Editor’s note: Commercial Integrator has teamed up with the IMCCA, the New York-based non-profit industry association for unified communication and workplace collaboration, to produce a quarterly supplement, titled Collaboration Today and Tomorrow, that focuses on all things collaboration from multiple perspectives.
At the end of the penultimate episode of “The Big Bang Theory,” Sheldon, sitting with Penny at a bar, comes to a conclusion more profound than any that he has espoused anytime during the series. He finally understands and explains, “The only constant is change.” Ultimately, that is a tremendously important truth. It should be getting clearer — even to the stodgiest among us — that we are never going back to the world that existed three years ago. Those few CEOs clamoring for a return to office simply have not yet realized that we are never returning to things exactly as they were before. The only constant is change.
I can no longer count how many blogs and articles I’ve written and/or edited that started with some version of this: “After years of a global pandemic….” (I have no doubt there are at least a couple in this issue, as well). While absolutely not minimizing the devastation and impact that the last few years have had, people and organizations seem to be universally asking a pressing question: Now what? Now that we’re hopefully out of the worst of it, what, exactly, should we be doing? The Spring 2023 edition of Collaboration Today and Tomorrow is intended to answer that question with specific action items for the commercial integrator and the collaboration professional.
We’re honored to have Dr. Tracy Brower open our issue with a high-level overview of this changed future we’re now looking at. She makes the point that our future is really now, and we’re in control of where we want it to go. The rest of the articles comprising the Spring 2023 edition get very prescriptive; they’re chock full of action items that should serve as guidelines to becoming future-ready.
Download: Collaboration Today and Tomorrow: Spring 2023 Edition
For example, David Smith explains that hybrid working isn’t just about throwing webcams and in-office/out-of-office formulas at employees. Rather, it’s a highly synchronized dance of people, processes and technology. Michael Goldman covers how to approach designing offices going forward. Amelia Vrabel explains why hybrid success is not so much about technology as it is about having well-trained leaders. Then, we have James King covering education and the emergence of AI within that category. Plus, Carol Zelkin explores telehealth and the explosion of new services within it. We close with the latest deserving additions to “The Honor Roll,” as well as with comments from the greater industry community in “The Last Word.”
“Now that I know that, what do I do?” That’s a phrase I grew up with. Now that we know the future (and the present) will never again be like the past, what should we be doing? The answers are adapt, evolve, grow, change or die. Pick whichever version of the catchphrase will get you off your proverbial sofa, where you’re sitting and waiting for things to go back to the way they were. We’re not returning to the office anytime soon. We’re not returning to anything at all the way it was before. The only constant is change.
For the latest Collaboration Today and Tomorrow content, check back quarterly on our website.
