I’ve been a remote worker since 2014, but oddly enough, it wasn’t until the pandemic that I felt more connected to my colleagues. Today, no matter where workers are located, it’s rare for a meeting not to be “face-to-face.” Connecting via a camera has made a positive and significant difference in helping me feel more connected to individuals and the team. Rather than bumping into someone in the hallway or lunchroom, I’ll have a quick huddle via Slack.
But it takes an overall company culture to embrace videoconferencing technologies and collaboration platforms to help ensure remote and hybrid workers are integrated into the workflow. More than the feeling of inclusion, this is important for workplace efficiency and productivity.
We asked AV/IT industry thought leaders to share their insights into the elements and culture of creating productive collaboration environments near and far. Some excerpts are below, and you can read the responses from all 45 respondents here.
TYLER TROUTMAN,
Strategic Market Development,
Shure
In modern workplace and education environments, collaboration extends beyond physical boundaries. Teams are not defined by a single office, campus, or time zone. Instead, we are experiencing hybrid, global collaboration daily. To keep people connected and engaged, organizations and educational institutions must prioritize spaces that foster meeting equity, ensuring every participant can contribute, whether they are in person or remote.
Meeting equity begins with clarity. This includes clear communication, clear visibility, and clear participation. Too often, poor audio leaves remote participants struggling to keep up, which directly impacts engagement and productivity. High-quality audio and intuitive conferencing tools are essential so that everyone in the room can hear and be heard without distraction.
Creating productive collaboration environments also means designing spaces that adapt to evolving working styles. Some teams thrive in open huddle areas, while others need structured, presentation-style rooms. The most effective collaboration culture acknowledges that no two meetings are alike, and provides reliable, scalable technology that works across spaces.
Ease of use is also critical, especially when it comes to those responsible for set up. Technology should empower people to focus on the conversation at hand. For IT leaders, this means access to solutions that are simple to deploy and manage, while delivering a consistent experience for those in the meeting. For end users, it means technology that fades into the background, so communication feels effortless.
When every voice in a room is heard, everyone in the room feels connected, and teams unlock stronger engagement and decision-making abilities. By integrating intuitive, high-quality audio solutions into adaptable spaces, organizations and higher education institutions can cultivate cultures of collaboration that thrive regardless of where people are joining a meeting from.
SKYLER BOWDEN,
Senior Marketing Manager,
Mersive
The traditional meeting setup feels outdated. The default one-presenter-at-the-front approach, where someone clicks through slides while the room half-listens, is familiar, but doesn’t invite participation. And let’s be honest—meetings often start with a scramble to get the AV working before anything productive happens.
This structure is familiar because it reflects how many of us were taught: lecture-style, passive, and linear. But effective collaboration demands more than just taking turns at the front of the room; it asks for space, both physical and psychological, for contribution.
Room layout plays a bigger role than we give it credit for. Can content be shared from anywhere? Can everyone see the display—not just those at the head of the table? Do the tools invite participation or require a technical specialist to operate?
Some organizations build rooms with fully equipped workstations with individual displays and audio setups for every contributor. In the right context, this is a powerful way to invite interaction. But for many IT and AV teams, that level of design and support isn’t realistic. Overengineered spaces become more burden than benefit when the goal is simply to work better together.
That’s why the best rooms often offer the simplest design—a blank creative slate. There is no dominant display, no obvious “front”—just intuitive, flexible tools that allow people to share content, brainstorm, and collaborate however they work best. These spaces don’t dictate how meetings should run; they invite people to create their own way of working.
That’s especially critical now. Asking employees to return to the office is no longer a default; it’s a request. If the workplace is going to compete with the flexibility of remote work, it has to offer more than just a desk and a whiteboard; it has to offer value.
F. JOSEPH POMPEI,
Founder and Chief Executive Officer,
Holosonics
Collaboration has become the defining skill of modern organizations. Whether people are huddled up in an open office, gathering in a conference room, or connecting virtually across time zones, success rests first with the participants—their insight, attentiveness, and capacity to work together. Optimizing this depends greatly on the environments and technologies that enable it, and building a culture that embraces real communication.
We often focus on access and connectivity, making sure everyone can log in, join, and participate. Yet, the quality of the environment itself—how it looks, feels, and, critically, how it sounds—determines whether collaboration truly works. Even with the best tools, it is difficult to share ideas when overlapping conversations compete for attention, voices blur, and important details are lost in background noise.
