80% of workers using collaboration tools in 2021: Gartner
1 min read . Updated: 25 Aug 2021, 03:30 PM IST
Premium- While workers, globally, reported that they spent, on an average, 63% of their meeting time in-person in 2019, the number dropped to 33% by 2021 as these took place over audio and video-enabled solutions
BENGALURU: As remote working has become the new normal, nearly 80% of professionals are using collaboration tools for work in 2021, up from just over half in 2019, according to Gartner’s Digital Worker Experience survey. This is an increase of 44% since the pandemic began.
“Collaboration tools found renewed importance during Covid-19 for their role in ensuring the productivity of suddenly remote teams," said Christopher Trueman, principal research analyst at Gartner. “As many organisations shift to a long-term hybrid workforce model, cloud-based, personal and team productivity technologies, along with collaboration tools, will form the core of a series of new work hubs that meet the requirements of various remote and hybrid workers."
Storage, sharing, and real-time mobile messaging tools also saw increased use amid the pandemic, used by 74% and 80% respondents in 2021, respectively.
Specifically, the use of meeting solutions surged during the pandemic. While workers globally reported that they spent, on an average, 63% of their meeting time in-person in 2019, the number dropped to 33% by 2021 as more meetings took place over audio and video-enabled meeting solutions. The shift away from in-person meetings is expected to continue.
Gartner predicts that by 2024, in-person meetings will drop from 60% of enterprise meetings to 25%, driven by remote work and changing workforce demographics.
“As IT leaders prepare for a mix of meeting modalities, it will be critical that they ensure equitable collaboration, tool and resource access for all meeting participants, regardless of location," said Trueman. “Cloud-based meeting solutions and content service platforms can support this through offerings or integrations with technologies including virtual whiteboards, rich chat features, and recording and transcription capabilities."
