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Growing big ideas from small spaces The Polycom Huddle Room Report
Table of contents
Understanding the changing nature of how
we want to work
How our work has changed
Why do huddle rooms matter?
The role of the huddle room
The anatomy of a huddle workspace
How do huddle spaces enable more
meaningful collaboration?
Survey methodology and insights
Survey definitions and methodology
Key survey findings
How to deliver the best results from your
huddle room experience
Practical advice for planning your huddle space
Is there a smarter way to huddle?
A few huddle room video etiquette tips
The huddle space: Customer highlights
Concluding statements
Analyst Insight: Understanding the future of intelligent workspaces
Is the huddle room becoming the most meaningful
meeting space in modern workplaces?
Understanding the changing nature of how we want to work Innovation can spark from the smallest of places. In a world of constant change and intense competition, when big ideas happen, they need to be shared in real time. It’s this premise that is driving one of the biggest modern-day workplace trends—the huddle room. When a modern workforce is made up of a diverse group brainstorming, planning, and decision-making. These of team members–onsite, contract, remote, and freelance– spontaneous meetings have given rise to the growing there comes a growing need for more ad hoc and popularity of smaller meeting spaces, or huddle rooms. spontaneous collaboration. Smarter ways of working, While huddle rooms are typically casual working zones, which are not defined or constricted by scheduling or when they are also enriched with voice, video, and agendas. Even the very act of meeting has now changed— content-sharing technology, they become productive it’s less about formal invitations and more about bringing spaces for anytime collaboration and enable connection the best people together when needed for immediate with remote participants.
The survey insights shared in this report help us understand
how huddle rooms in Asia Pacific workplaces are being used
How our work has changed
today, and to better understand the needs of tomorrow. Are The nature of work and human interaction is changing rapidly
they sufficiently designed and equipped to get the most out with technologies such as natural language processing and
of the space and encourage innovation and creativity? Are artificial intelligence being incorporated into daily activities,
collaboration technologies helping people work smarter? often without us realising. Forget having to navigate a remote
What are the most useful solutions for small meeting spaces? control or even touch a screen to start a video or audio
What are the key learnings and future opportunities for conference, smart technology such as Amazon Alexa for
business growth? These are just some of the topics covered Business is one example of how communication can now
and the results have been eye-opening and surprising, with be instantly initiated using voice recognition.
marked variances from Australia to Korea.
The case for big data, machine learning and analytics is
“
becoming stronger as it starts to provide deeper insights
Increasing connectivity that help businesses achieve their digital transformation
initiatives. Global co-working giant WeWork even relies on
provides greater access data to design workspaces, measuring everything from how
noise travels through an office to seating arrangements.1
to resources, knowledge At Polycom, we believe it’s the people not technology that
and talent. drives ideas, innovation and creativity. Indeed, technology—
and more specifically collaboration technology—allows us
to create more meaningful connections, improving how we
interact and communicate with each other. A wide range
While you don’t need a space equipped with expensive of choices are available to optimise teamwork and the
equipment to make great collaboration happen, a huddle sharing of knowledge, from virtual storage and servers to
room has to serve its purpose in effectively enabling team tools as simple as instant messaging and chat platforms.
meetings across any distance. But let’s also explore more Nevertheless, in an age of chatbots and virtual assistants,
about why this small room or small space needs a big place maintaining meaningful human-to-human connections and
in an organisation’s digital transformation map. encouraging teamwork is still the most important goal.
1. www.businessinsider.sg/weworks-secret-weapon-will-be-data-2016-5/
The right space designed for teamwork, which people can Huddle room-friendly solutions are adapting to people’s
use easily to sketch on whiteboards or annotate on live needs featuring innovations such as noise block technology,
documents, can spur creative collaboration in the most cloud-based video meeting services, speakerphones with
incredible ways.2 USB-connectivity, voice-activated conferencing, intelligent
camera framing, and wireless content sharing. While more
Another positive workplace change is the growing huddle rooms will be video-enabled for adhoc collaboration,
emphasis on developing cultural intelligence among research has found that the majority of these spaces are
teams. Increasing connectivity provides greater access audio-visually challenged. Frost & Sullivan has indicated that
to resources, knowledge and talent.3 Set against the right of the estimated 32 million huddle rooms globally, less than
landscapes, workers can be empowered to freely have 2% are video-enabled4. This indicates a missed opportunity
dialogue, providing a real sense of being “one team,” on the collaboration front; with the range of video choices
although thousands of miles may physically separate them. now available, organisations can easily create more
meaningful face-to-face meeting experiences.
