The Problem
Navigating efficiency challenges and staying connected hasn’t been easy for Guy Labaki and his team. Guy is an analyst at BY Venture Partners - a company that’s distributed across four different countries and multiple time zones. BY tried the usual meeting tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, but something was missing. Guy would send out meeting invites and spend a lot of time waiting, and then have to follow up, ultimately derailing productivity. It’s a very familiar story to most of us.
Traditional tools didn’t feel the same, and they were missing the serendipitous interactions and impromptu work sessions that happened in physical offices. As the months passed, they observed a decline in team cohesion and capacity, driven to find a solution.
“We needed a tool that could help us manage our geographical distribution while quickly being able to initiate contact with someone. Other tools required constantly sending links, invitations, edits and reschedules, meaning they weren’t the best options in terms of effectiveness.”
The Solution
Recognizing the importance of human connection in driving efficiency, BY found SoWork. Guy discovered that his team could create customizable avatars and navigate through virtual office spaces, such as conference rooms, lounges, and collaborative work areas. It felt like being in the same place, together. BY can engage in real-time with nearby colleagues. They can strike up impromptu discussions just like in a physical office. Employees could quickly connect with colleagues, share ideas, and work together on projects without the delays commonly experienced in email threads or scheduled meetings. From there, it all fell into place for BY, and the impact on their teamwork and daily output was immediate.
“SoWork gives us visibility on the availability of our teammates, so we can get things done far more efficiently, while also being super easy to use. Being able to see someone’s working hours, status, and if they’re open to a quick chat about a project has made a massive difference for us. It really takes all the guesswork out of it and makes our communication more smooth.”
How BY Venture Partners Uses SoWork
BY loads into their Office daily and can see each other working. When Guy needs to chat with a teammate in SoWork, he simply walks up to them. If his teammate is in their working hours, they will instantly begin a video call. He can easily ask a question about a project, or get folks together to give them feedback. Things felt seamless, and Guy’s teammates were more engaged. Collaboration increased and communication among the team was more frequent. Efficiency skyrocketed. They could make decisions and solve problems faster, eliminating the barriers brought about by other communication tools.
“It really couldn’t be better - feeling like we’re in the same place, working alongside each other has been a total game changer for us. We’ve made this place our own, and can have meetings and push work forward way faster than before.”
SoWork Benefits
Productivity Tools
Beyond quick, spontaneous communication, SoWork has tons of productivity and meeting tools, each making BY’s life easier. Meeting recordings, meeting summaries, action item generation, the ability to signal your status/availability to others, and much more. The availability and status features help improve focus and concentration. Guy’s team can set themselves as “Unavailable”, and can easily dive into periods of deep work where needed. This leads to higher quality work output and faster task completion times.
The meeting summaries and action items are produced by SoWork’s own Sophia Bot, a smart, AI Office Assistant that takes work off your plate. These critical tools help drive leaps in BY’s innovation, efficiency, and profits. SoWork also provides data-driven insights to Premium teams, showcasing important information on employee interactions and engagement. By analyzing these insights, BY can identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement, allowing them to continuously optimize their workflows.
“The way interactions happen in SoWork is what makes it special. SoWork compels you to connect with your teammates and eliminates the feeling of being isolated from them. And it makes everything more fun.”
Cohesion and Customizations
Speaking of fun, Guy and his team love the buzzing atmosphere of their SoWork Office. Social spaces promoted employee well-being and camaraderie among team members. Having room for this decreased feelings of isolation they had before. This buzzing environment has major benefits to team productivity too. Teammates are able to see who’s in the room, create and fully customize their own desks/work areas (that are completely tailored to their preferences and workflow), and use whiteboards and other collaborative tools together.
Conclusion
“It really feels like something special is being built here. We’re really excited to see what you do next.”
Guy and his team transformed the way they worked together. By leveraging SoWork, BY was able to recreate the spontaneity and camaraderie of the physical office. They collaborate more and work more efficiently. Because of this, productivity and employee satisfaction grew.
