Research Report: How to Increase Team Collaboration
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Optimize Employee Collaboration with the right Work Management Tools
Table of Contents
Introduction
Today’s Hybrid Workscape
Work management tools: From a want to a need
Leaders Set Criteria for switching work management tools
Meeting the Challenges
Trello Closes the Work Management Gap
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As organizations settle into hybrid work patterns, optimizing employee collaboration has become a top digital transformation priority [for businesses.], This includes the need for new experiences and recalibrated business processes designed to keep the workforce productive and engaged.
The increased emphasis on employee experience in this new era of work was confirmed by a recent Foundry/Atlassian survey. Sixty-six percent of respondents flagged optimizing employee collaboration as their top priority for digital transformation with the remainder characterizing it as critical or high priority. [See Graphic]
The desire to uplevel employee experience—specifically, collaboration and how workflow and projects are managed—takes center stage in today’s business climate because of the realities of hybrid and remote work.
Even though it is now commonplace for employees to work remotely, there are often disconnects and complexities that can disrupt normal patterns, making it
Even though it is now commonplace for employees to work remotely, there are often disconnects and complexities that can disrupt normal patterns, making it harder to complete tasks and impeding the natural flow of collaborative decision-making. As digital business practices ramp up, organizations are taking a fresh look at employee experience. In fact, improving
harder to complete tasks and impeding the natural flow of collaborative decision-making.
As digital business practices ramp up, organizations are taking a fresh look at employee experience. In fact, improving
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Optimizing Employee Collaboration Through Effective Work Management Solutions 1
Consensus Priority: Employee Collaboration
100% CITE optimizing employee collaboration as a moderate to critical priority
Source: Atlassian-Trello Foundry Market Pulse 2022 Survey Results
Moderate Priority Top Priority High Priority Critical, NotTop Priority
1%
66%
17%
16%
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employee experience to boost overall enterprise performance and productivity was the number one priority for 44% of respondents to the 2021 Foundry Digital Business Research study , up from the eighth-ranked priority in 2019. Improving employee productivity through process efficiencies and automation was considered a top digital success metric, called out by more than half (51%) of respondents to the survey. [See graphic]
Given its importance, it’s not surprising that rethinking collaboration practices as part of improved employee experience has become a top IT mandate as well. The majority of respondents (60%) to the Foundry 2022 State of the CIO report anticipate increased IT involvement to brainstorm new solutions and business processes as part of an overall strategy to shore up employee experience and nurture better collaboration practices. The heightened emphasis comes at a time when companies are trying to balance their asynchronous and synchronous collaboration needs in light of a hybrid work model that shows no signs of turning back. “I think we took for granted not only the synchronous collaboration that took place in an at-work setting, but also the ad hoc flexible levels of collaboration that took place to actually move critical business processes forward,” says Atlassian’s Head of Product Marketing of Work Management Sendhil Jayachandran. “Now that companies are embracing remote and hybrid work, the question is how do we make sure both of those collaboration models are fully supported.”
Emerging Leadership Priority: Employee Experience
44% #1 PRIORITY Overall
51% Top transformation success metric
New priority for 60% of CIOs
Improving employee experience
Improving productivity through efficiencies and automation
Increased IT involvement to shore up employee experience
Source: 1: 2021 Foundry Digital Business Research study: 2021 State of the CIO survey
2 https://foundryco.com/tools-for-marketers/research-state-of-the-cio/
1 https://foundryco.com/tools-for-marketers/research-digital-business/
2
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Optimizing Employee Collaboration Through Effective Work Management Solutions 2
to shore up employee experience and nurture better collaboration practices.
Improving employee productivity through process efficiencies and automation was considered a top digital success metric, called out by more than half (51%) of respondents to the survey. [See graphic]
The heightened emphasis comes at a time when companies are trying to balance their asynchronous and synchronous collaboration needs in light of a hybrid work model that shows no signs of turning back. “I think we took for granted not only the synchronous collaboration that took place in an at-work setting, but also the ad hoc
flexible levels of collaboration that took place to actually move critical business processes forward,” says Atlassian’s Head of Product Marketing of Work Management Sendhil Jayachandran. “Now that companies are embracing remote and hybrid work, the question is how do we make sure both of those collaboration models are fully supported.”