Why do huddle rooms matter? Effective team collaboration shouldn’t be restricted to a
conference room schedule. Huddle rooms are agile, flexible
It is well known that a culture of strong collaboration helps
spaces that are so critical to the modern workplace and new
teamwork thrive—across locations, geographies, and time
ways in which people want to collaborate. The time is now
zones. But what is it about team huddles that sets them
for organisations to make these small spaces work to their
apart from other meetings? For starters, team huddles are
full potential.
shorter, more frequent, and more casual versions of the big
conference room meetings which carry an air of formality
I hope the insights in this report will help you make informed
about them. It’s important to make the right decisions
decisions that are right for your business. After all, big ideas
in terms of technology in these spaces, to truly enrich
and creativity can’t wait for the next conference room to
teamwork and make it easy to collaborate. These rooms
become available.
may be smaller in size, but with the right tools, can be
mighty in output.
Mei-Lin Low, Director of APAC solutions
marketing, Polycom
Traditionally, meeting technology has been limited to larger,
integrated, and expensive meeting rooms. This has generally
limited the technology employed in huddle rooms to
mobile phones and laptops. Today’s generation of workers
are driving demand for simple solutions that help smaller
groups of people come together quickly, from inside and
outside the office environment, to solve business problems.
2. hbr.org/2012/01/designing-spaces-for-creative
3. www.randstad.com/workforce-insights/workforce360/archives/the-importance-of-cultural-intelligence-within-a-global-organization_186/
4. store.frost.com/growth-opportunities-for-video-conferencing-in-huddle-rooms-global-forecast-to-2022.html
The role of the
huddle room
In a competitive world that demands continuous creative thinking, innovation
and development, there is an increased need to rethink workplace design.
Teams today are dispersed—multiple offices, remote workers, freelancers and
partners all help businesses grow.
Focus today should be on how to serve and connect Building an engaged and connected remote workforce
people, rather than merely contain them (and their ideas) can also become a challenge without frequent
in a cubicle or a conference room. communication and inclusion. As with on-site employees,
remote workers need to be connected to a company’s
Organisations are creating more open, natural and agile culture and internal structure. Agile workspaces such as
workplaces for teamwork and collaboration to thrive. huddle rooms enable those all-important calls and video
However, open workplaces are not always ideal when conferences to take place as required, ensuring that
it comes to hosting impromptu meetings or confidential remote workers have sufficient face time, contribute to
discussions. Neither are larger conference rooms where team meetings and feel included.
the space may be intimidating and not conducive to more
intimate discussion. Smart businesses know that not all Embracing a modern approach to how workers use open
meetings need to take place in larger and more formal office spaces, including making technology pervasive,
conference rooms. For them, there is increasing business presents huge opportunities for business. Real estate and
value in creating smaller, more agile spaces that enable facility costs are usually the second largest expense, so
people to come together when they need to, regardless it makes sense that space needs to be reduced or used
of location. more effectively to be cost-efficient.
The anatomy of a huddle workspace
A “huddle workspace” is just what it sounds like, a small A typical huddle room should usually contain:
meeting room or area that due to its size or layout can • Power points
accommodate only a small number of people—typically • Internet access
six or less—giving them an intimate space to meet and • Display monitor or screen for presentations and
collaborate. Huddle rooms emerged from the need to sharing content
enable team gatherings and interactions, where ideas • Furniture to accommodate 3–6 people
can be shared and teams can collaborate as and • Audio and video conferencing to connect to those
when required. outside the room
• Whiteboard or interactive surface to help annotate
Traditionally, huddle rooms were ideally equipped with ideas and workflows
a phone; however designing them with a focus on user • Space and design features which include good
experience and simplicity pays dividends. With the lighting and acoustics
changing nature of work, people expect to meet via video
and share content, preferably through one device—just like Wainhouse Research points out that unlike the “best of
they may do in their personal lives. As such, these rooms breed” experience one might expect from larger spaces,
and areas should be enriched by technology that is not only organisations can and should follow the concept of ‘good
collaborative, but easy to use, to get the most value from enough’ for their huddle rooms.5 This does not mean
the space. however, that huddle spaces should be uncomfortable,
unprofessional, and not fit-for-purpose.
