Today’s successful companies know one thing for certain: they are only as good as their people. And to be their best, those people must be able to work together whenever and wherever they need to. sharing expertise and information to drive productivity, improve outcomes and expand the bottom line. Because if the 20″‘ century was the Information Age. the 21* is fast becoming the Innovation Age—one in which collaboration is king—and companies must enable real-time and offline communication for all.
There is a need for collaboration to be more fluid as the boundaries between work and life become less distinct and meetings are more frequent, less structured, and less formal. Meetings also involve a wider range of geographically dispersed participants, inside and outside the organization. And they are increasingly limited in size as companies realize that small group sessions are where productive work gets done. Given these trends, workplaces and technology must combine to enable flow and momentum throughout a project or individual work session, making it easy for employees to access the tools they need when they need them and thereby enable seamless innovation.
As a result, rich audio, video and content are moving beyond large conference rooms and individual desktops to so-called huddle rooms. Huddle rooms (sometimes called huddle spaces, depending on where they’re located) are among the best enablers of critical thinking and teamwork. These video-enabled, ad-hoc collaboration hot zones support the kind of business transformation that will define successful companies in 2018 and beyond.
This paper will discuss the state of the workplace today, outline the need for advanced collaboration suggest best practices for effectively creating and supporting huddle spaces, and offer criteria for selecting a vendor partner.