Cambridge Business Association
Reimagining Collaboration
Book

Reimagining Collaboration

Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and the Post-COVID World of Work

Phil Simon
Phil Simon, 2021
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Well Structured
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Remote work – whether full time or hybrid – is here to stay. To function well in this environment, collaboration expert Phil Simon believes firms must harness the power of collaboration hubs. He explains that collaborative tools – such as Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom – support cooperation, convey corporate culture and radically improve the ways that people work together. He advises leaders at large and small companies to maintain organizational flexibility, support continual learning and embrace these tools in order to keep up with technological change and maintain internal cohesion, no matter where their employees sit.

Summary

New technologies such as Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom can gradually change society. Learn to use them effectively.

The pandemic didn’t fundamentally change how people collaborate, but it sped up the pace of change, accelerating the normalization of remote work. In March 2020, the number of Americans working remotely doubled from roughly 30% to 60% and, as part of adjusting, employers began adopting new collaboration technologies such as Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Many companies used these tools only in limited capacities and failed to take full advantage of them. To understand why, consider Fubini’s Law written by Eugene Fubini, who helped create American Cold War-era policy and who codified how people interact with new technologies. First, people use new technologies to make routine tasks faster. Then, they start using it to accomplish new tasks. Users’ behavior changes gradually over time until, finally, these new technologies change how they work, and then change society and shape future technologies.

While effective collaboration won’t magically ensure success, rethinking the way your...

About the Author

Phil Simon, host of the Conversations About Collaboration podcast (see philsimon.com), has written 11 books, including the award-winning titles Message Not Received and The Age of the Platform: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business. Reimagining Collaboration won a 2021 International Book Award in the Communications/Public Relations sub-category of the general Business competition, where it was one of the seven finalists.

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