Work booth/pod Casual meeting zone Huddle/small meeting room
There are 32.4 million huddle rooms worldwide
and less than 2% are video-enabled.
Frost & Sullivan (2018), Growth Opportunities for
Video Conferencing in Huddle Rooms, Global,
Forecast to 2022
5. Understanding the Huddle Room. Wainhouse Research, October 2015
How do huddle spaces enhance meaningful collaboration?
Team huddles—regular, short meetings which bring a team together—are a
necessary fixture in most organisations and there are many reasons why huddle
rooms and spaces are on the rise.
1. Increased privacy in open plan workspaces 4. Gives employees greater choice
Although removing enclosed offices and cubicles Huddle rooms help make the most of a real estate
encourages greater interaction between people, the investment. Instead of one or two central conference
resulting noise levels can be distracting. Huddle rooms rooms, huddle rooms can be located throughout an
offer quiet sanctuaries and privacy in open plan offices. office in various configurations for small team gatherings.
Wasted space can be converted into productive hubs and
work pods, providing employees with greater choice in
2. Meetings can happen faster environments that provide great outcomes.
When needing somewhere for impromptu collaboration,
huddle spaces provide the freedom to step away from 5. Supports creativity and innovation
a desk and into a quick meeting or conference call.
The primary function of a huddle space is simply to The best ideas happen in a space which encourages
empower people to come together as quickly and as collaboration and creative thinking. More intimate than
often as required. corporate boardrooms, well-equipped huddle rooms
encourage people to brainstorm and share knowledge,
from jotting down notes on a whiteboard to sharing
presentations or ideas on screen.
3. Remote workers are included
Well-equipped huddle rooms enable on-site employees
to connect with remote workers, enabling them to contribute
and be an integral part of discussions in real time. Huddle
rooms also serve as an area for travelling and freelance
workers who may occasionally work from the office.
Survey methodology
In 2017, Polycom designed and Survey definitions
undertook an online survey which To ensure a consistent understanding of the terminology
was completed by participants across used within the survey, Polycom has provided the following
definitions:
Asia Pacific (APAC). Specifically,
206 respondents were from Australia, 1. Collaboration
The act of employees communicating and working together
232 respondents were from China,
to drive results, building on each other’s ideas to produce
202 from India, 207 from Japan, 206 something new, or do something differently.
from Korea, and 202 from Singapore.
2. Collaborative organisation
A mixture of white collar occupations were surveyed and
A collaborative organisation unlocks the potential, capacity
respondents ranged from executive level to administrative
and knowledge of employees, thereby generating value,
levels. More than 62% of respondents worked for larger
innovation and improving productivity in its workplace.
organisations of 500 to 10,000 employees. The remainder
(37%) worked for small- to medium-sized businesses with
1 to 499 employees. 3. Huddle room
A small meeting space or meeting room that due to its size
Respondents were asked about their collaboration or layout can accommodate only a small number of typically
technology preferences within their organisation. 3–6 attendees. It can be equipped with collaboration
The survey also gathered insights as to how they see technology to enable employees to meet in person and
the role of collaboration evolving within their workplace with remotely, to communicate, collaborate, create ideas and
the growth in popularity of using smaller meeting solve problems.
or huddle rooms. The survey was open to employers and
employees interested in the topic, across industry and
business functions.
Key survey findings
Understanding collaboration needs within today’s workplace
To identify the future collaboration technology needs of the huddle room, we must first understand
how businesses within Asia Pacific are collaborating today.
Insight 1
Video conferencing and content sharing are the most popular collaboration tools.
According to survey findings, video conferencing and The results revealed that Australia, China and India were
content sharing are the most popular tools for workplace the top users of video conferencing and content sharing
collaboration within APAC businesses today. However, solutions. In Australia and India, content sharing was most
there were also significant differences across the region, important, while for China, it was the reverse with video
particularly when it came to Japan. conferencing being the preferred choice for workplace
collaboration. Given the vastness of these countries,
it seems that team collaboration relies on technology,
especially when physical distance separates. Interestingly
in Singapore, a small island nation, content sharing had the
edge as the preferred choice over video conferencing. For
Korea, audio conferencing remained the top technology
preference followed by video conferencing.