Optimizing Employee Collaboration Through Effective Work Management Solutions 3
The current hybrid workscape looks very different than it did in the past. While there has been some flexibility to work from home or on the road for various personal or business reasons, the need was ad hoc, with no real urgency to advance or codify collaborative workflows at enterprise scale. That’s not the case in today’s work environment, where, according to the Foundry/Atlassian survey, 63% of employees work remotely at least some of the time—and even more so at smaller companies (70%).
where, according to the Foundry/Atlassian survey, 63% of employees work remotely at least some of the time—and even more so at smaller companies (70%).
That’s resulted in a workscape that comprises both synchronous and asynchronous work. A synchronous work model means multiple people work together at the same time. They typically share work hours and always make themselves available to one another. Under an asynchronous model, personnel are not expected to be online at the same time or complete their work simultaneously.
In the pre-COVID days when everyone was in the same place, it was fairly easy to flag something as critical even if a colleague was engaged on a phone call or in a meeting. Today, those same simple gestures don’t always translate. “In today’s world of work, we see situations where maybe you’ve sent a Slack or checked calendar availability, but there’s no real way to truly communicate the urgency of an ad hoc engagement,” Jayachandran says. “That’s causing certain inefficiencies.”
Most teams (67%) embrace a work pattern that combines synchronous and asynchronous work, depending on the task—a trend that reflects many companies’ need for 24/7 availability for global collaboration. In-office work most often takes place in a synchronous fashion (cited by 31%) while asynchronous work is more likely to take place when working remotely (23%).
3 https://timingapp.com/blog/asynchronous-vs-synchronous-work-how-to-stay-focused/
That’s resulted in a workscape that comprises both synchronous and asynchronous work. A synchronous work model means multiple people work together at the same time. They typically share work hours and always make themselves available to one another. Under an asynchronous model, personnel are not expected to be online at the same time or complete their work simultaneously. In the pre-COVID days when everyone was in the same place, it was fairly easy to flag something as critical even if a colleague was engaged on a phone call or in a meeting. Today, those same simple gestures don’t always translate. “In today’s world of work, we see situations where maybe you’ve sent a Slack or checked calendar availability, but there’s no real way to truly communicate the urgency of an ad hoc engagement,” Jayachandran says. “That’s causing certain inefficiencies.” Most teams (67%) embrace a work pattern that combines synchronous and asynchronous work, depending on the task—a trend that reflects many companies’ need for 24/7 availability for global collaboration. In-office work most often takes place in a synchronous fashion (cited by 31%) while asynchronous work is more likely to take place when working remotely (23%).
97%
Constantly looking to upgrade work management solutions
Work management technologies are universally important for day-to-day operations to solve some of these workflow and productivity challenges. Some work management tools like cloud storage, file sharing, and instant messaging are used widely, while others (calendar sharing or whiteboards) are used by less than 25% of survey respondents. Eighty-eight percent of those responding to the Foundry/Atlassian survey cited work management tools as very important, with even higher numbers at companies with between 2,500 and 5,000 employees (97%). IT and operations departments are heavily reliant on such tools to get their jobs done—far more so than employees in marketing, HR, or customer service. [See graphic]
Work management tools even more important for bigger organizations
Say work management tools are very important Even grater for larger organizations
88%
Optimizing Employee Collaboration Through Effective Work Management Solutions 4
Work management technologies are universally important for day-to-day operations to solve some of these workflow and productivity challenges. Some work management tools like cloud storage, file sharing, and instant messaging are used widely, while others (calendar sharing or whiteboards) are used by less than 25% of survey respondents.
In the spirit of bolstering employee collaboration, companies are turning to a roster of work management and collaboration tools, which is creating a crowded and complex landscape. The Foundry/Atlassian survey found that organizations are using, on average, around four work management tools, while other research indicates that large organizations deploy, on average, 130 apps to get work done. When data is spread across multiple tools, employees spend far too much time chasing down the information they need. According to the Okta 2021 Business at Work Industry Trend Report , 36% of workers’ time is spent looking for information to no avail as they aren’t able to find relevant material 44% of the time. Given the opportunity for improvement, companies are open to new solutions that can address some of these complexities. The vast majority (97%) of respondents to the Foundry/Atlassian survey confirmed they are constantly looking to upgrade their work management solutions in the hopes of making information easier to find.
