Communication platforms are overriding the professional space

When the year 2020 began, less than 5% of the global workforce was working remotely. Now, in little over a year, more than half of them are forced to work from home. The fact that top tier companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft and more have established long term or permanent remote work policies, goes on to show the immense impact the pandemic has had in the professional world.

The popular adoption of new working arrangements requires a different kind of skill set and familiarity from the company employees. The advent of the pandemic catalysed the digitization of information for businesses. What has resulted is a major influx of data, and insufficient systems in place to optimally handle it. Existing data management applications are dated. Despite that, given the current load of information on corporations, the demand for them has been skyrocketing.

The need to have systems that can help manage such vast information databases preceded the pandemic, but it has in effect acted as its springboard. The combined challenge of working in a virtual space, while handling large volumes of differentiated data, requires new forms of communication platforms.

The new workforce wants an always-on enterprise that can give them consistent and location-agnostic access to tools and resources they need to get work done. Collaboration is high on the agenda for Millennials and Gen Z, and they respect the freedom and flexibility to work on their terms, in their space, and on their own devices.

Employees now demand a fully loaded experience, similar to what they are accustomed to as consumers, in their personal lives. There is a need for advanced systems that will be more efficient, productive and most importantly, less time-consuming. Easy-to-use interface, ability to hold and share data, allowing effective communication, are some of the few features a company looks for.

Collaboration platforms are quickly replacing traditional communication. Even though nearly half of companies had not used a collaboration platform before the pandemic, 78% of ITDMs now say that they’ll continue to use Slack and/or other solutions even when ‘normal’ work routines resume.

Finally, with this shift to hybrid workplaces, it’s clear that collaboration platforms will play an increasingly important role in the future of business communication. And today’s challenge is to manage the blended workforce, where people and AI are working together, and to find ways to integrate the dynamics.