96% Japan, in stark contrast, had less than a quarter of
respondents selecting video conferencing as their first
of APAC employees said preference for workplace collaboration and almost half of
collaboration technologies Japanese respondents stated they didn’t use any form of
helped them to be more collaboration technology within their workplace.
productive and work smarter
In fact, compared with other APAC countries, Japan has the
lowest usage rates of video, audio, or web conferencing
and content sharing. It’s also worth noting that more than a
quarter of Koreans indicated they did not use collaboration
technologies at all.Insight 2
Small meeting spaces the preferred location for workplace collaboration
Over half of respondents across APAC prefer to
use collaboration technologies like audio and video
conferencing and content sharing in small meeting rooms, Top 5 reasons
followed closely by personal offices, or desk-based
collaboration for those working in open plan offices. employees huddle
At a country level, China, India and Singapore led the use
of collaboration technologies in small meeting rooms, 1 Internal meetings
followed by Korea and Australia. Just under half of Japanese
respondents indicated a preference for using collaboration
technologies in their small meeting rooms. 2 Customer/vendor meetings
Respondents in China (48%) and India (47%) were also the
3 Creative brainstorming
most frequent users, likely to use a small meeting room
three to five times a week, compared to markets like
Australia (58%), Japan (59%), Korea (53%) and Singapore 4 Training
(48%) who preferred to use small meeting rooms, one to two
times per week.
5 Quiet space for individual work
In some countries, the growth in popularity of working
from anywhere or teleworking is also making an
impact, particularly in markets like India and Singapore.
Respondents from these two markets indicated the
strongest preference for using collaboration technologies
to connect with colleagues when working from outside of
the office.Insight 3
Most popular reasons to huddle included internal meetings and creative brainstorming
Across APAC, forming close relationships with colleagues internal meetings, HR featured strongly with customer
is important—and based on the survey, small meeting meetings and recruitment joint second preference followed
or huddle rooms are where most of these interactions by training.
currently take place. On average, businesses
in all countries surveyed had at least 3–5 small meeting For China and Korea, internal meetings, creative
areas and respondents unanimously reported that holding brainstorming and meeting customers and vendors proved
internal team meetings was their main reason for using most popular.
a huddle room. After internal meetings, holding external
meetings was the second most popular preference across In smaller geographies like Singapore, internal meetings
the region followed by creative brainstorming. were the most popular preference followed by external
meetings and creative brainstorming.
When effectively designed and equipped, people can and
will use huddle rooms for better creative brainstorming For Japan, the country with the lowest preference for using
more often. When it came to market differences, again a huddle room 3–5 times a week, when they did huddle,
there were variations. after internal meetings, they were most likely to be hosting
external meetings or using their small meeting spaces for
In markets like Australia, the top three uses for huddle recruitment.
spaces were internal meetings followed by serving HR
needs like recruitment and training. Similarly, in India, afterInsight 4
Technology is making collaboration more meaningful
Faster decision making has been cited as the number one
reason collaboration technologies help teams in APAC
work smarter. Improved knowledge transfer and increased
productivity were also among the top-ranking benefits.
How does technology
When it came to local market variances there
were some differences.
help people work
In Australia and Singapore, creating that all important
smarter?
human-to-human connection was the main benefit, while in
India, Japan and Korea, it was faster decision making. For 1 Faster decision making
China, the main advantage was increased productivity. Over
half of respondents from India, Japan and Singapore used
these tools to come together and brainstorm or create
2 Improved collaboration
ideas and innovate.
3 Increased productivity
In fact, of all countries surveyed, Indian workers are
exceptional in their use of technology; an overwhelming
majority of respondents are using collaboration tools to 4 Knowledge transfer
work smarter in many ways—from faster decision making to
increased productivity.
5 Enhanced innovation
In Korea, collaboration technology was not the preferred
tool of choice for knowledge transfer, as compared to over
two-thirds of respondents in all other countries. Only in
India and Singapore did most respondents bring best-
of-breed teams together using collaboration technology,
irrespective of location.Insight 5
Adding the right collaboration technology improves productivity
Findings showed that workplaces in China and India have more meaningful meetings. China and India led the way in
the best equipped huddle rooms, with a choice of tools bringing remote teams together using technology, while
including digital whiteboards, audio and video conferencing, results from Japan and Korea were significantly different.
screens and content sharing. Two thirds of small meeting rooms in China and India are
video-enabled compared to only a quarter of
Desk phones were a standard fixture for meeting rooms in small meeting rooms in Japan and Korea. Interestingly, less
Australia—the highest in the region, while Japan reported than half of meeting rooms in Australia and Singapore have
the lowest for this device. For Korea and Singapore, it was a video capabilities.
monitor or screen that proved most popular.
