What if someone told you that there was a secret key to unlock next level results within your organization? What if that key could make your company five times more likely[1] to be high performing? Would you rearrange your processes to adopt that key?
Well, guess what? The verdict is in, and the research has proven that collaboration is that magic key. Yet, so many of us have failed to incorporate the power of teamwork into our daily operations.
Recent studies[2] of both leaders and employees have shown that the majority of us wish our companies invested in greater collaboration:
- 97% believe that a lack of alignment within a team negatively impacts results
- 75% state teamwork is “very important”
- 39% say that their organization does not collaborate enough
- 49% of Millennials support the implementation of tools and programs to enhance collaboration
Our Biggest Challenges
Forrester Consulting recently conducted a study to quantify the benefits of Microsoft Teams for organizations and employees. They surveyed over 260 users across a wide range of industries- from education to financial services.
Respondents stated that their organization’s biggest challenges were as follows:
Growth and Geography
Companies are expanding into new regions across the world, spanning multiple time zones with varying office hours.
Mobile
Though most companies understand the value of mobile, many are struggling to implement tools that enable employees to be better connected and more productive.
Innovation
In an incredibly competitive marketplace, the pressure is mounting to introduce innovative processes that make the company better, faster.
Integration
New solutions need to meet a number of different needs, including scalability, privacy, and compliance with industry regulations.
Once the challenges had been established, Forrester set out to determine the impact of Microsoft Teams in handling those challenges. Could this revolutionary cloud-based software influence these groups to enhance collaboration?
Microsoft Teams: Measured Results
The study uncovered an impressive number of benefits that came as a result of implementing Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Teams: By the Numbers
- Improved practices for collaboration and sharing saved users an average of 4 hours per week
- A 17.7% improvementwas seen in the amount of time needed to make a decision within the team
- Organizations were able to replace an average of 150 in-person overnight trips, in exchange for online meetings
- 88% of respondentsexperienced time savings as a result of having all the solutions available in one place
- Overall, users experienced an 18.9% reductionsin meetings each week
The top four benefits that users expressed from Microsoft teams were:
1) Reduction of meeting times
Microsoft Teams users were able to reduce both the number of meetings they attended, and their duration. One of the most important facets of the Teams interface is the high quality audio-visual functionality. Given that users no longer had to waste time addressing set-up and call quality issues, they could turn their attention to interacting and engaging in the meeting. The resulting savings have been estimated at $6.9 million!
2) Time savings from direct collaboration
Rather than manually seeking feedback and assistance with projects, Microsoft Teams users can collaborate in real-time with features such as co-authoring, integrated file storage, and internal directory. Particularly for teams operating across geographical time zones, who would often find themselves having to wait until the next business day to interact, the improved workflow was significant. Estimated savings total more than $14.3 million.
3) Seamless integration of mobile
Teams provides access to 3rd party and line-of-business apps from any device. For teams with multiple offices, or teams with remote workers, this enhances employee cohesion, encouraging the adoption of a common corporate culture across the entire enterprise. Not having to switch between a number of apps saved time, and the financial implication is estimated at $4.8 million.
4) Reduced downtime
Having resources available 24/7 online reduces the complexity of task completion, and enables team members to work from the cloud-based solution at any time of day. Compared to on-premises solutions, Teams reduced downtime by 14.6%, worth an estimated $258,000.
Could Microsoft Teams Be Right for You?
As a Microsoft Gold Partner, we’ve seen firsthand how cloud-based solutions like Microsoft Teams save time and money, while streamlining bottlenecks and turbocharging results. Our depth of experience in implementing Microsoft solutions makes us uniquely equipped to create custom IT strategies that perfectly align with business needs.
Curious about how CrucialLogics could help your organization to embrace collaboration through Microsoft Teams? Reach out to our team today to learn more.
[1]Forbes, “New Study Finds that Collaboration Drives Workplace Performance”, https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevitasek/2023/04/24/3-ways-stronger-collaboration-improves-employee-satisfaction/?sh=11cede06120e
[2]Clear Company, “7 Workplace Collaboration Statistics and Advice that will Have You Knocking Down Cubicles”, https://blog.clearcompany.com/7-workplace-collaboration-statistics-that-will-have-you-knocking-down-cubicles
