[Infographic] 2020 in Review: A Year Unlike Any Other
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This article was published in December 2020. This review looks back on 2020, and we are keeping it as it stands, as a record of its time.
It goes without saying: the Covid-19 epidemic and its two lockdowns had a heavy impact on business activity, whatever the size of the company. Some sectors were hit particularly hard, with severe and lasting consequences (restaurants, tourism, events and culture come to mind straight away). This unprecedented health crisis also had one very visible effect: it accelerated digital transformation inside companies, and above all it deeply upended the way we work.
Long viewed with suspicion by employers, remote work is now becoming commonplace in a great many organizations, giving rise to a “hybrid” way of working that looks set to stay part of employees' daily lives for a long time to come.
Throughout 2020, Talkspirit supported this new reality by mobilizing its teams in a very particular way. Month after month, we enriched the platform with new features so that our customers could maintain internal connections, share information more easily and smooth out collaboration within their teams. Three absolutely decisive challenges once their employees had to work remotely.
In the infographic that follows, look back on this year 2020, which will undoubtedly mark the history of Talkspirit.
An Unprecedented Context
The crisis put many organizations to a severe test, economically, organizationally and also on a human level. As soon as the first lockdown was announced, most activities were reorganized at breakneck speed to comply with the new health rules. At the same time, almost overnight, the teams working in the offices switched to remote work. Enormous challenges from a management, economic and IT point of view.
Employees, for their part, had a rough time, suddenly forced into remote work, a situation entirely new to many of them. Indeed, few had the right equipment or the right environment, which made their remote working conditions difficult. This forced remote work was a test of adaptation, resilience and learning, which sometimes led to a loss of connection and motivation within teams.
A Transformation in the Way We Communicate
Since the first lockdown in mid-March, remote work tools have become essential for day-to-day exchanges and for strengthening cohesion within the company. Now that many employees have got used to working remotely, video conferencing is booming. At Talkspirit, its use was multiplied by 30 between January and December 2020, and chat is used 5 times more than at the start of the year. A genuine alternative to email, instant messaging is ideal for sharing information in real time, discussing ongoing projects, and also giving informal conversations their place back. A vital issue in the period we are living through.
One Ambition: Powering Collaborative Work
For Philippe Pinault, co-founder and CEO of Talkspirit, “2020 wiped away the doubts of even the most skeptical about the need to deploy tools that support collaborative practices. With two lockdowns, this year accelerated every digital transformation project and brought Talkspirit to light in a landscape largely dominated by American vendors. With the launch of its OfficeNow suite online, of a Drive and a redesign of the interface, Talkspirit is confirming this year its strong ambition in the field of collaboration suites.”
What's Next for 2021?
While 2020 was a year packed with launches and new releases, 2021 promises to be just as busy. Most often inspired by customer requests and by feedback from user support, our innovations continue at a sustained pace.
Several projects are already under way:
- Video conferencing with more than 30 participants (already possible with 20, coming soon)
- Launch of a project management application in Kanban mode
- Development of a calendar in full synchronization with the leading calendars on the market (Google Calendar and Outlook)
- Complete redesign of the interface and new features for the mobile app
Our goal? To give our customers a “5-star” user experience that covers every need organizations have for information sharing, internal communication and collaboration, so as to help them gain in agility, in cohesion and in day-to-day effectiveness.
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Authors: Benoit Renoul, Emmanuelle Abensur