Audio conferencing and content sharing have been called
In fact, many huddle rooms or small meeting spaces in out as the most useful technologies for huddle rooms.
the six countries surveyed were equipped with essentials
such as video and audio conferencing and digital The majority of meeting participants in Australia, China,
whiteboards. Japan was the exception, where nearly a India and Singapore have shown they use a laptop to share
third of respondents said Japanese huddle rooms were not content, with nearly half from China and India preferring
equipped with any of these tools. to use a mobile device instead. Of all meeting room
technology choices, Japan showed the highest preference
Connecting with remote participants is high on the agenda for sharing content via laptop.
for three quarters of APAC employees, who are using audio,
video and content collaboration in huddle rooms to have
74% 60%
of APAC respondents of APAC respondents
are using audio, video and content said they would use collaboration
sharing to connect with remote technology if made available in
participants small meeting roomsHow to deliver the best results from your huddle room experience Smart technologies are starting to transform how people live and work on a daily basis—from chatbots providing bank account statements to smart devices running our home environment, some of which we possibly are not even aware of. Increasingly we are seeing an expectation to have smarter offices, and with the right tools that are designed to bring people together, big ideas can come from small spaces. If you are considering transforming your small meeting rooms or spaces, consider the following practical advice to help you on the journey.
Planning your huddle space
1. Understand how your people prefer to collaborate rooms or as they move from a personal desk to a huddle
room—seamlessly and effortlessly. To continue driving user
Do you know how your people like to work and collaborate
adoption, huddle room tools will need to be designed
to get work done? Huddle room technology needs to be
for this fluid way of working. Think about cloud-based
flexible enough to meet the demands of different work
solutions like Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams
styles and collaboration requirements. Likewise, the ability
with their click-to-join interoperability from desktop to
to collaborate seamlessly and user requirements are critical
meeting room, making it easy for remote and office-based
factors when thinking about huddle room design. For
participants to all benefit from the same content sharing and
example, open huddle spaces equipped with collaboration
collaboration experience.
technologies are ideal for group brainstorming or team
sessions while smaller huddle rooms that have four walls
and video and content sharing capabilities meet the 4. Design the space effectively
needs of more confidential requirements like HR or Small huddle areas have minimal space for technology
strategic planning. clutter like cables and keyboards. This is a key design
consideration as people think and collaborate better in a
2. Allow for the needs of a geographically-dispersed clutter-free environment.
workforce
Business startups and increased entrepreneurial spirit 5. Measure your return on investment
among millennials has contributed to workplace transfor- Equipping huddle rooms with tools such as Skype for
mation and innovation throughout APAC. Co-working Business and Office 365 offers a familiar and easy-to-
spaces, crowdfunding and the hiring of freelancers has use interface, resulting in less time wasted and reduced
become increasingly commonplace. It is important to equip complexity. Measuring return on investment (ROI) through
huddle rooms to ensure that contract workers, office-based simple analytics will also demonstrate the value that huddle
employees or a travelling workforce have the same ability room technology brings to the organisation. This can be
to meet, regardless of location, to get the job done. as simple as monitoring usage metrics, including number
of room bookings, or the frequency of remote participants
3. Provide easy-to-use collaboration tools joining video meeting rooms, to help identify opportunities
and gaps.
As more people gain access to collaborative technologies
at work, there is an increased end user expectation
that these tools should be as easy and intuitive to use
as smartphones or tablets. People expect to be able to
work in the same way across any device—in differentIs there a smarter way to huddle?
Right-sized technology is fundamental to any huddle room when people can share single or multiple streams of content
design, but equally important is identifying user needs and wirelessly, zoom and adjust layout, or simultaneously
delivering the right experience. It’s not enough to provide a annotate on still images and documents. Content sharing
desk phone if what people require is to meet face-to-face gives teams the ability to do just that and more, without
regularly. Some other considerations include: the hassle of connecting cables or USBs. Content-sharing
solutions that integrate into existing workflows, such as
• Noise-blocking technology like Polycom® Acoustic
Skype for Business, make content collaboration as natural
Fence™ for open environments
as being in the same room.
