Focus on the human side to foster virtual collaboration: Temitope Sadiku, Kraft Heinz
The world of work as we know it is going to look drastically different from it is now, post-COVID-19. With the rising number of companies working from home, there has been a significant increase in the use of collaboration tools and apps. Thus, there is an imminent need to relook at how we can enable workplace collaboration virtually and improve the experience of our employees during and post this global crisis. The People Matters EX Virtual Conference on 19th June is our endeavor to throw the spotlight on employee experience (EX) to reiterate its importance, especially in today’s changing times.
The Virtual Conference aims to spark ideas and initiate actions on accelerating the development of a consumer mindset to solving people & work challenges in order to attract and retain future talent, bolstering productivity and ultimately building happier workplaces. The conference will bring together experts who are leading the conversation on EX in their respective organizations.
One such expert is Temitope Sadiku, Global Head of Digital Experience at Kraft Heinz. She will be speaking on workplace collaboration and how Kraft Heinz making is making it work virtually. In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, Temitope shares ways in which organizations can foster virtual collaboration.
What are some of the key factors organizations should keep in when making a plan to foster virtual collaboration?
There are four key factors to keep in mind-
1. Understand who your people are, what motivates your organization,
2. What is the general approach to problem-solving – do people seek council outside of their formal team
3. How do your people arrange themselves – do you work in function groups or clusters/tribes/matrix
4. How do knowledge and information typically travel through your organization
What are some of the challenges organizations face when fostering virtual collaboration?
One of the challenges that organizations could face is focusing on more collaborative tools rather than effective use of the existing tools. In addition, forgetting the people side could be another deterrent. We are social beings and shouldn’t forget that people need people. Also, we should not fall for the fallacy that the existence of a tool will create collaboration – we need to articulate value rather than technical specifications.
What are some of the ways in which organizations can face these challenges?
Some of these ways could be-
1. Listen and observe how your people work and move through the organization
2. Be prepared to test concepts and idea – even the most obscure
3. Don’t try to solve new problems with traditional methods
4. Fail fast if necessary, failure is not a bad thing and we can always learn from mistakes
5. Create a strong external network where you can learn from those already on the journey
What are some of the ways in which Kraft Heinz has fostered virtual collaboration?
At Kraft Heinz, we have focused on the following for fostering virtual collaboration-
1) Focusing on the human side
2) Building partnerships with our technical vendors rather than transactional relationships
3) Identifying the business case, what is our “Why” for collaboration?
What role can technology play to increase employee productivity and creativity and improve EX?
Technology is the enabler to increase experience, it doesn’t lead. Technology is the means by which we increase productivity and creativity but it should come once value and objectives are defined.
To learn from her and other experts as to what it takes to create a world of incredible experiences, join us for the People Matters EX: A Virtual Conference on 19th June