Top 10 Collaboration & Productivity Stories of 2020
It should come as no surprise that, when it comes to collaboration, virtual topics dominated the conversation in 2020.
The rapid move to remote work forced many enterprises to grapple with new and unexpected ways of working and pushed in-person colleagues into becoming Zoom buddies. As a result, "Zoom fatigue" soon became a part of our vocabulary. But beyond the headlines — and the burnout — an interesting shift was taking place.
Businesses moved from survival to sustainment as the pandemic persisted. Those fortunate enough to make it through turned their eyes to how to thrive and achieve ever higher levels of workplace productivity. Here are 10 collaboration and productivity picks from 2020 that captured the moment:
1. 8 Ways to Make Virtual Meetings More Engaging
Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and other platforms may have saved the day, but they also exacerbated what was already wrong with company meeting culture. Take the opportunity to reset your approach, and practice these 10 tips to make the most of your team's time together.2. How to Make Virtual Workshops Better Than Reality
Done right, virtual workshops can be more effective than a face-to-face event. Reworked contributor Sam Marshall offers up six tips he's found that work to make your online workshops zing.
3. A New Class of Digital Whiteboards Make Virtual Collaboration Easier
Online whiteboards are rapidly evolving to support virtual teamwork and project collaboration. Scott Clark offers up three use cases for these emerging digital workplace tools.
4. Why the Future of the Workplace Is Remote
There's no turning back from the moment, writes David Roe. Even without the current crisis, it's likely that many workers would be heading home anyway. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the long-term trends making our future workplace increasingly remote.
5. Microsoft May Hold the Productivity Crown, But Productivity Reporting Is Ripe for Disruption
If there's one company that didn't let the COVID crisis go to waste, it was Microsoft. The Redmond, Wash.-based giant used Teams to burrow deeper into companies' tech stacks and make the company's work suite the operating system for the digital enterprise. But its dominance is not assured. Laurence Lock Lee takes a look at potential disruptors.
Learning Opportunities
6. The Corporate Intranet Is Key to the Digital Workplace. Really
Relegated in recent years to the back office, the corporate intranet is ready to step back into the spotlight as a modern communication and engagement hub. The slick, responsive intranet platforms of today are not the clunky intranets of a decade ago, writes David Roe.
7. How to Build Corporate Culture With Remote Teams
Will the strategies companies traditionally used to instill culture and engagement work in the digital age? Kaya Ismail surveys remote work experts for their insights on company culture for distributed teams, how to boost engagement and ways companies can foster culture remotely.
8. Work Has Changed, So Must the Way We Measure Productivity
If employees can’t be seen working, how can managers ensure work gets done? It sounds like an antiquated question in the era of COVID-19, but as workers head into some kind of hybrid work reality in 2021, it's important for managers to grapple with how they will measure results and whether measuring even matters at all.
9. Collaboration and Communication Platforms to Improve Employee Experience
With a remote workforce came the need for more efficient and effective communication and collaboration platforms, and the platform providers stepped up to deliver additional features. Best-in-class platforms paired with effective practices enhanced and improved the employee experience.
10. Ten Ways to Improve Your Virtual Meetings
As employees become more dependent on virtual meeting and collaboration tools, IT leaders should focus on providing reliable and consistent virtual meeting experiences, make the meeting secure and reshape meeting culture to promote productivity.
About the Author
Mike Prokopeak is editor in chief at Reworked, the premier publication covering the r/evolution of work, where he leads content development focused on the transformation of the workplace.
Connect with Mike Prokopeak:
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