Productive collaboration requires clarity of purpose, communication of ideas, and sound. The way we design for listening determines how well people understand one another and stay engaged. When sound is clear and distractions are minimized, attention improves, creativity rises, and every participant has a chance to contribute meaningfully.
This is not just a technical consideration, but a cultural one. When an organization invests in environments where every participant can hear and be heard, it sends a powerful signal: that every voice matters. It is saying that collaboration is not simply about proximity or platform, but about presence, equity, and shared understanding.
As workplaces continue to evolve, one principle remains constant: Productivity starts with connection, and connection starts with clarity. The future of collaboration will belong to environments designed not only for access, but for understanding. When people can truly hear one another, everything else falls into place.
EMMA EAGLE,
Manager of Marketing,
Atlona
I’ve learned that creating productive collaboration environments, whether in person or spread across distances, starts with a foundation of trust, clarity, and respect. Teams work best when they know their voices are valued and when everyone has a clear understanding of goals and expectations. That sense of alignment allows people to focus less on logistics and more on contributing their best ideas.
Another key element is intentional communication. In today’s hybrid and global environments, it’s not enough to rely on casual touchpoints; structure matters. Setting regular check-ins, using the right tools, and encouraging both formal updates and informal conversations help keep connections strong. At the same time, flexibility is important; recognizing different work styles, time zones, and cultural perspectives makes collaboration more inclusive and resilient.
Finally, I believe the most successful collaboration comes from creating a culture of shared ownership. When individuals feel empowered to take initiative and understand how their work impacts the bigger picture, collaboration becomes less about assigning tasks and more about building something meaningful together. Near or far, it’s about creating an environment where people feel supported, accountable, and motivated to contribute—not just because it’s their role, but because they truly care about the outcome.
GEORGE BORDEN,
Senior Reseller Account Manager, Central Region,
Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America
Creating a culture of effective collaboration means ensuring that every participant—whether seated in the office or joining remotely—has an equal voice, clear visibility, and seamless access to shared resources. The foundation of this culture begins with software. Unified chat platforms replace isolated email exchanges with searchable, topic-driven conversations, creating an archive of organizational knowledge. When integrated with video conferencing, teams can shift from chat to face-to-face discussions instantly with high-definition video, AI-generated transcriptions, and virtual breakout rooms supporting deeper engagement.
Beyond communication, centralized file management ensures that projects move forward without version confusion. Cloud-based solutions like OneDrive or Google Drive enable real-time co-authoring of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, while app integration brings business tools such as Salesforce directly into the collaboration platform. This single-pane approach streamlines workflows and reduces wasted time toggling between apps.
The physical workplace also continues to evolve for successful hybrid collaboration. Modern meeting rooms are designed for inclusivity, with intelligent audio and video systems that employ speaker tracking, noise suppression, and group framing to give remote participants the same presence as those in the room. Layouts such as Microsoft Teams and Front Row further bridge the gap, placing remote attendees at eye level and integrating chat, reactions, and shared content in one cohesive view.
Finally, interactive digital canvases, such as Sharp’s AQUOS BOARD, extend collaboration into the creative realm. These large-format displays allow dispersed teams to brainstorm, annotate, and ideate together as though standing side by side. Pairing this with one-touch meeting join solutions like Sharp’s Synappx eliminates technical barriers and ensures meetings start smoothly.
These advances result in a collaborative ecosystem that is inclusive, frictionless, and designed for how teams truly work—near and far.
GEORGE TRUONG,
Vice President of Operations,
Black Box
Modern AV collaboration platforms have evolved into mission-critical business infrastructure, requiring almost zero downtime. This evolution demands sophisticated service delivery that ensures consistent, reliable collaboration between end users and the integrator.
Collaboration environments build upon four pillars: user experience optimization, proactive monitoring support, and continuous improvement on efficiency and utilization. Service reliability extends beyond traditional uptime metrics to encompass experience quality indicators across all locations. This requires establishing global SLAs that account for regional variations while maintaining or exceeding standards on compliance. User experience optimization focuses on reducing friction in collaboration workflows, implementing one-touch join, automated room configurations, or an intuitive but simple interface that reduces support requirements.
