MUNICH and RESTON, Va., June 18,
2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Unify today released Volume 2 of the
industry leading New Way to Work (#NW2W) Index, showing the impact
technology has on team success. The research conducted for the
#NW2W Index Volume 2 ran between March and April 2014, surveying 137 business executives and
team members from around the world to get a real world view of the
collaboration capabilities offered and used by teams and their
correlation to team performance.
The latest edition of the #NW2W Index is part of an ongoing
research series announced by Unify chief executive officer
Dean Douglas in March, where he
detailed the imperative for business leaders to prioritize creating
new strategies for communications and collaboration systems and IT
infrastructure.
Among the findings in the #NW2W Index Volume 2, the survey
showed that the most successful teams have and use communication
and collaboration technology two to four times more than teams that
enjoy marginal or no success.
"It's imperative that we equip teams for the transformation
that is happening in today's virtual business environment,
using real-time communication and collaboration technologies to
enable the new way to work," said Bill
Hurley, chief marketing officer of Unify. "This survey
validates how the ease of connecting and the ability to collaborate
spontaneously correlate with team success. This is more than just a
trend driven by Millennials—the trend is critical to engaging
people with ideas and sustaining organizational performance when
teams are distributed across multiple locations."
Data from the #NW2W Index Volume 2 provide insights on how
technology use impacts team success. Below are some of the
capabilities studied.
- Add Screen-Share to Call: Screen
sharing, or web collaboration is used by two-thirds of all survey
respondents. With such high availability, the gap in use by more
and less successful teams is telling. On less successful teams, 19
percent have screen sharing capabilities, but don't use it; 42
percent simply don't have it.
- Add Video to Call: In previous Unify
research, 75 percent of respondents said it's easier to collaborate
when they can see each other. While the ability to click to add
video to a call is fairly common among successful teams, 61 percent
of those on struggling or less successful teams don't have video
capability or don't use it.
- See Colleagues' Availability: 83
percent of successful teams can see if colleagues are available for
a call, IM or email, which is key to finding someone to help or be
your sounding board on the fly – just as you would in the office.
Though "presence" was one of the first big features of unified
communications, its limited use is surprising – and apparently
vital to team success.
- See who's on a Conference Call: 81
percent of those on more successful teams can see who else is on a
conference call. In Volume 1 of the #NW2W Index, the findings
revealed that those on very successful teams are far more likely to
speak freely and candidly on virtual calls than those on struggling
teams. Being able to see who's on the call may be valuable in
helping virtual team members have confidence disagreeing or
pitching an off-the-cuff idea.
- Enterprise IM: The ability to send an
Instant Message to a colleague is a big part of being available to
a team, especially in today's distributed workforce. On less
successful teams, 47 percent don't have or use enterprise instant
messaging; 86 percent of successful teams use it.
- Mobile Unified Communications:
Overall, only one-third (34 percent) of responders have the same
access to these collaboration functions from company-approved
mobile devices as they do in the office. Those who have it, are far
more likely to rate their teams as very successful, indicating the
urgent need for solutions that create enhanced productivity and
collaboration across multiple platforms.
Unify has created a new resource hub filled with content, data
and best practices that leaders can access as they build their New
Way to Work strategy. For additional information about the Index
findings and to download a copy of the current Unify #NW2W Index,
please visit www.unify.com/NW2W.
Follow the New Way to Work (#NW2W) conversation on Twitter at
#NW2W and on LinkedIN.
About the Unify NW2W Index
The Unify NW2W Index examines the habits and constructs of
successful virtual teams and the anywhere worker. Produced
quarterly, findings include research on management and behavioral
trending of virtual teams. The Unify NW2W Index is distributed via
email, social media and website by Unify and our partners at the
Ferrazzi Greenlight Research Institute.
About Unify
Unify is one of the world's leading
communications software and services firms, providing integrated
communications solutions for approximately 75 percent of the
Fortune Global 500. Our solutions unify multiple networks, devices
and applications into one easy-to-use platform that allows teams to
engage in rich and meaningful conversations. The result is a
transformation of how the enterprise communicates and collaborates
that amplifies collective effort, energizes the business, and
enhances business performance. Unify has a strong heritage of
product reliability, innovation, open standards and
security.
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