Eighty-eight percent of those responding to the Foundry/Atlassian survey cited work management tools as very important, with even higher numbers at companies with between 2,500 and 5,000 employees (97%). IT and operations departments are heavily reliant on such tools to get their jobs done—far more so than employees in marketing, HR, or customer service. [See graphic]
When data is spread across multiple tools, employees spend far too much time chasing down the information they need. According to the Okta 2021 Business at Work Industry Trend Report , 36% of workers’ time is spent looking for information to no avail as they aren’t able to find relevant material 44% of the time.
Work Management tools: From a Want to a Need
4 https://www.okta.com/businesses-at-work/
“The boundaries created by silos are pretty significant because you’re not going to have access to the full set of data to make the best decision possible. You also may not have the best subject matter experts involved or the best team members to advance a project forward. Also, organizations miss out on process automation opportunities when tools aren’t seamlessly integrated.” — Sendhil Jayachandran, Atlassian Head of Product Marketing of Work Management For All
“The boundaries created by silos are pretty significant because you’re not going to have access to the full set of data to make the best decision possible,” Jayachandran says. “You also may not have the best subject matter experts involved or the best team members to advance a project forward. Also, organizations miss out on process automation opportunities when tools aren’t seamlessly integrated.”
Optimizing Employee Collaboration Through Effective Work Management Solutions 5
Given the opportunity for improvement, companies are open to new solutions that can address some of these complexities. The vast majority (97%) of respondents to the Foundry/Atlassian survey confirmed they are constantly looking to upgrade their work management solutions in the hopes of making information easier to find.
User experience and security are top priorities for companies that are reevaluating their work management tool landscape. More than half (56%) of respondents to the Foundry/Atlassian survey called out security and privacy as the most important feature of any proposed platform, followed by support for the cloud and ease of implementation and management. Total cost of ownership (TCO) was far less important to respondents, cited by less than a quarter (22%) as an essential factor. This finding is in line with Foundry research that shows TCO as a shrinking priority across IT domains. For example, in Foundry’s State of the CIO 2021 report, CIOs reported security management as their top focus, with cost control and expense management in eighth place. Likewise, top digital objectives are security, agility/resiliency, and improved productivity, while cost reduction again fell in the middle of the pack (eighth place). Leaders were consistent in the Foundry Atlassian survey: TCO was not a priority (25%); it’s a minor challenge (31%), and thus did not make their top criteria list for a work management solution (only 22%). Beyond the security requirement, organizations are looking for work management tools that are flexible, integrated, and scalable. And while human-related features like ease of use and visibility were lowest among the selection criteria, 61% of IT leaders count these features as important.
“The boundaries created by silos are pretty significant because you’re not going to have access to the full set of data to make the best decision possible,” Jayachandran says. “You also may not have the best subject matter experts involved or the best team members to advance a project forward. Also, organizations miss out on process automation opportunities when tools aren’t seamlessly integrated.” Work management technologies are universally important for day-to-day operations to solve some of these workflow and productivity challenges. Some work management tools like cloud storage, file sharing, and instant messaging are used widely, while others (calendar sharing or whiteboards) are used by less than 25% of survey respondents.
Total cost of ownership (TCO) was far less important to respondents, cited by less than a quarter (22%) as an essential factor. This finding is in line with Foundry research that shows TCO as a shrinking priority across IT domains. For example, in Foundry’s State of the CIO 2021 report, CIOs reported security management as their top focus, with cost control and expense management in eighth place. Likewise, top digital
Leaders Set Criteria for Switching Work Management Tools
5 https://foundryco.com/tools-for-marketers/research-state-of-the-cio/
6 https://foundryco.com/tools-for-marketers/research-digital-business/
Optimizing Employee Collaboration Through Effective Work Management Solutions 6
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objectives are security, agility/resiliency, and improved productivity, while cost reduction again fell in the middle of the pack (eighth place).
Leaders were consistent in the Foundry Atlassian survey: TCO was not a priority (25%); it’s a minor challenge (31%), and thus did not make their top criteria list for a work management solution (only 22%).
Beyond the security requirement, organizations are looking for work management tools that are flexible, integrated, and scalable. And while human-related features like ease of use and visibility were lowest among the selection criteria, 61% of IT leaders count these features as important.
