itself as Europe’s largest dedicated unified communications and collaboration event and the results come at a time when collaboration is regularly noted as a vital aspect of work and as organisations double down on how to enable smarter collaboration amongst the workforce. The research itself shows that 70% of the UK workforce believe that collaboration is very important in the work environment.

The key stats show that:

• 51% of respondents have either never collaborated or not collaborated frequently at school
• 37% stated collaboration wasn’t an important focus of their education
• and 10% admitted to never collaborating at work.

Another key finding is that 55% of Brits see the education system as one of the major obstacles to enabling collaboration in the workplace

As part of the research, one teacher noted: “The emphasis is on learning facts and passing exams rather than allowing for development of skills such as group work or team work which help with other skills. The last National Curriculum was purely skills based and went too far; this is the other extreme. I do try to include more group and team work as it makes a more resilient and independent worker, but the kids prefer to be told.”

While 10% of Brits admit that they never collaborate in their work. 5% will actively try to avoid collaborating and 15% say that one of the reasons they don’t like to collaborate is because they believe it’s a waste of time.

But, as individuals rise through the ranks collaboration becomes a more frequent and important aspect of their role. 83% of C-level executives who responded to the study stated that they collaborate very frequently in their role, compared with only 47% of entry-level staff. However, the tide could be starting to turn as younger generations in the workplace are more likely to have had a collaborative education than older generations, with 71% of 18-24 year olds having collaborated often in school, compared with just 24% of 55-64 year olds.

“Collaboration skills are regularly noted as vital on job adverts, and as a key contributor to an organisation’s productivity and creativity. Without collaboration some of the most innovative technology of our time simply wouldn’t exist and society wouldn’t be driving forwards in the way it is,” said Bradley Maule-ffinch, EMEA portfolio director for UC Expo.

“For a long time technology was noted, perhaps misguidedly, as an inhibitor to collaboration. But given the huge range of products now available to support and enable collaboration, only 7% of working Brits believe that’s still the case. This points to a far deeper collaboration issue within workplaces. If organisations can work together with those in education to emphasise the collaboration skills individuals need when they enter the workplace then future workforces are going to be able to thrive.”

To register free for UC EXPO 2018, taking place on 16-17 May 2018 at ExCeL London, visit: www.ucexpo.co.uk

The event has the Twitter hashtag #UCExpo and a promotional video for the event can be found here: