PRINT.IT
27
ADVERTORIAL
With more
people
working
remotely, it
becomes both
increasingly
important and
more difficult
to foster a
collaborative
culture in
the work
environment
In a survey of 1,000 UK office
workers* by the document solutions
provider, almost half (46%) stated
that colleagues forget to share
important information or documents
with them, resulting in wasted time,
missed opportunities and potentially
lost revenue.
The same number (46%)
complained that co-workers talk
over each other in meetings,
creating a disruptive working
environment. More than one in
three (38%) highlighted the problem
of people typing and working on
other things during conference calls.
Workplace strategist and
change manager Dr Nigel Oseland
says good meeting etiquette and
consideration for colleagues are
particularly important at a time
of increased mobile and home
working, which can make it harder to
establish collaborative relationships.
“Collaboration is crucial to
running a successful business. It’s
key to how efficiently and effectively
teams can work, in essence their
productivity. But with more people
working remotely, it becomes both
increasingly important and more
difficult to foster a collaborative
culture in the work environment,”
he said.
“There are usually three key
factors that contribute to how well
collaboration can happen within
a business – people, space and
technology. For people to collaborate
better comes down to how well they
understand and appreciate each
other’s personalities and different
ways of working, as a more diverse
mix of people typically will be a more
successful team. They also need to
understand each other’s motivators,
gain trust and share mutual respect.
“However, even the best team
in the world can’t work together
productively if they don’t have the
right tools in place. It’s important
that organisations bear this in
mind and make sure they provide
their staff with the appropriate
technology and complementary
spaces which will encourage them
Lack of teamwork and bad manners are blighting business and impairing
effective collaboration warns Sharp.
Bad manners and poor tech
impair collaboration
to be collaborative across a range
of working environments.”
Sharp’s survey supports
Oselund’s observation that it is
not only bad habits that jeopardise
successful collaboration, but
also bad technology, with 45%
of respondents claiming that the
technology in their office makes it
more difficult to share information.
Taking action
Although employees are frustrated
by the perceived failings of their
collaboration tools, 50% do
nothing about it, putting the onus
on employers to be proactive in
monitoring and tackling technology
problems.
However, they are much more
likely to complain about co-workers.
One in five admitted to secretly
emailing their bosses to point out
colleagues’ failings; 21% like to
leave a note in a communal area;
and 20% email the person concerned
to complain about their behaviour.
Stuart Sykes, Managing Director
of Sharp UK, said: “Most of us
will recognise these behaviours
as a part of office life. However,
there’s a serious issue behind
these findings. If your business
isn’t set-up to promote teamwork
and the sharing of information,
you will be losing opportunities to
grow. How much of the information
workers are forgetting to share
could have led to new business,
saved costs or inspired a new idea?
After all, collaboration is essential
for a happier, creative and more
productive workforce.”
Find out more about how to
unlock a collaborative workplace,
by downloading Sharp’s new
whitepaper and expert tips from
Dr Nigel Oseland at
.
* Research was conducted with 6,045
office workers in nine EU countries
(France, Germany, UK, Italy, Sweden,
Poland, Netherlands, Czech Republic and
Hungary), including 1,006 office workers
in the UK
??
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MEETINGROOM2
MEETINGROOM 1
46% SAID THEIR
COLLEAGUES FORGET TO
SEND THEM INFORMATION
17% OF DELAYED REMOTE MEETINGS
ARE DUE TO PEOPLE NOT HAVING THE
INFORMATION THEY NEED
44% SAID THEIR COLLEAGUES
MOVE DOCUMENTS OR CREATE NEW
FOLDER STRUCTURES
45% THINK THE TECHNOLOGY IN
THEIR OFFICE MAKES IT DIFFICULT
TO SHARE INFORMATION
46% SAID THEIR COLLEAGUES
TALK OVER OTHERS IN MEETINGS
38% SAID THEIR COLLEAGUES TYPE
OR CONTINUE WORKING DURING
CONFERENCE CALLS
Collaboration failures
Collaboration is essential for a creative andproductiveworkforce;however, formostoffices in theUK this isanambition rather thana reality.Do you
recognise anyof thesebehaviours:doing yourownworkduring a colleague’smeeting, forgetting to sharedocuments?Downloadourwhitepaper for
teamwork tips from environmentalpsychologistDrNigelOseland at
Researchwas conductedwith 6,045officeworkers innine EU countries (France,Germany,UK, Italy, Sweden, Poland,Netherlands,CzechRepublic and
Hungary), including 1,006officeworkers in theUK.
Key findings
n
45% think technology in their office makes it difficult
to share information
n
46% complain that colleagues forget to send them
information
n
44% say colleagues move documents or create new
folder structures making it hard to find documents
n
17% of delayed remote meetings are due to people
not having the information they need
n
46% complain that their colleagues talk over others
in meetings
n
38% say their colleagues type or continue working
during conference calls
