Leon Benjamin, Sei Mani's co-founder contributes to its strategic partner BT' and its perspective on the value of collaboration in the enterprise. As a concept, mobile and flexible working is nothing new and the idea of where people work has widened to pretty much anywhere. The issue is no longer ‘where’ people work, the question we’re now asking is ‘how’ people work.

1. The ‘Productivity Puzzle’ and the
new workplace.
It’s about technology, culture and so much more.
A BT point-of-view paper.

2. As a concept, mobile and flexible working is nothing new and the idea of where
people work has widened to pretty much anywhere. The issue is no longer
‘where’ people work, the question we’re now asking is ‘how’ people work.
A recent survey of business decision makers by BT showed how having the wrong tools can seriously
hamper workplace efficiency and productivity. The survey, conducted by an independent research agency,
interviewed 100 IT decision makers in mid-sized UK companies.
Today, many of us live on instant deadlines, 24/7 connectivity,
and an ‘always on’ mentality. There have been more changes to
the modern office in the past ten years than the previous 100;
never has our working environment changed so much in such
a short space of time. Nobody could’ve predicted the rise in
smartphones, tablets, wearable technology, Google, IM, SMS
or apps.
This has created an explosion of information and the rate
is only increasing; everyone can now produce data-rich
video content. Machines are talking to each other to share
information on everything from vending units to automated
cars. Analyst firm IDC estimates that every 18 months, the
amount of information in the world doublesi
.
But what does this mean to the way we work and interact
with each other? High-rise offices are still being built; the
commuter line is still standing room only. We still fight over
scarce meeting rooms or crowd together in shared offices.
We still crave collaboration and interaction; it’s just the nature
of the way we work and collaborate that’s changing. Firstly we
need to ensure employees have the right tools and applications
in place to do their job. But technology alone won’t usher in
the long awaited age of the remote and collaborative worker.
For workers to truly collaborate with one another and with
customers as they would face-to-face, it must be both cultural
and technological changes working hand in hand.
The ‘Productivity Puzzle’ and the new workplace.
The ‘Productivity Puzzle’ -
Technology alone isn’t the
answer.
The conundrum we face is that for all the devices that are
designed to make our lives easier, our actual productivity rate
is falling. Economists are calling it the ‘Productivity Puzzle’ii
.
This is especially a problem in the UK, where workplace
productivity remains stubbornly below our main economic
competitors such as Germany and Franceii
.
Productivity increases when workers communicate effectively
with each other and where a spirit of teamwork and co-
operation exists. But this doesn’t just magically happen.
It means that collaboration must be at the heart of a
company’s philosophy. How do you ensure that your workforce
is connected and working efficiently when they are more mobile
and disparate?
It comes back to those two factors: company culture and
technology.
According to Dr. Nicola Millard, Head of Customer Insight &
Futures at BT, the office will not disappear anytime soon.
“I don’t think offices will ever die. We are inherently social
creatures and offices provide a unique platform for us to
collaborate and socialise about work. Offices are collaboration
tools – even though we don’t necessarily design them as such.
“Open plan was originally conceived as a solution to get
employees to collaborate but, as any of us who work in them
know, they tend to be a one-sized fits all solution that tends
to not fit anyone. The trouble is that we tend to try and
concentrate and collaborate in the same place, which makes
them one big distraction machine.
“The critical thing is to provide people with choices as to
where, how and when they work, depending on what they
need to do.”
In other words, it is not enough to equip your employees with
the latest mobile technology and expect them to become
instantly productive as a result. As Dr. Nicola Millard points out:
“Collaboration doesn’t magically happen. People need a
reason to collaborate (a purpose), be encouraged to do so,
be recognised for their contribution and trust the people
that they work with. Much of this comes down to leadership.
Collaborative leaders need to move from a command and
control mindset to establishing purpose, connection and
common ground (whether it is physical or virtual).”
Analyst firm IDC estimates
that every 18 months, the
amount of information in the
world doubles.
Q1 2016: The ‘Productivity Puzzle’ and the new workplace.
I don’t think offices will ever die. We are
inherently social creatures and offices provide a unique
platform for us to collaborate and socialise about work.
Offices are collaboration tools – even though we don’t
necessarily design them as such.
Dr. Nicola Millard
Head of Customer Insight & Futures at BT

