Developers have adjusted to collaborating with each other and issuing software releases remotely––and this change in workstyle has impacted organizations’ performance. A recent report from Gartner shows that although 92% of development teams are writing more code, 63% of teams are releasing less frequently, and the average release size is up by 64%.
What does this mean? Before the transition to remote work, teams were producing more frequent, small software releases. Organizations adapted quickly to keep operations running from home, but the limited preparation, training and infrastructure to work remotely have contributed to larger releases, less often. Now, there’s work to do to resume agile processes and deliver software updates that are high-value and risk averse at a rapid pace.
Improving collaboration is a critical priority as the work landscape continues to evolve toward long-term, remote and hybrid teams. Researchers predict 32% of the global workforce will be remote next year (up from 19% in 2019). And 51% of employees working for organizations that are reopening offices throughout the rest of the year will be working in hybrid models, working from home at least one day a week. To perform in their role, developers already rely on a number of tech tools—from source code collaboration tools, to desktop editors, issue trackers and more—making a team collaboration tool that reduces touchpoints and enables effective operations all the more desirable to help teams reach their goals.
Leveraging centralized digital collaboration platforms like Atlassian’s Confluence can transform communication for remote and dispersed teams. Its features help teams work together from afar efficiently, promote organizational growth and support each organization's unique goals. By partnering with an Atlassian Platinum Solutions provider, development teams can optimize their use of products like Confluence to work effectively across remote and dispersed teams. Here are three ways Confluence supports remote and hybrid teams.
1. Efficiency and Collaboration Prioritized in the Design
Atlassian built Confluence to help teams collaborate and share knowledge efficiently. Users can create, share and collaborate on content within pages, and access their work in dedicated spaces for individual or team projects. The tracking feature in Confluence gives team members full visibility into what changes their coworkers make and when, directly within the system. This promotes transparent collaboration between team members and also saves valuable time by eliminating the need to constantly meet to go over project updates or monitor inboxes for emails about status changes.
2. Emphasis on Same-Time Editing Capabilities
Confluence pages also allow multiple team members to edit together in real-time in a centralized system. Instead of having to work together in person to understand a team member’s feedback or work alone in siloed environments, co-contributors can use the comments feature to add feedback in-line. Pages save changes in real time too, so users don’t have to worry about taking extra time to manually save, or losing work if they forget to save.
3. Scalable to Evolve with Your Organization
Each organization has unique challenges and priorities, making customizations beneficial—and often necessary. The Atlassian Marketplace features hundreds of apps for solutions to optimize a team’s use of Confluence based on individual organizational needs. As teams expand and onboard more workers remotely, Confluence is built ready to securely scale. Confluence features serious compliance protocols, including encryption techniques for data protection and two-step verification methods. Confluence also offers analytics-driven insights so teams can make better decisions about how they use the platform, as well as unlimited storage, so as an organization grows users can continue to rely on a high-performing system.
Optimize Confluence as System Improvements Change with the Work Landscape
Atlassian makes continuous improvements to Confluence to improve users' experience. Users can expect even more features, including external collaboration and automation to help organizations improve team efficiency both inside and outside of their organization.
To ensure organizations are optimizing their use of the platform and benefiting from product upgrades, teams can partner with Contegix, an Atlassian Platinum Solutions Provider. Contegix’s team of experts specialize in Confluence hosting, application support and professional services. Organizations can work with Contegix for complete set-up, installation and configuration, so Confluence works seamlessly with organizations’ evolving team structure and business priorities.
Learn more about how Contegix can help your team get started with Confluence.