• Power points for laptops
• Wireless content-pairing in a small meeting room
• High-quality USB camera and BYOD for video capabilities 3. Work the way you want to
Make it simple for people to collaborate using the tools
To transform a huddle room into a collaboration hub, an they recognise, which comes with the added benefit of
organisation’s choice of small space technology should help reducing IT support requirement. Meeting spaces should be
achieve the following: adaptable for any device and offer workers to seamlessly
move from desktop to meeting room. Single click-to-join
functionality, for example, provides a simple meeting
1. Bring more people into the room
workflow and natural meeting experience.
Collaboration-wise, video conferencing is becoming a
standard expectation for any meeting. In a huddle room,
people often expect to connect face-to-face with remote 4. Make informed decisions
colleagues or external clients. Given the small nature of What goes into your huddle rooms, how the tools are
the space, the standard emphasis on “zoom” capabilities being used, and how frequently the space is used can go
for a camera are less important than “field of view” (i.e., a long way in improving on future strategies and planning.
capturing everyone in the room). It is recommended that Analytics platforms can help track technology usage and
the majority of huddle room budget is allocated to enabling gain insight into collaboration investments to identify
video conferencing. opportunities and efficiencies. For example, tracking who
uses a huddle room and which tools are most frequently
utilised can provide the type of insight required into
2. Make sharing content stress-free
designing future huddle rooms in other offices. And if
Content sharing is not just a way to fill in time during a some of the technology is laying idle, any issues can be
meeting—it’s fast becoming one of the most valuable tools identified and training requirements met. Using this type
used by teams during a collaboration session. The result of real-time data to measure usage and monitor perfor-
being the shared output of all knowledge workers physically mance will ultimately drive down costs and maximise
present. Imagine how more productive a meeting becomes return on investment.A few huddle room video etiquette tips
For the end user, being comfortable with using video for meetings is important and
will help drive long-term adoption. Below are five simple tips to help ensure your
team is video-ready.
1. Test the technology 4. Remember, you are on camera
If your remote team members are joining a huddle room This might seem obvious, but if you’ve been accustomed
using a web browser or mobile device, make sure they test to audio-only calls, you’ve probably developed keen
it prior to using for the first time. Some technologies require multitasking skills while simultaneously losing the ability
plug-ins which may take a few minutes to download and to keep a neutral facial expression. Within video-enabled
install and may also not be compatible with all browsers. huddle rooms, you may not always be speaking but
you’re still visible. Get your video meeting off to a great
start by positioning your camera correctly to maintain a
2. Sound really does matter natural appearance and don’t forget to wear appropriate
Think about how hard it is to hear in some restaurants—they clothing—spots and stripes can be distracting on screen.
often don’t have sound absorbers in the form of carpets, Forget checking emails, having ‘on mute’ conversations
tablecloths, wall coverings, etc., so all those conversations with the colleague seated next to you, rolling your eyes or
bounce around and intensify. The same disruptions apply to having a stretch while yawning—everyone on a video call
video conferencing, particularly if your huddle environment can see you! The positive outcome is that people on video
is in an open-plan or group setting. Today there are noise are more focused, engaged, and productive—meetings go
cancelling technologies, which isolate personal interactions faster when you don’t have to keep saying, “I’m sorry, can
and collaborations from the often-distracting places they you repeat that,” which we all know is code for “I wasn’t
occur. Many Polycom conferencing solutions now feature listening, but I just heard my name.”
the Polycom Acoustic Fence; this technology suppresses
background sound, to help focus on the important stuff and
not let your colleague’s noisy typing interrupt your meeting. 5. Be heard and be yourself
Of course, if you’ve turned off your mic, remember to un-
mute when you start talking. Having to repeat “I think you
3. Have your content ready are on mute” several times in a single meeting just gets
If you are going to be sharing content, make sure you have annoying. Ease up and be yourself as if you were speaking
your slides or documents ready to go. The “Can you see my to someone in the same room, don’t let a camera stifle the
content yet?” question is the new “Can you hear me now?” natural flow of conversation. When speaking, it’s normal to
and it’s frustrating! Be prepared and save yourself and your focus on what you can see, but remember to look at the
colleagues from time lost and irritation. camera, not just at the screen. If you’re on a laptop, rest it
Remember though, be conscious of what you are sharing: on a stack of papers or books to adjust the camera closer
most content sharing modes will let you choose between to your eye level. The best thing about using video is that
sharing a specific document, an application, or your entire you get to see each other with all your natural expressions,
desktop. Choose wisely if you don’t want your favourite smiles, body language and non-verbal cues that help drive
screensaver, instant messages, or desktop emails on view. deeper connection and understanding. Take full advantage
of the opportunity!The huddle space: Customer highlights
Some of the biggest corporate names in the world are strengthening teamwork
and communication by encouraging employees to step away from their desks
and huddle. Here’s how they do it.