3. How do you manage
multiple devices - securely?
Many companies are having to manage the Bring Your
Own Device (BYOD) challenge, which can present the IT
department with a security headache. It has to deal with
a myriad of operating systems, devices and applications,
little of which it has much direct control over.
So increasingly, companies are turning to Devices-as-
a-Service (or DVaaS) as a way of managing a company
portfolio. In much the same way as a company car fleet is
managed, companies pay a monthly fee for access to the
latest technology, with full backup and support as part of
the package.
It ensures that IT costs are controlled, budgets are more
flexible and employees are motivated and productive by
having access to the latest technology.
A new way of collaborating.
Our environment is about to see a fundamental change
in the way we interact with our workspace. Wearable
devices and fitness trackers are increasingly common and
active objects with built-in sensors are set to become
part of our working lives.
Expect to see smart chairs that measure our posture and
how long we’ve been sitting; or smart surfaces that know
when we’re present.
Linked to this organisations need to provide the right
devices, systems and application tools to allow workers
to do their jobs; dissatisfaction with workplace systems
force many of them to use ‘shadow IT’ or non-sanctioned
IT services, creating a possible security risk.
Many turn to popular file sharing sites such as Drop
Box or Huddle for instance, for file sharing services.
They’re user-friendly and cost next to nothing but can
present serious security concerns if not sanctioned by
the company. Increasingly IT teams and workers need to
share their work challenges so that approved and secure
practices that are right for the business are embraced by
all.
“I think that shadow IT is inevitable given the power,
usability and affordability of consumer technologies,”
said Dr. Millard. “BYOD is just the start of it – with bring
your own software, apps, office and wear your own
device also becoming increasingly common. The danger
is just ignoring it or banning it, because people tend to
do it anyway. This isn’t malicious, it’s simply that we’ve
found something that makes our life easier and we
don’t think about the things that obsess IT departments
(security, control, licensing). IT departments need to
embrace the trend, make it easier for people to make
good choices and make things secure.”
The Generation Gap
We’ve always had a multi-generational workforce; what
we haven’t had in the workplace before are different
ways of communicating and collaborating. Millennials –
born between 1982 and 2002 – are the first generation
to grow up in a connected world. Most do not remember
the time without the Internet. They opt for quick, casual
and efficient collaboration and choose tools to meet
those needs. According to a 2015 study by comScoreiv
,
more than nine in ten millennials have smartphones
and they use them extensively, spending an average of
50-100 per cent more time on mobile than on desktop
today.
This takes the collaboration conundrum to new heights.
It is not a case of the senior workers telling the younger
(and presumably more junior) members to put up and
shut up. If their company collaboration tools do not
meet their needs, Millennials will seek and find options
elsewhere, either by choosing different tools, or finding
somewhere else to work.
Last year, smartphones overtook laptops as the most popular
device for getting online, according to UK telecoms regulator
Ofcomiv
. With the introduction of 4G connectivity, receiving,
storing and downloading information has never been easier.è 4G
There’s been a massive leap in smartphone uptake in just
12-months; 33 per cent of the British public prefer to access
social media, watch news and videos, or shop online using their
smartphones, compared with only 22 per cent in 2014iii
.
UP
33%
►
A recent Ofcom survey shows 90 per cent of 16-24 year-olds
own a smartphone, and ownership for 55 to 64 year-olds has
more than doubled in the last year from 19 to 50 per cent.
There’s a generation gap, but it’s narrowing.
16 - 24 55 - 64
90
%
50
%
Smartphone
ownership
2016
The research found that 45 per cent of respondents felt
that not having the right device for the job was hampering
efficiency. It also highlighted that almost one-in-five (17
per cent) saw impeded mobility as the biggest challenge
associated with employees not being equipped with the latest
technologies, followed by a lack of online and cloud-based
resources (13 per cent).
Hampering
efficiency
Impeded
mobility
Lack of online
resources
45%
17%
13%
Having the wrong tools can seriously hamper workplace
efficiency and productivity. Almost half of the surveyed
mid-sized companies in the UK were getting it wrong by
not providing the right device for the job (laptop, tablet or
smartphone).
A quarter (25 per cent) of respondents managed their
devices in-house, while a further 50 per cent managed
devices themselves with vendor support. Only 8 per cent
of companies surveyed had devices managed by the end-
users themselves and 2 per cent didn’t have any form of
management in place at all.
25%
in house
50%
vendor support
8%
end-user
2%
non
Meeting employee expectations.
For the first time, employees are starting to dictate technology requirements and policy to
their IT departments, with devices and applications playing an increasingly important role
in our working lives. A recent survey of business decision makers by BT showed how having
the wrong tools can seriously hamper workplace efficiency and productivity. The survey,
conducted by independent research agency Vanson Bourne, interviewed 100 IT decision
makers in mid-sized UK companies including those with 1000-3000 employees and those
with more than 3000 employees.
The ‘Productivity Puzzle’ and the new workplace.
Q1 2016: The ‘Productivity Puzzle’ and the new workplace.

