This year brought massive changes to the way we work and has catapulted most companies to a remote or partially remote business model. Luckily, the technology we have available at our fingertips supported this shift to a digital landscape, and tech companies quickly responded by launching new remote tools or improving existing tools.
With a remote business model, it can often feel as though we are living our lives in between emails or trapped in groundhog days with the feeling of repetition. Businesses and employees alike are looking for new and innovative ways to improve the work-life experience.
Sara Choi
WIng Venture Capital
I recently spoke with Sara Choi, Partner at Wing Venture Capital, a venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage investment in technology startup companies. Wing Venture Capital recently released the Enterprise Tech 30, a definitive list that names the top private startup companies in enterprise technology that drive the change and innovation in the market. The list revealed that 2021 will be defined by productivity and collaboration, which comes as no surprise given many companies are taking a remote-first approach to their workforce.
Businesses and employees alike are highly focused on increasing productivity, as the more productive and efficient you are, the more time you have, and time is a valuable commodity. Equally important is the ability to connect, especially in a remote workforce and pandemic-affected world. Engaging employees and providing opportunities for meaningful connections and collaboration is key to employee satisfaction. After all, happy employees equal higher profits.
“Enterprise technology companies have responded to the needs brought on by the pandemic by providing tools to improve digital collaboration and efficiency. The companies that are successful in this space are creating purpose-driven solutions with the user of these tools in mind,” said Sara. “For example, your email doesn’t have to be something you dread trying to manage. Companies like Superhuman are making email become an easy and a pleasant experience.”
Some of the biggest time killers costing companies the most money include:
- Managing an overload of email.
- Having too many meetings or overly long meetings.
- The repetitive tasks should be automated but are still done manually.
Not surprisingly, the Enterprise Tech 30 list reveals that of the 30 companies listed, 68% have millennial CEOs. We have seen millennials positively disrupting and improving the workplace since they entered the workforce, making work-life balance a priority, focusing on mindful and meaningful work, and creating better work environments.
Deploying the right technology for your workforce is incremental to increasing your company profits:
- Lead with the worker’s experience in mind. Be sure the technology solves the problems that your employees are experiencing, involve key team members in the process to understand their pain points fully.
- Be mindful of how the technology can improve employee engagement and meaningful connections across your organization from video conferencing, noise cancellation and easy to switch between devices and desktops.
- Make life easier for everyone to automate repetitive tasks such as email management, calendar management, and process organization.
The bottom line is technology directly impacts how your employees work, how well you can service your customers, and how well you can quickly adapt to unforeseen changes.