MYOB
Mobile video units and screens fitted for live content “Connectivity between teams across
annotation are just some examples of how this business
software company is enabling workers to access ‘on various sites and countries is critical to
demand’ connectivity. The in-room huddle experience our business. Every day, our team of over
at MYOB headquarters in Melbourne, Australia includes
solutions which offer a 360-degree panoramic view of the 200 engineers and developers meet
space along with a tabletop touch control, allowing users to to share code, create software and test
share presentations, annotate on documents, and add notes
and drawings on a virtual whiteboard. Furniture isn’t even systems among many other tasks.”
necessary in some of these rooms as software designers
– Martin Longley, MYOB Service Delivery Manager
prefer to walk up to the virtual whiteboard freely and still be
correctly framed by HD video cameras.Hitachi Data Systems
With over 6,300 personnel spread across more than 100
countries, regular face time between teams at Hitachi
Data Systems (HDS) is a daily necessity. The huddle
style meeting rooms across 80 HDS sites in Europe,
North America and Asia, are equipped with intelligent
cameras with people tracking technology, ceiling
microphones, business media phones with Skype for
Business interoperability, and ‘middle of the room’ audio
conferencing.
“What also helps our employees use the
new huddle style meeting rooms and
room systems is the fact that it is so easy
to use, thanks to the integration with
Skype for Business.”
– Peter Maljaars, Sr. Manager Client Services EMEA,
IT Infrastructure, Hitachi Data Systems
Teleflex
As part of an organisation-wide project into digital
transformation, the company looked to address several
challenges. These included how to get remote teams to
work even more closely together, reduce travel costs,
appeal to a younger talent pool, improve the conferencing
experiences, and make ad hoc meetings even easier
to conduct. Over 60 audio and video collaboration
devices have been installed worldwide throughout the
organisation—housed in executive offices and smaller
huddle rooms—enabling employees to collaborate with
their colleagues and meet with their partners across the
globe, at the touch of a button.
For more customer stories, visit polycom.com/customers.Concluding statements
Analyst Insight
Understanding the future of intelligent workspaces
Creating intelligent workspaces is the future of work. Small As workers continue this shift towards the freelance
meeting spaces are quickly becoming smart workspaces economy, they will become increasingly reliant on their
where high performance collaboration like problem solving device as a collaboration tool. Securing the enterprise in
and idea generation are taking place. a mobile-centric world will grow in importance to prevent
workers from cyber threats. Mobile devices will also
Cloud, mobility and artificial intelligence are the become more intelligent as they start operating AI apps,
technologies that will continue to disrupt and influence the making it easy for workers to collaborate by automating
future of work. For example, AI and automation will help how they launch a video call or voice call.
drive growth in the freelance economy as less people
hours will be needed to complete tasks due to increased Over time, expect that collaboration technologies like
automation. This may then mean that people may end up video will evolve even further with many already starting to
working for two different employers in a week which in include the integration of smart devices and voice-activated
turn will change their relationship with technology. We will commands powered by artificial intelligence technologies.
start to see more technology integration in the way people
work and collaborate using voice and video in a variety of Audrey William, Senior Fellow and Head of Research,
locations from small spaces to remote places and the home. Frost & Sullivan, Australia and New Zealand
From a device perspective, mobility devices like
smartphones will continue to dominate the future
workplace. Right now, everything revolves around mobile
hand-held devices and this will continue. Today, you can
be working remotely but due to cloud, you can access
information like e-mail, video, WhatsApp, social media and
other cloud-based office applications from a mobile device.Is the huddle room becoming in catch-up mode. Surprisingly, the desk phone is still the
most common fixture in small meeting rooms in Australia,
the most meaningful indicating significant opportunities for improvement in
adopting a true technology-enabled environment. For Korea
meeting space in modern and Singapore, monitors and screens were the most popular
workplaces? huddle room tool, necessary requirements for basic content
sharing capabilities.