4. Embedding new technology
into working culture.
Some of the time, the failure to collaborate can simply be
down to miscommunication, particularly when it comes
to aligning new technology with company culture. Often
there’s a disconnect between the investment in collaboration
technologies and making employees aware of them.
Leon Benjamin, director of collaboration at BT partner Sei Mani
Ltd agrees: “After five years of managing the adoption of unified
communications applications touching over 30,000 employees
in dozens of enterprises, the difference between low and high
adoption is ironically the way it’s communicated. Information
makes people think, but emotion makes them act. With a few
exceptions, most deployments are driven by IT departments
and they simply don’t have the skills to communicate the value,
benefits and outcomes of these technologies to end-users.”
“The profitability and sometimes the survival of a consumer
product company relies almost entirely on marketing. Would
Apple or Samsung use engineers to sell its products to
consumers? We all know that wouldn’t end well, and that’s how
application deployments should be treated – like consumer led
product launches that leave nothing to chance from straplines
and slogans to packaging and customer support.“
Ensuring a successful
transition.
A collaborative change culture is something that organisations
should consider if they are to hit the right note with their
customers. Place more faith in your staff, provide them with
the tools to get the job done, and trust that they can deliver.
According to Dr. Millard, this shift in mind-set is all that
currently stands in the way for most businesses:
“It is interesting that technology ALREADY allows us to change
the ways that we work but it seems that commute times are
going up rather than down at the moment and many jobs are
still advertised in a particular geographic location.“
Increased connectivity, intelligent technologies,
wearable computing, augmented reality, virtual reality,
the internet of things, clouds of clouds, smart buildings
and autonomous vehicles all have the power to change
aspects of the ways that we work. However, we also need
culture change to untether ourselves from the past.
Dr. Nicola Millard
Head of Customer Insight & Futures at BT
With a few exceptions, most deployments are
driven by IT departments and they simply don’t have the
skills to communicate the value, benefits and outcomes of
these technologies to end-users.
Leon Benjamin
Director of Collaboration, Sei Mani Ltd
i
EMC/IDC,TheEMCDigitalUniverse,2014,quotedinInfoworldarticle,datedAugust22,2014,entitledHowtosurvivethedataexplosion,accessedMarch14,2016.
ii
InstituteforPublicPolicyResearch(IPPR),Themissingpieces:SolvingBritain’sproductivitypuzzle,August2015,accessedMarch14,2016.
iii
Ofcom,TheCommunicationsMarket2015(August),August2015,accessedMarch14,2016.
iv
comScore,TheGlobalMobileReport2015–Howmulti-PlatformAudiencesandEngagementcompareintheUS,Canada,UKandBeyond,July2015,accessedMarch14,2016.
Poor user adoption is hampering many companies’ efforts to
deliver on their collaboration projects. Investing heavily in an IT
infrastructure is useless if it isn’t communicated to employees,
or if they have had no input into its implementation.
Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) projects aim
to provide the tools to do just that. Sea changes in workplace
behaviour don’t happen by chance – it takes considered
planning, guidance, training and support to ensure the new
collaboration technology is fully embedded into the day-to-
day processes of an organisation.
Working with a consultancy service can help change
the procedures and understanding of what Unified
Communications can deliver, especially when it comes to
enhanced customer service. BT’s Collaboration Adoption
Service does exactly that, providing consultancy and training to
ensure the UCC implementation is a success. It is not just about
installing a piece of kit or software – it’s about embedding the
technology into employees’ working lives.
Having a provider that can accommodate skills management,
coaching, public relations and internal communications ensures
that a UCC policy can derive the maximum desired impact.
By partnering with a UCC specialist, it is possible to configure
the correct collaboration tools a business needs, define the
rollout processes and deliver a range of training based on user
requirements.
BT’s Discovery Workshops are for customers that have already
established collaboration tools in place and want to get more
from them, or for customers who are looking for a solution to
be built from the ground up.
The ‘Productivity Puzzle’ and the new workplace.
Organisations wanting to change the way their people
work would benefit from selecting an ICT partner that
puts employee collaboration and productivity at the
core of their business proposition outcomes.

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