What’s getting in the way of great team performance? Poor collaboration, according to a survey from software firm Corel which offers insights on how collaboration affects business growth. 

The solutions provider recently polled more than 2,000 office workers across the world. Of those asked, nearly two in three (61%) placed the blame on poor collaboration tools, especially among workers in hybrid and remote environments. It was also causing businesses to lose money, according to more than half (54%) of respondents.

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Meanwhile, 70% of office employees said poor collaboration is keeping them from being productive. They also believe it is a waste of their time. 

When asked about their opinion on the cause of the collaboration crisis, the respondents gave varying answers:

• 27% believe companies aren’t investing in the right collaboration tools.

• 25% claim that collaboration tools have poor functionality.

• 22% said they don’t use the collaboration tools provided to them.

• 21% said they lack training to use collaboration tools.

Employee collaboration during the Covid pandemic

More companies are appreciating the value of collaboration tools, especially as they shift to hybrid and remote work settings due to the pandemic. These tools allow employees to stay productive even when they are not working in the office.

However, not all collaboration tools are created equally. The quality of the tools affect how workers are able to carry out their tasks.

When asked about what they look for in a collaboration tool, the survey respondents identified two main factors:

• 39% said collaboration tools should allow multiple members of the team to work on the same task at the same time 

• 32% said collaboration tools should give them the option to work and collaborate with colleagues using any device

Corel’s Chief People Officer Scott Day explained the key role that collaboration tools play in improving the productivity of businesses.

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“Over the past two years, we’ve learned that hybrid and remote work environments can be incredibly productive so long as businesses are investing in tools that empower employees to do their jobs well,” Day said.

“This survey underscores the alarming cost of inadequate collaboration tools and highlights that organizations of all sizes are limited by the quick fix solutions that were implemented at the beginning of the pandemic. Rather than improving employees’ ability to be productive, these stop-gap solutions are frequently a barrier to getting work done and can significantly impair hybrid and remote workers’ overall productivity. Listening to employees, creating an environment in which people want to work, and investing in simple and intuitive collaboration tools is what will set businesses up for success in 2022.”

The Corel survey involved 2,027 participants made up of office workers in the US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Australia.