Unify Unveils Industry's First Global New Way to Work Index

HANNOVER, Germany, March 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CeBIT -- Unify, formerly Siemens Enterprise Communications, today released the industry's first New Way to Work (#NW2W) research series with data from global business executives from more than 25 countries. The Unify New Way to Work Index was announced during CEO Dean Douglas' keynote at the CeBIT Global Conference, where he detailed the imperative for business leaders to prioritize creating new strategies for communications and collaboration systems and IT infrastructure. Douglas has declared 2014 as the year the New Way to Work will be prioritized for investments by C-level executives and is investing in Unify research, technology and partnerships to lead the industry in solutions to support this transformation. The announcement was made at CeBIT, the world's largest international ICT trade fair, held in Hannover, Germany, March 10-14.

The first research wave for the Unify New Way to Work Index ran between January and February 2014 and surveyed more than 300 executives across the globe, focusing on the habits and constructs of successful teams. Among the results was the finding that 94 percent of respondents work with virtual team members, indicating the rise of today's mobile and global workforce and an urgent need for solutions that create enhanced productivity and collaboration across multiple platforms.

"Increasingly, work today is remote, mobile, and distributed and we're on track to see 1.3 billion virtual team members join the global workforce by 2015," Douglas said. "Even with advances in technology to meet the needs of 'anywhere workers,' many organizations find themselves mired in fragmented systems, with frustrated users and missed opportunities.  As a trusted advisor to customers around the world, Unify is taking a leadership role to understand the issues and help companies create a plan for the New Way to Work that brings a transformation to their entire enterprise. This transformation brings new collaboration and communications systems with real-time engagement technologies that energizes workers and dramatically improves business performance."  

Data from the first Unify New Way to Work Index revealed six habits of highly successful teams:

Successful teams don't let distance get in the way, and behavior trumps location. 68 percent of those on very successful teams have more than half their members in another location. 85 percent have over one-fourth of their members working remotely.

Successful teams collaborate freely wherever they are. Only 16 percent of those on the most successful teams say they are less likely to voice disagreement on virtual calls than they would in face-to-face meetings; compared to 55 percent of those on less successful teams.  

Those on very successful teams are more personable in their habits. 71 percent of them engage in personal/non-business conversation with colleagues daily or weekly, compared to just 42 percent of those on less successful teams.

Successful team members reach out across locations. 86 percent of those on the most successful teams regularly reach out to colleagues at other sites merely to keep in touch.

Dialog trumps monolog in successful team meetings. 77 percent of those on highly successful teams say less than a quarter of their meetings are one-way monologues.

Successful teams have more focused meetings.  Over half (51 percent) of those on very successful teams say they rarely or never find themselves on calls where most of the content is irrelevant to their work.

For additional information about these findings and to download a copy of the current Unify NW2W Index please visit http://www.unify.com/us/new-way-to-work/inside-virtual-teams-survey.aspx.

Unify has created a new resource hub filled with content, data and best practices that leaders can access as they build their New Way to Work strategy. The hub can be accessed at www.unify.com/NW2W.

Follow the New Way to Work (NW2W) conversation on Twitter at #NW2W and on LinkedIn.

About the Unify NW2W Index

The Unify NW2W Index examines the habits and constructs of successful virtual teams and the anywhere worker. Produced quarterly, findings include research on management and behavioral trending of virtual teams. The Unify NW2W Index is distributed via email, social media and website by Unify and our partners at the Ferrazzi Greenlight Research Institute. 

Unify at CeBIT

Unify is exhibiting at CeBIT 2014 in Hall 13, Booth D38. The booth not only offers visitors the opportunity to explore the portfolio and immerse themselves in the look and feel of the new Unify brand, but also allows them be whisked away to four different islands where they can experience the working world of today and tomorrow, coming ever closer together – on the train, in the cafe, at the office and in the home office.

About Unify
Unify—formerly known as Siemens Enterprise Communications—is a premier communications software and services firm. Our solutions unify multiple networks, devices and applications into one easy-to-use platform that allows teams to engage in rich and meaningful conversations. The result is a transformation of how the enterprise communicates and collaborates that amplifies collective effort, energizes the business, and enhances business performance. Born out of the engineering DNA of Siemens AG, Unify builds on this heritage of product reliability, innovation, open standards and security to provide integrated communications solutions for approximately 75% of the Global 500. Unify is a joint venture of The Gores Group and Siemens AG.

This release contains forward-looking statements based on beliefs of Unify's management. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "forecast," "expect," "intend," "plan," "should," and "project" are used to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the company's current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause the actual results to be materially different, including, among others, changes in general economic and business conditions, changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, introduction of competing products, lack of acceptance of new products or services and changes in business strategy. Actual results may vary materially from those projected here. Unify does not intend or assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140311/NY80724-INFO
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131015/NY97454LOGO

SOURCE Unify