From healthcare to government to education, it’s clear that we need a new way forward to make the world truly more open and connected. It sometimes seems like “business as usual” is still making it difficult for people to really feel like they are collaborating and communicating to get things done. When we hear the words “more open and connected,” we typically think of social media and open floor plans. However, from my experience in visual communications technology, I believe that there is more to the story. By taking the following three concepts into account, any entrepreneur can make his or her organization more open and connected in a tangible way that gets results.
Sustainability: Work from anywhere
Employees aren’t connecting over ping pong tables, and open floorplans aren’t making teams any more open with one another. Organizations become more open and connected simply through employee happiness. In a world with a population surpassing 7.5 billion people, with approximately 200,000 people moving into the world’s cities every day, building remote teams that work from anywhere is more important than ever in order to sidestep the pollution of dysfunctional daily travel that has spun out of control in virtually every city across America.
Quality connections can be built from anywhere. Forcing millions onto the roads and into subways and airports, for hours, every day and night, is only contributing to employees’ stress, sleep deprivation and other killers. Working remotely can open up your employees’ lives and make them happier and more productive, allowing them to spend more time collaborating and connecting — by achieving more great things together — which is the adventure that teams really bond over in the first place.
Become more sustainable by using messaging apps like Slack and HipChat, and video conferencing, to transform your employees’ home offices into productivity powerhouses.
Inclusion: Listen to everyone
Diversity awareness is on the rise, not only because we have put a human face to it, but also because diverse teams that collaborate closely are proven to be more innovative in the workplace. Today, success in business at all levels is innovation-driven and relationship-driven, not task-driven….