As enterprises deploy work management tools to address their hybrid work shortcomings, collaboration and communications remain their primary pain points. According to the Foundry/ Atlassian survey, more than a third (34%) of respondents struggle with effective collaboration or communications, while transparency across projects and teams is a barrier to productivity for 31% of respondents. Data security and privacy challenges top the list for nearly a third (31%), while cost and budgets remain a hurdle for 25% of enterprises canvassed.
pain points. According to the Foundry/ Atlassian survey, more than a third (34%) of respondents struggle with effective collaboration or communications, while transparency across projects and teams is a barrier to productivity for 31% of respondents. Data security and privacy challenges top the list for nearly a third (31%), while cost and budgets remain a hurdle for 25% of enterprises canvassed.
Meanwhile, a surfeit of work management tools also inhibits productivity: Twenty-two percent of respondents said they have a hard time getting the complete picture of project status, while 20% are fatigued by the context switching that ensues when juggling too many disparate tools. Despite the mix of work management tools in place, organizations face a host of other challenges. Complexity and breadth of choice remains a problem for more than a third of companies (36%) while 35% say their users lack an awareness of available tools. Users’ lack of technical proficiency to take full advantage of work management tools, coupled with their reluctance to change from a preferred toolset, is another factor preventing many from fully exploiting the collaboration and productivity benefits of work management tools. For 29% of companies, users too often revert back to a preferred application or platform, opening the door to management complexities that are often a result of shadow IT.
Optimizing Employee Collaboration Through Effective Work Management Solutions 7
Despite the mix of work management tools in place, organizations face a host of other challenges. Complexity and breadth of choice remains a problem for more than a third of companies (36%) while 35% say their users lack an awareness of available tools.
around the principles of a Kanban board, a visual tool comprised of cards and columns that makes it easy to track progress and communicate around tasks to keep work items focused and in constant motion. Trello has built-in automation sequences that can advance critical processes, freeing up individuals to focus on higher-value work. The platform is also fully integrated across the entire Atlassian portfolio to support the highest levels of collaborative work. And Trello Enterprise offers additional security and admin features to ensure IT leaders can manage the workspaces of their employees on a large scale.
Users’ lack of technical proficiency to take full advantage of work management tools, coupled with their reluctance to change from a preferred toolset, is another factor preventing many from fully exploiting the collaboration and productivity benefits of work management tools. For 29% of companies, users too often revert back to a preferred application or platform, opening the door to management complexities that are often a result of shadow IT.
Trello is a web-based, Kanban-style solution that can bring order to hybrid workscape chaos. The platform takes an embed-and-extend approach to work management, delivering a range of integrations or “Power-Ups” to connect to other collaboration and work management tools. Trello creates a shared digital workspace through which organizations can automate repetitive work while providing visibility into project progress and ownership to ensure advances and information are organized to have the most impact. Trello has been designed around the principles of a Kanban board, a visual tool comprised of cards and columns that makes it easy to track progress and communicate around tasks to keep work items focused and in constant motion. Trello has built-in automation sequences that can advance critical processes, freeing up individuals to focus on higher-value work. The platform is also fully integrated across the entire Atlassian portfolio to support the highest levels of collaborative work. And Trello Enterprise offers additional security and admin features to ensure IT leaders can manage the workspaces of their employees on a large scale. “A tool like Trello can reduce the burden of redundant and tactical work,” Jayachandran says. “Employee work is upleveled, and people are able to focus more on strategic initiatives while eradicating any limits on collaboration.” With the future of work clearly continuing as hybrid, companies have to remain vigilant about keeping employees collaborating and engaged whether they are in-office or working from home. With the right work management approach, companies can empower their workforce, keeping employees on the right path, removing friction from daily tasks, and ensuring the highest levels of productivity regardless of location. Discover solutions and tips to empower your workforce and take advantage of highest levels of productivity — wherever your employees sit. Click here for more information.
Trello creates a shared digital workspace through which organizations can automate repetitive work while providing visibility into project progress and ownership to ensure advances and information are organized to have the most impact. Trello has been designed
“A tool like Trello can reduce the burden of redundant and tactical work,” Jayachandran says. “Employee work is upleveled, and people are able to focus more on strategic initiatives while eradicating any limits on collaboration.”
With the future of work clearly continuing as hybrid, companies have to remain vigilant about keeping employees collaborating and engaged whether they are in-office or working from home. With the right work management approach, companies can empower their workforce, keeping employees on the right path, removing friction from daily tasks, and ensuring the highest levels of productivity regardless of location.
Discover solutions and tips to empower your workforce and take advantage of highest levels of productivity — wherever your employees sit. Click here for more information.
