Workplace Collaboration in ANZ – the key to our future economy and business performance

[Kat Chia]

Following the Federal Government’s pledge to invest almost AUD$1.1 billion in the next four years to fund Australia’s ‘ideas boom’ and promote innovation, there has never been a more important time for ANZ businesses to evaluate and invest in the right workplace collaboration strategies. As Australia’s collaborative economy grows, business operators must develop new ways to bring together skills, expertise and knowledge of a diverse workforce, or risk being left behind.

In Polycom's recent Workplace of the Future Survey we found that, while 97 percent of Australian and New Zealand businesses believe technology-enabled collaboration is key to remaining competitive, most are most are ill equipped to thrive in the workplace of the future with many reliant on 20th Century technologies such as email to undertake more complex collaboration tasks that other technologies might be better suited for. Not only that, but four in five ANZ businesses believe their knowledge transfer to be sub-optimal.

With 54 percent of Australian employees believing their workplace collaboration tools are not adequately optimised to facilitate collaborative working, and 65 percent saying they would be more productive if the right collaborative tools were integrated into their workplace, more work is clearly required.

Enter DEXUS Property Group

It is in this current workplace collaboration landscape that we see a relevant new offering emerge that caters to collaboration pain points of Australian businesses – DEXUS Place.

This innovative solution offered by DEXUS Property Group (DEXUS) showcases what the Workplace of the Future is all about and that it can be a reality today with thoughtful design integrating space and technology.

So what is DEXUS Place? It is a premium design, fully serviced ‘third space’ – an extension of the workplace, that larger businesses and SMEs alike can book as a member or a casual, for client functions, strategy days and collaborative meetings.

This week, Polycom had the pleasure of being part of the launch of DEXUS Place Brisbane – a stunning new waterfront space that epitomises the workplace of the future, through flexible room configurations, open plan systems, and the latest collaborative technologies. Together with DEXUS Place in Sydney and Melbourne, the new facility in Brisbane will provide businesses along the eastern seaboard with instant access to cutting edge collaboration solutions, fully integrated into an exceptionally designed workspace for the best experience.

Each DEXUS Place site includes a Polycom^® RealPresence Immersive Studio^TM for real-as-life collaboration
experiences when connecting teams between sites, as well as from remote locations. Meeting rooms integrate high definition, standards based video conferencing, and huddle spaces are also equipped with collaboration solutions including the newly released Polycom^® RealPresence Trio^TM.

This new model of workplace offering delivers Australian businesses with the benefits of best-in-class collaboration, whilst delivering flexibility and cost efficiencies. 

The future of the workplace in ANZ

As the survey revealed, the ANZ region understands the importance of collaboration, with 89 percent of ANZ businesses and employees describing themselves as collaborative. However, despite the fact that employees spend approximately 30% of their working day collaborating, people are not using the tools best suited to the type of collaboration they need to undertake due to accessibility, availability and old digital working habits.

There is opportunity to address these barriers through better workspace design that fosters collaboration through the smart integration and usage of technology. Traditional office space is shifting toward a more open, more shared and more affordable combination of public and private collaboration spaces around the world. It has never been more important to enable people to create their own workspaces via secure connections from anywhere, on any device. DEXUS Place is a wonderful example of progressive workspace design where technology is integrated in such a way that it is seamlessly part of the overall experience. It represents a tremendous opportunity for companies to embrace new ways of working and unleash their collaboration potential.