Say hello to Circles: Our greatest tool for collaboration

As we pass the halfway point of 2021, it’s a good opportunity to reflect on how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways we live, learn, and work. 

With vaccinations now steadily rolling out across the world, we’re starting to see a global return to normalcy. Bars and restaurants are reopening again, and live events are being hosted for the first time in over a year. Airlines are now cautiously adding to their international flight schedules, hoping for a boom in pent-up demand.

But there’s one area where people aren’t so keen to get back to pre-pandemic norms: Our work and study routines.

No return to business as usual

Before the pandemic, remote work and learning opportunities were few and far between for most. Working from home was generally discouraged due to concerns about productivity, while the powerful capabilities of e-learning were almost completely unexplored within mainstream schooling.

But the picture today couldn’t be more different. 

With hundreds of surveys about the future of work now complete, the verdict is clear; employees are wanting a ‘new normal’ that prioritizes flexibility and independence from being tied to a specific location. In a recent FlexJobs survey, 65% of respondents reported wanting to be remote full-time after the pandemic, with 31% wanting a hybrid work option.

What’s even more striking is that the majority of managers and business owners agree. A Gartner survey found that 80% of company leaders plan to allow employees to work remotely at least some of the time post-pandemic, while 47% will allow employees to work remotely full-time.  

While the disruption of switching to online learning in the first quarter of 2020 sparked concern about the impact on student achievement and wellbeing, studies have found that the picture isn’t all bad. The Research Institute of America found that e-learning boosts retention rates by 25-60%, compared with just 8-10% for traditional in-person learning. 

So, while remote working and learning rates are likely to dip slightly as economies reopen, there’s no doubt that they’re here to stay. 

For businesses and educational institutions, this means that the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively online is more important than ever before.

Organizations: Taking collaboration to the next level

We all remember those early days of the pandemic: Chaos, confusion, and a mad scramble to grab laptops and important paperwork before offices went dark. It was a steep learning curve for those new to the world of remote work, where ‘can you see my screen?’ became the rallying cry across sectors.

But as the remote work model matures, it’s time for businesses and educators to transition to more streamlined workflows that eliminate time-consuming admin tasks from your to-do list. 

The solution? Investing in the right digital tools to enhance your communications and make it easier than ever to exchange ideas. 

This is why we’re adding the brand-new ‘Organizations’ feature to the Lumin toolkit. This functionality creates a fresh new space for teams and businesses to collaborate on projects - building on the convenience and power of cloud-based management. 

What is ‘Organizations’?

At Lumin, we understand that a document is never just a document; every PDF belongs to a wider workflow, project, or assignment that has real value to your organization. The easier it is for teams and individuals to share feedback and ideas, the more stress-free work and study becomes. 

Lumin Organizations is an expansion of our existing Teams functionality, which allows users on our Professional plan to create shared folders for easier document sharing and storage. In our mission to be the world’s most user-friendly and scalable PDF editing solution, we’re rolling out these capabilities to all of our users in the Lumin ecosystem - with some exciting additions:

Connect with more people, more easily.

With Organizations, you can now set up permanent collaboration hubs via your Lumin account. These could be teams made up of a few individuals, all the way to groups that encompass your entire organization. Instead of having to manually add users to each new document you create, the Organizations tab enables you to add new documents to each group as you go - no ongoing maintenance required. Simply set up your project, and you’re good to go!

Follow interactions with your documents via the Insights tool.

We understand that shared docs can be confusing to follow in real-time - especially when you’re in charge of multiple groups. Our Insights tool removes admin hassles by giving you clear oversight of all your shared and personal documents. The intuitive dashboard allows you to see all activity taking place within your groups at one glance, including comments on your documents to ensure that you’re always in the loop.

How does ‘Organizations’ work?

As an extension of the existing Teams tool, Organizations will be replacing Teams in your sidebar. This is designed for maximum ease of use so that you never lose track of who your documents are being shared with. (Don’t worry: You’ll still be able to create Teams separately to share documents).

Organizations will be open to Lumin users on both Free and Professional plans. Professional users will also have access to additional functionalities, such as increased storage capacity and adding more members. You can find out more about our Professional plan here.

As the world emerges from the disruption caused by COVID-19, there’s no doubt that we’ve all taken away some valuable lessons about the power of remote collaboration. The ability for people to work together seamlessly across campuses, offices, and even borders opens up new and exciting opportunities for businesses and educators alike. And equipped with the power of Lumin, there’s no limit to what you can achieve.