Nazia Pillay, SAP Africa

By the end of this year, 39% of global knowledge workers will work hybrid. This number increased from 37% in 2022, according to Gartner. Given these numbers, it’s easy to understand that collaborative work, which is time spent working with your colleagues using digital tools (like email, IM, phone calls and video conferencing platforms), is increasing. Research shows that collaborative work rose by about 50% between 2011 and 2021 and now consumes 85% or more of our workweeks. But, is it working?

According to Wayne Toms, CEO at Ghost- Draft, in the modern knowledge-based economy, we trade in the supply of ideas and knowledge, not in physical materials. And, unlike physical materials, ideas and knowledge are (at least in theory) limitless. But no one mind can be responsible for coming up with all the new ideas a business needs to stay relevant. After all, innovation is inherently a group activity, he says. “This means that we need to rethink and improve how we collaborate.”