The current demand emphasizes shifting from reactive service to preventive service models with proactive self-health. Operational capabilities that can identify degradation patterns before they impact users. This proactive stance requires cultivating analytical mindsets within operations teams, teaching them to analyze usage data and identify optimization opportunities. Organizations implementing "partnered solutions" services that provide full 24/7 remote and onsite support for customer ecosystems build user confidence while gathering insights into service improvement.
Scaling operational excellence requires establishing a culture to drive excellence that defines best practices and disseminates knowledge across the organization. Successful implementation of tiered support models that balance responsiveness with global consistency. The enabling factor for operational excellence is a sophisticated monitoring platform that provides real-time visibility into collaboration performance, enabling rapid response to issues while building historical data for trend analysis and capacity planning.
JOHN KRUSE,
Senior Field Solutions Architect,
ViewSonic
The most effective collaboration environments today are not defined by a single technology or meeting room; they are built at the intersection of space, tools, and culture. As organizations reimagine how people connect and create, successful collaboration strategies must focus on removing friction and enhancing human interaction, regardless of location.
Intentional design is the starting point. Physical environments should support a variety of work modes—from brainstorming sessions to hybrid meetings—and incorporate fundamentals like optimized acoustics, visibility, and comfort. Equally important is flexibility: Modular furniture, adaptable displays, and scalable AV systems allow spaces to evolve as teams, technologies, and workflows change.
Frictionless technology is another essential element. Solutions should integrate seamlessly across platforms, enabling intuitive, one-touch connectivity and interoperability with conferencing, control, and content systems. When technology disappears into the background, creativity and collaboration come to the forefront.
Beyond hardware, culture is the true driver of productive collaboration. Spaces and systems must support meeting equity, making remote participants feel as present and valued as those in the room. Features like AI-powered framing, spatial audio, transcription, and translation can level the playing field and ensure every voice is heard.
Looking ahead, collaboration environments will become increasingly intelligent and persistent. Cloud platforms, data analytics, and AI will not only support meetings but actively shape them—anticipating needs, connecting content, and extending collaboration beyond physical boundaries.
Ultimately, the future of collaboration isn’t about creating rooms; it’s about designing ecosystems that inspire creativity, foster connection, and empower teams to work together—anytime, anywhere.
OLIVER VAN CAMP,
Product Director, Meeting Experience,
Barco
In the rush to adopt the latest collaboration technologies, organizations often chase flashy features while overlooking the fundamentals that ensure long-term success. The most effective meeting room solutions prioritize three core elements: ease of use, trust, and smart technology.
Even the most advanced technology fails if employees struggle to use it. Collaboration tools must be intuitive, flexible, and consistent across meeting rooms and devices. When participants can connect, share content, and engage seamlessly, meetings start faster, adoption increases, and teams focus on collaboration—not on troubleshooting technology.
Collaboration technology frequently handles sensitive content, making trust a critical factor. Robust security, configurable access levels, and regular updates protect data and ensure compliance. In hybrid workplaces, teams depend on consistent performance across rooms and devices. Systems that fail or require troubleshooting disrupt meetings, erode confidence, and reduce productivity. Investing in reliable technology ensures meetings run smoothly, builds trust among users, and supports higher adoption rates.
And last, but not least, the role of intelligence in the meeting room cannot be denied. AI can enhance collaboration when applied thoughtfully. Features like automated transcription, intelligent facilitation, and real-time insights can add value when they complement existing workflows rather than creating complexity.
Technology should empower teams to work smarter, freeing them to focus on discussion, creativity, and decision-making rather than constantly adapting to new systems.
Successful technology adoption requires a clear strategy. Evaluate solutions based on usability, security, reliability, and scalability first—then consider advanced features. By focusing on the fundamentals, organizations can ensure that collaboration tools truly enhance productivity and engagement, both now and in the future.
asTERRENCE BOYD,
Senior Strategy and Business Development Manager, Alliance and Technology Partnerships,
Sony Electronics
In today’s dynamic environments, collaboration is no longer confined to meeting rooms; it happens across campuses, hospitals, production floors, and retail spaces. The most productive environments connect people, content, and ideas with ease, no matter where they are.
