zones.

Start empowering your team today

Imagine a workplace where teams feel connected, no matter where they are, where collaboration flows easily, sparking new ideas and innovations, and where employees are constantly learning and growing.

Explore Appspace for yourself with our self-guided tours.

And if you’re ready to talk, get in touch here.