It’s clear that technology-enabled huddle rooms are
continuing to grow in popularity and are making a significant Looking more broadly, while there were some common
impact in workplaces across Asia Pacific. These huddle themes, there were some stark variances in how people
prefer to work across the region. For a nation that is known for
spaces are catering to a multitude of tech-savvy workers,
its consumer technology innovations, Japanese workers were
who now prefer to work in an agile and flexible environment.
the exception, compared to other Asia Pacific markets, when it
comes to their use of collaboration tools in the workplace. This
But it’s not only about a change in meeting environment,
isn’t a huge surprise, given that more formal and personal
but the very act of the meeting itself that has evolved.
interactions still dominate workplace etiquette in the country,
Today’s workers are looking to connect in a far more
despite it being among the top 10 countries with the fastest
proactive way to achieve better outcomes. They want the
internet speeds.6 Traditionally Japanese workplace culture
ability to debate and discuss shared ideas in real time.
has focused on the group rather than the individual, but
This could be utilising video conferencing technology to
there is likely to be a shift in this approach as we move
compare architectural designs or collectively annotating a
closer to the 2020 Olympic Games when it’s expected that
live document. It’s these types of high energy collaboration
workplaces will rely heavily on video conferencing and
sessions that are starting to define what makes a ‘good
teleworking to combat traffic congestion in Tokyo.7 Likewise,
meeting’ in the modern workplace.
the Japanese government’s ‘work style reform’ initiatives is
also set to challenge the norm of working long hours and
As this trend towards small meeting spaces continues to
provide more flexibility for employees.8 These changes
gain momentum, we are also seeing that the technology
will no doubt empower workers to continue working and
must support and enable human interaction as simply and
interacting with colleagues regardless of where they may be
productively as possible.
located or how many hours they work.
The expression ‘content is king’ is also alive when we looked
at how people prefer to collaborate in today’s modern Are you ready to make the
workplace. Survey responses showed that the sharing
of digital content in meetings was critical and this was most of the collaborative
consistent across most markets. Today’s huddle participants
want well-equipped meeting rooms that enable more
huddle in your workplace?
meaningful engagement with their colleagues. The insights shared in this huddle room survey indicate
that small spaces and small meeting rooms are no longer
However, what’s also apparent is that while employees in a ‘nice to have’ to remain business competitive. Whether
some markets are well-equipped and empowered in any you are one of the early adopters of technology-enabled
space, there are others that still need to catch up in their huddle rooms and now need to upgrade your technology
adoption and use of huddle space technology to reap or are just beginning your huddle room journey, there
the benefits. are significant benefits by doing it right. From being
able to meet and collaborate with internal colleagues
Right now, it seems that the larger geographies of Australia, in more meaningful ways, to working more effectively
China and India are leading the way in implementing video with geographically dispersed teams, or interacting with
conferencing and content sharing in the workplace. This business partners and customers.
outcome may be reflective of government emphasis on
nationwide programs such as Australia’s National Innovation What’s not to like about the efficiency gains already being
& Science Agenda, Digital India and Digital China, where achieved by those businesses who have already equipped
investment in technology and digital transformation are their huddle spaces with the latest 21st century collaboration
drivers for economic advancement. That said, while India technology and tools? It’s a step that has transformed those
and China were embracing collaboration tools like digital often underused spaces into intelligent hubs of creativity,
whiteboards and video collaboration in their huddle spaces, idea generation and productivity. Are you ready to take the
Australia and to some extent Singapore and Korea were still next step? Go to www.polycom.com/huddle to get started.
6. www.fastmetrics.com/internet-connection-speed-by-country.php#top-10-worldwide
7. www.videoconferencingdaily.com/recent-news/well-video-conferencing-reduce-traffic-congestion-japan-finds/
8. www.forbes.com/sites/adelsteinjake/2018/03/01/what-you-need-to-know-about-japans-controversial-proposed-labor-reform-laws/#585fe559dd04About Polycom
Polycom helps organizations unleash the power of human collaboration. More than 400,000 companies and institutions worldwide defy distance
with video, voice and content solutions from Polycom. Polycom and its global partner ecosystem provide flexible collaboration solutions for any
environment that deliver the best user experience and unmatched investment protection.
www.polycom.com
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