Elly Yates-Roberts |
Businesses have embraced the change created by recent events and have adopted fresh ways of working. The new normal has accelerated the need for more team collaboration than ever before.
For Jabra, remote working and collaborating with a virtual team has always been part of our DNA. This gives us the flexibility and freedom to build the strongest team with the best talent, wherever they are. Over time, we have also proven that remote working does not need to be a barrier to teamwork and productivity.
In fact, 70 per cent of organisations believe that the productivity gains of remote working are sustainable beyond the pandemic, according to figures from the Capgemini Research Institute. Businesses now face the challenge of getting employees back to the office, while supporting hybrid and remote working. But what has changed and what have we learned?
At Jabra, building on our expertise in sound, we have placed video at the heart of how we communicate and collaborate. We took the strategic step to transform and refurbish our office, to optimise the use of space and install meeting rooms with cutting-edge immersive video and sound.
With the Jabra PanaCast 50, the world’s first intelligent video bar, it is now possible to enjoy video conferencing with a 180-degree field of view. This keeps everyone in the picture, even with participants sitting at a safe distance, while the intelligent PeopleCount feature keeps an eye on meeting room capacity.
Imagine a world where there is no noise and distractions and video conferencing feels as natural as possible. Everyone can be active participants using Microsoft Teams, with nobody relegated to going on mute because of background commotions or busy environments. It’s these seemingly simple but essential things that empower employees to lead meetings, engage with customers and be productive wherever they are.
According to Aragon Research, video meetings are 40 per cent more productive than audio only. The challenge now is that the world demands the same standard of productivity that we know is possible. Employers can protect the well-being of staff by looking at the impact of noise on productivity, and the correlation with stress levels, for example, by using tools and insights to detect high-noise areas in an office and take proactive action.
As we look ahead, the optimisation of video collaboration and how businesses approach digital transformation will determine the happiness of staff, and ultimately productivity.
Nigel Dunn is the managing director of EMEA North at Jabra
This article was originally published in the Summer 2021 issue of The Record. To get future issues delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for a free subscription.