From new technologies to embracing permanent hybrid teams, the world of work is changing rapidly and businesses need to adapt in order to remain competitive. When a workforce is not equipped to deal with the pace of organisational change, there is an enhanced challenge of miscommunication and information gaps which leads to missed deadlines and frustrated employees. 

So,  what is the solution to empowering efficiency in your teams to leverage the opportunity that comes with rapid tech transformation and hybrid working? Enter: visual collaboration. 

Beyond the buzzword

Visual collaboration is the practice of simplifying and streamlining workflows through scalable canvases which promote inclusivity, innovation, agility, and creativity. This may include brainstorming, project planning, systems diagramming, or process mapping. 

It is a way of using easy-to-understand visuals for teams to collaborate – from ideation to execution. The use of visual tools and technologies to communicate makes it easier for team members to share ideas, collaborate on projects and get feedback on all aspects of work. This is vital for today’s hybrid and distributed teams as it makes it possible for anyone to work together asynchronously or in real time. 

A single source of truth  

Data shows that people spend on average five hours per week searching for information related to their projects. As companies look to consolidate their tech stacks, streamlining where information lives will be key to driving business initiatives forward.

Setting up a single source of truth can help teams  avoid the confusion that comes from having multiple versions of the same document living in multiple locations. And it ensures that all team members have easy access to the most current and up-to-date information they need to get their work done. By using visual collaboration, teams are creating a  ‘living blueprint,’  which becomes the source of not only relevant project documents and processes but also the foundation of team alignment, decision-making, and innovative builds. 

Visual collaboration helps many teams enhance communication and collaboration, strengthen project outcomes, and foster a more productive and engaged workforce. In the context of organisational change, visual collaboration can look like:

Increased agility and efficiency: By improving communication, clarity, and alignment, visual collaboration eliminates many of the inefficiencies that teams face: slow project handoffs, manual data analysis, miscommunications, and versioning issues. Agile workflows and continuous deployment ensure that organisations can pivot, adapt, respond to, and learn from changing market conditions and customer demands.

Synergy across distributed teams: Dispersed teams struggle to ensure equal participation, make information accessible, and keep teams connected. Visual collaboration can dismantle barriers, and promote alignment toward common goals, timelines, and deliverables - despite where team members are based.

A scalable solution: By collaborating visually, your organisation will organically create a record of ideas. With this, teams have access to all the context they need to replicate successful decisions and iterate on ones that fell short. As a result, innovation becomes more consistent and scalable—even as new team members are onboarded, who weren’t part of past projects. 

Fostering creativity: Visual collaboration provides the space for different collaborators to share and react to each other’s ideas in real time or asynchronously, empowering people to think and reflect at a time that works best for them while not being limited to dialog within a meeting block or the pressure of a group setting.  This boosters creativity, deep thinking, and more inclusive brainstorming—which all lead to better ideas and better decision-making.

Integrating with workplace apps: Lucid’s Integrations Marketplace allows teams to connect and integrate seamlessly with most of their favourite workplace apps they’re already using. From integrations with Microsoft, Slack, Google Workspace, Smartsheet, and Asana, this connectivity enables teams to switch between activities, maintaining context and saving valuable time.

Embracing visual collaboration at work  

Visual collaboration can be used to support all aspects of organisational change, from developing and communicating the vision for change to implementing and managing the change process. 

As the world of work continues to evolve, it’s important for organisations to continuously review their current processes and tools. Visual collaboration tools can help to optimise how you ideate, create, execute  and invite, rather than resist, the organisational change needed to maintain a competitive edge in the current business landscape. Visual collaboration is the solution to empowering teams to see and build the future.

James Harkin, APAC Senior Director at Lucid Software