Collaborative work in companies: a vector of links, performance and commitment.

Accelerated by digital transformation, collaborative work has led to major changes in the management of employees and the way companies work. Individual tasks, hierarchies and traditional silos take a back seat, in favor of working groups formed to collaborate, exchange, reflect and produce together in order to successfully complete a common project.

To do this, the working group can rely on a number of collaborative methods and tools: sharing documents, instant messaging or even corporate social networks to communicate more easily and effectively in real time.

Collaborative work tools have multiplied in recent years and the phenomenon has grown and normalized with the health crisis.

Today, its main objective is to increase work efficiency by simplifying relationships between collaborators and by allowing teams, now more responsible and autonomous, to gain in productivity and creativity. This organization also has the virtue of increasing the attractiveness of the company and attracting new employees who are eager for commitment, performance and collaboration within a team.

How has the concept of a group adapted to remote work?

While it seemed complicated to continue working as a team despite the distance, many companies had to reinvent collaborative work and find sustainable and effective solutions to counter geographical distance.

Today, with the democratization of teleworking and while members of the same team are located in different locations, collaborative work remains possible.

Digital tools and their rapid evolution make it possible to think of a new form of flexible collaborative work, which overcomes the constraints of proximity and the use of physical media in favor of dematerialized platforms, digital collaborative spaces, etc...

Now, managers are redefining the hierarchical relationships called into question by distance in order to maintain a sense of proximity with their employees and thus stimulate their productivity, efficiency and commitment to the group and the company.

And after?

The health crisis that began in spring 2020 was a catalyst for the rise of remote work and collaborative work tools. The “group” has strengthened its agility and efficiency, which has been a resilience factor for many companies.

Remote work also allows more flexibility and flexibility in personal organization and a better balance between personal and professional life. According to the Malakoff Humanis report on remote work, 80% of remote workers report better managing their schedule and 44% say they have greater autonomy and more responsibility at work. In addition, 42% of remote workers say they are less stressed when it comes to managing the balance between their professional and personal lives.

It is also important to remember that remote work has rapidly developed to respond to a competitive environment that requires greater flexibility, speed and innovation. Nowadays, more and more job offers are eligible for “100% remote work”, so that it is now common to recruit “rare” resources outside the “usual” geographical areas of the company.

According to the 4th edition of the Malakoff Humanis 2021 Annual Telework Barometer, there are 30% of remote workers in France today compared to 8.9% in 2010.

Today, 75% of employees and 66% of managers think that remote work will continue to develop, and 73% of remote workers favor a hybrid office/remote work situation.

In this context, there is no doubt that the benefits brought by new collaboration tools will continue to exist and collaborative working methods will continue to develop.