At Sony, we believe collaboration thrives when technology works together—not in isolation. And we’re not alone; our customers and partners maintain that same philosophy. Sony’s Alliance and Technology Partner ecosystem plays a vital role in shaping environments where people create, communicate, and collaborate. Through alignment with leading partners across digital signage, AV control, unified communications and collaboration (UCC), remote management systems (RMS), and hardware and mounting solutions, we deliver seamless, end-to-end experiences that make teamwork effortless and inclusive, and remove barriers and guesswork for our customers.
Having an open ecosystem, like Sony does, gives customers the freedom to choose the technologies that best fit their needs, whether the goal is a hybrid meeting space, a digital signage network that informs and inspires, or a control system that simplifies complex workflows. Together with our partners, we integrate these solutions that enhance Sony’s core offerings and bring added value to every project because customers expect robust, turnkey options.
This collaborative approach ensures that every solution meets current requirements while remaining ready for the innovations ahead. By combining Sony’s strengths with the expertise of our partners, we create spaces that adapt to people rather than asking people to adapt to technology.
In a world that continues to change rapidly, success depends on partnership. Through collective innovation, Sony and its partners are delivering human-driven collaboration experiences that help people work smarter, connect more deeply, and achieve more together.
CHARLIE JONES, Global Partner Relations Manager,
Sennheiser
Building effective collaboration spaces relies on conferencing technology that reduces complexity to deliver a seamless user experience. Intelligent automation is driving this evolution, transforming meeting rooms into intuitive environments that enhance communication without distracting participants. The goal is a smart conference space where microphones, cameras, and control systems work together automatically to keep the focus on productivity.
To reduce complexity, IT and AV professionals can take advantage of the advancements in interoperability of audio, video, and conferencing platforms, as well as insights drawn from years of audio expertise and knowledge of meeting dynamics. For example, beamforming microphones have redefined sound quality by isolating voices from background noise, which is coupled with robust networks delivering low latency. The result makes it easier for both in-room and remote participants to follow conversations without disruption.
Building these rooms goes beyond simply deploying technology and relies on robust central management. Software and cloud platforms that tackle room planning and device management can allow for faster, more scalable deployments to meet today’s substantial workplace demands. These virtual room design tools that also monitor and manage the interoperability between AV protocols ensure consistent, high-quality user experiences across entire organizations with effective planning and reduced manual setup.
As AI and automation continue to advance, meeting environments will only become more intuitive and adaptive. While fully autonomous conference rooms are beyond the horizon for the moment, the innovations available today are already paving the way toward a future where technology supports collaboration seamlessly, freeing teams to concentrate fully on their work.
JOHN HENKEL,
Product Marketing Director,
NETGEAR Enterprise
The convergence of broadcast, unified communications, and AV infrastructure is accelerating rapidly. Creating productive collaboration environments starts with building unified IP ecosystems that don’t distinguish between near and far work; instead, they treat all collaboration as equal, regardless of location. This requires moving beyond traditional box shifting to a solution-led consultancy that embeds AV into broader digital transformation strategies.
The most effective collaboration cultures prioritize user experience over technology showcasing. Organizations succeeding in hybrid environments focus on broadcast-quality experiences as the new standard for enterprise communications—not just for special occasions. This means investing in scalable solutions that make remote participants feel as present as in-room colleagues, eliminating the second-class-citizen experience that plagues many hybrid setups.
From huddle spaces to large conference rooms, consistent, reliable technology across all collaboration points builds confidence and adoption. When teams trust that their tools will work seamlessly, whether they’re together or distributed, cultural resistance to hybrid work diminishes. This consistency requires robust networked solutions with centralized management, ensuring every space delivers professional-grade experiences.
The shift toward AI-driven AV, advanced lighting and sound, and immersive experiences is fundamentally about creating systems smart enough to adapt to how people naturally collaborate—not about adding layers of complexity. Organizations embracing this approach create environments where technology becomes invisible, allowing teams to focus on ideas rather than troubleshooting connectivity.
The bottom line: Productive collaboration cultures emerge when infrastructure supports authentic interaction regardless of physical location, when user experience trumps technical specifications, and when organizations commit to unified ecosystems rather than patchwork solutions.
PETRO SHIMONISHI,
Director of New Business Development,
Panasonic Projector and Display Americas
Today’s workplaces and classrooms are no longer defined by four walls. Collaboration must be seamless, whether participants are across campus or across the globe. To meet this demand, organizations need technologies that are both robust and flexible to empower instructors, students, and employees to connect in ways that are simple, reliable, and interactive.
