8 workplace pain points that hurt in-person collaboration
Inspiring your people to collaborate in the office is as big a challenge today as it’s ever been. Communication in the hybrid workplace is more complex and built environments—especially those developed pre-pandemic—may need a radical shift to align with your organization’s current needs.
In the recent webinar, “Bring collaboration back to the modern workplace,” expert panelists discussed how they’ve tackled these very problems across JLL’s sizeable portfolio of office assets. Drawing from the recurring issues discussed during the webinar, this pain point checklist serves as a place to start evaluating gaps in your tech stack that are holding back in-person collaboration.
1. One-size fits all approach to workplace experience
With expectations around workplace experience as high as they are in 2022, the days of implementing redundant workplace strategies across an entire portfolio are over.
“Meeting someone’s needs in Dallas doesn’t mean meeting someone’s needs in Boston,” said Eddy Wagoner, JLLT’s CIO and Executive Director, Digital. Likewise, these pain-points will impact each workplace in your portfolio in different ways.
2. Limited or inaccessible wellness options
Nothing draws people into the office like the thought that they might be healthier for it. Whether your people get access to healthy snacks or yoga classes, wellness options matter. So does the technology that underpins these services, ensures they are delivered safely, and guarantees they can accommodate employees on hybrid schedules.
3. Technology friction
You can design the ideal workplace experience that perfectly positions your staff for collaboration, but it won’t matter if they hate using the technology. Nothing quite says “failed deployment” like the sight of your people constantly struggling with the technology specifically intended to make their days less complicated.
4. No reliable usage data
Make sure you have a strategy in place to test and confirm how changes to the workplace are helping (or hurting) collaboration. A key advantage of technology like utilization sensors is being able to measure when your people are most likely to spend time in collaborative spaces vs. areas dedicated to focused work.
5. People can’t locate their favorite collaborators
If someone needs a face-to-face with a subject matter expert to make progress on a critical project, they’ll be frustrated if they show up to the office and that person isn’t in the building. This is another gap that can be addressed with technology. Workplace experience platforms like HqO include capabilities designed to connect colleagues’ schedules and help them locate their favorite collaborators in the office.
6. Too many apps to manage
Your people will respond best to a workplace that can be navigated with the fewest apps and tools possible. The more people must toggle between multiple apps to find a desk or communicate with colleagues, the more likely they’ll prefer to work from home.
7. Trouble finding a place to work
Issues with room- and- desk-booking continue to pose a major challenge to in-person collaboration. Whether the issue is due to the way the space is set up, availability of desks, or a frustrating app, it has to be dealt with before your people can be expected to collaborate regularly.
8. No space for non-work collaboration
Your people need a place to catch-up and encourage one another. This is the space where “How are you?” comes up more often than “How much did you get done?” The seeds of the relationships that lead to deeper and more effective collaboration between your employees are planted in moments (and spaces) like these.
End-to-end solutions to support workplace collaboration
Selecting all the technologies to fill the gaps in your workplace is just the start. Deeper, more consistent collaboration won’t happen until you find a way to make those technologies work together in a comprehensive built environment. That’s where JLL Technologies can help.
Connect with us today and let us put our global expertise to work helping you drive collaboration in your office.