Commercial Integrator June 2022 - 47

C llab rati n
TODAY and TOMORROW
Chris Montfort
program manager,
large technology firm
Collaboration is the buzzword for 2022. As
employees begin to return to the office
and executives try to find motive and
meaning behind this return, we've latched onto the concept of
increased collaboration being the goal of an in-person return.
Effective communication, rapid ideation and focused group
time are all cornerstones of collaboration. Whether performed
in person or via online tools such as Slack or Google Meet,
collaboration is about taking risks with your work group, feeling
comfortable to take chances and having the capacity to
be vulnerable with one another. Collaboration goes beyond a
typical work relationship and moves employees into a comfort
zone supported by company culture.
Steve Bleiberg,
senior manager systems
engineering, Charles Schwab Corp.
Collaboration, or working together, is the
primary and most common activity of the
workplace today. As everything is interrelated
and interconnected, it is impossible to get anything done alone.
In my workplace, most collaboration happens within " collaboration
apps " like Slack, Teams, Google Meet and WebEx,
along with all the related capabilities and attached apps, bots,
extensions and add-ons. It is common for an ad-hoc idea or
question shared by two people in a text chat to be expanded to
a larger group and then escalated to an AV call. These tools help
establish a work stream that includes an online workplace, a file
repository, and a complete history of the related activities and
communications, all within a single app.
Daniel Rogers
global digital enablement
solutions provider, AVI-SPL
Put simply, collaboration is essentially when
a group of people work together to make
business decisions using modern-day tools in
order to work and connect from anywhere, at any time.
Good, simple, easy-to-use collaboration tools maximize the
chances of success by administering an open, communicative and
collaborative experience among all members of an organization.
It is accepted that working together in teams as part
of a defined collaboration strategy promotes healthy employee
relationships, which, in turn, leads to better team
performance. It also brings overall productivity benefits and
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increases employee satisfaction.
We are all working within the experience economy. The
companies that are providing a great way of working and
collaborating, thus offering the best environments in which
to work, will undoubtedly attract and retain the best talent in
the marketplace.
S. Ann Earon
president, Telemanagement
Resources International Inc.
Collaboration means the ability to share
audio, video and content with others, in
whatever form the user wants to share that
information, at one site or multiple sites. The pandemic allowed
the UC&C industry to shine because users were forced to use the
technology to communicate, and they were surprised how well
it worked. New technologies were introduced, making collaboration
easier and more robust. Whether at home, on the road or
in a work setting, users are empowered to share voice, video and
whatever type of data they are comfortable with across the globe.
Joe Way, PhD, CTS
director, learning environments,
University of Southern California
Collaboration today means flexibility. It
means being flexible in where we meet, how
we meet and what we do with our time together.
Traditionally, collaboration was an action; then, it became
about tools. Now, collaboration revolves around the ability to
connect on our own terms. In higher education, we have seen a
move away from " talking head " lecturing and toward virtual content
delivery that is both accessible and available at the student's
convenience. That way, class time can focus on application of
the principles. Successfully achieveing this balance means the
physical space and UC/virtual space must work fluidly together.
Patrick Heyn
senior director of marketing, QSC
The office has become the new offsite,
with our homes having become the new
" everyday. " The traditional office is now
a special destination akin to an offsite
experience. In the past, we would have rented a separate space
to inspire heightened collaboration, focused problem-solving
sessions and spirited team building. However, those goals
were often challenged by ill-equipped technology to support
the event (e.g., old projectors, bad internet, no audio reinforceJUNE
2022 Commercial Integrator 47
http://www.commercialintegrator.com
Commercial Integrator June 2022

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