Panasonic recently surveyed higher education IT leaders, which revealed that 83 percent of students regularly interact with projectors and 81 percent say these technologies positively impact learning. These findings highlight that when collaboration technologies are intuitive and dependable, they become essential to how people learn and work.
However, decision-makers also flagged a growing concern: As devices become more feature-rich, they risk becoming harder for faculty and employees to manage. This underscores the importance of technology that reduces complexity rather than adding to it. Solutions must be designed for plug-and-play simplicity, while delivering professional-grade performance.
That’s why Panasonic and Artome partnered to create the PT-VMZ-AVCART, an innovative, mobile AV solution that combines Artome’s flexible design with Panasonic’s advanced projection to transform any space into a collaboration hub. These solutions eliminate the need for permanent installations, instantly transforming any classroom, huddle space, or boardroom into a connected, collaborative environment. By combining Panasonic’s advanced projection with Artome’s flexible design, organizations gain scalable tools that adapt to their unique spaces and needs.
The culture of collaboration today depends on access, flexibility, and ease of use. Whether enabling a professor to engage hundreds of students or allowing hybrid teams to brainstorm across time zones, the goal is the same: Technologies should inspire interaction, not inhibit it. At Panasonic, we believe the most productive environments are built on tools that make connection effortless anywhere, anytime.
JOEL MULPETER,
Senior Director, Product Marketing,
Crestron
We often talk about building a culture of collaboration. As people have returned to the office as part of their hybrid schedules, it’s critical that we serve the needs of those who come into that space. Technology needs to be seamless—disappearing into the background but delivering the rich experiences they expect.
Take, for example, the rich experiences you have in Microsoft Teams at your desk—can you take that experience into a conference room? You don’t want to have a different platform when you walk into the meeting room; you want to use the familiar one you’ve used at your desk.
You also want things like the “eyes and ears” in that room to be intelligent and smart. You want cameras that react to workflows in the room, and not cameras that must constantly be told what to do. You want audio that hears what you have to say and can then feed that into remote connections and the accompanying AI tool. You need to be getting tangible benefits out of that tool: translation, transcription, actionable insights, and so on. And then, you want to leverage that platform—Teams, Zoom, or whatever you prefer.
Beyond those tools, it’s also important to find the right balance of other AI features. Edge AI is especially useful and efficient in presenter tracking, for example. You don’t need to send that processing to the cloud and bring it back again—just do it in the camera. Cloud AI is better for things such as translation and transcription, identifying people, and so on. Ultimately, the goal is to create spaces that truly drive the culture of collaboration.
JOSH ARNOLD,
Director, Collaboration Product Strategy,
Q-SYS
In today’s workplace, collaboration is not confined to AV systems; it’s about crafting holistic experiences that empower people and culture. The rise of the high-performance workplace reflects a shift from static office environments to dynamic destinations that foster connection and creativity. Forward-thinking organizations are reimagining their spaces to build culture, expand mentorship, and enhance well-being across both high-impact rooms and the spaces in between. This reflects a deeper understanding: Technology should not just connect people, but also inspire and bring them together.
This transformation is already happening at scale. According to a recent whitepaper developed by Frost and Sullivan in partnership with Q-SYS, 46 percent of IT and telecom leaders are modernizing office technology, while 50 percent are investing in new perks and experiences. With over 5.6 billion square feet of Class A space positioned for high-performance transformation and 9.1 billion square feet of U.S. office space ripe for reinvention, the workplace has become a critical lever for organizational productivity.
Second, simplicity in technology is paramount. The most powerful collaboration tools are those that disappear into the background, enabling fluid interaction without friction. When technology is standardized, intuitive, and accessible, hybrid equity thrives—enabling every participant, near or far, to contribute equally. When users don’t have to think about how to connect, they can focus on what matters most: sharing ideas, solving problems, and building relationships.
Finally, smart collaboration environments should enable a feedback loop for continuous improvement. Rich spatial and usage data help organizations optimize layouts, refine workflows, and adapt to evolving needs—turning workplaces from static assets into dynamic engines for growth.
In essence, high-performance workplaces center on people and experience. They eliminate friction, create hybrid equity, and drive measurable outcomes. By embracing intentional design, user-centric simplicity, and data-driven evolution, organizations can create environments where creativity and productivity thrive.
