WorkSpace Wednesday: Today’s Workplace by the NumbersWorkSpace Wednesday: Today’s Workplace by the Numbers
Based on the results of a recent Enterprise Connect survey, a look at WFH support and collaboration ahead
December 9, 2020
As I wrote recently on our sister community site, WorkSpace Connect, in my post, “Today’s Workplace by the Numbers,” results of a recent Enterprise Connect survey show that IT professionals by and large feel they were well-prepared to support communications and collaboration for a large work-from-home workforce.
I had supposed — or, rather, had hoped — that would be the sentiment among our Enterprise Connect community, given their role in crafting the very strategies allowing them to be prepared for the unprecedented level of remote work requiring collaboration tools. Of course, we all know that any number of roadblocks can litter the path between vision and implementation.
Of the 168 enterprise IT professionals who participated in the “State of the Enterprise Communications/Collaboration Careers & the Changing Workplace 2020” survey, slightly more than half (56%) said they were very, if not extremely, prepared to support remote work at scale from a communications and collaboration perspective. You’re probably wondering, “Well, what was their starting point? Were they already supporting lots of remote work, anyways?”
The level of WFH support prior to the pandemic varies among respondents, of course — with the gamut ranging from fewer than 10% having no WFH at their organizations to slightly more than a quarter of respondents saying their organizations allowed WFH for the entire workweek, spending on a person’s roles and responsibilities. Typically, however, organizations had been supporting WFH on a limited basis, as noted by 46% of respondents. And, naturally, the numbers have shifted for WFH allowances today, with 74% of respondents indicating that their organizations now allow WFH five days a week, and another 15% with support for WFH at least two days weekly.
For 30% of respondents, the WFH support will continue indefinitely. Another large group has indicated having plans in place for WFH support through mid-2021 (21%), with another 21% saying the same through year-end 2021.
Back in the office, the collaboration environment will see some sprucing up. Here are the top five approaches and technologies respondents are considering in support of the collaboration needs and meeting rooms of this new COVID era:
Meeting rooms with restricted capacity (71%)
Open offices with restricted seating (61%)
Increased use of desktop videoconference (54%)
Increased use of headsets (42%)
Huddle spaces limited to single-person occupancy (40%)
WorkSpace Connect is chockful of ideas on how to think about all the above and much more regarding the connected, collaborative workplace of tomorrow. Recent articles include:
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