Minicast: Breaking down the comms silos with collaboration tools

Smooth customer facing technology functionality, backed by seamless workplace collaboration is at the forefront of executive management concerns, as the new demands of hybrid work change the communication and data flow dynamic.

“At the core of it, collaboration needs to adapt and should adapt to the needs of the modern workforce, particularly in the context of remote and hybrid working models,” advised Avaya ANZ, managing director, Dino Beverakis.

The debate over WFH corporate policy continues to be a business and political issue, but Beverakis says much of the concerns can be addressed with the appropriate technology and appropriately strategic deployment and training. 

Beverakis refers to recent concerns from a few major Australian banks that have called for an end of WFH. “They are concerned about the trends, lack of creativity, connection and engagement. This could be due to technology limitations or their simplistic video conferencing systems. They could be simply failing to meet the needs of today's remote workforces from a hybrid model perspective,” he said. 

“The pandemic was an eye-opener for all of us to really get our teams focused and connected and moving in the right direction. From a hybrid model perspective, it's crucial that we allow our employees to work productively across the locations and all their devices. “

The disruptive changes to the way we work make it more crucial than ever to ensure that employers provide that environment where staff can feel productive and supported regardless of where they work from, be it home or otherwise, Beverakis said. 

“Really focusing on the communication is more crucial now, especially with those remote and hybrid models. The frustration of not being able to reach a co-worker to get the job done, can slow down processing and ambiguity with delayed responses. So it's more essential to have that single secure platform where staff can chat, talk, host meetings, send, receive files, even make calls. And Avaya Cloud Office provides, for example, presence indicators that allow staff to communicate availability. Something as simple as that, removing the guesswork and those communication silos.”

For SMEs in particular, who need to look and feel enterprise, Beverakis added that having access to those workflow tools is crucial for them to perform and compete in their relevant markets.