Why Kantin?
The new working patterns of hybrid, remote and distributed workforce bring with them significant levels of flexibility but also some genuine challenges. Increasing levels of research highlighting some of the pitfalls for both employees and employers include an increased sense of detachment among colleagues, difficulties to build or maintain social relationships, general staff wellbeing, loyalty and a sense of belonging. Companies need to find solutions to these issues as they can impact staff retention, employee satisfaction, innovation and overall productivity.
​
Your first question might well be, Why cant we simply use the tools we already have available to us i.e. the likes of Zoom, Teams, Slack... or even WhatsApp ? After all don't they provide the same basic audio functionality ?
​
​
​
​
The simple answer is Yes they do but the reality is these tools have become so engrained in our daily working lives and are so associated with the formalities of work – i.e. scheduled meeting times, invited participants, goal driven agendas and so on - that social interaction on these platforms can often appear forced or unnatural. They are great alternatives to physical meeting rooms but not exactly somewhere you briefly go to chill out and shoot the breeze with your colleagues about last nights TV show, the big game at the weekend, the concert, the latest retro computer game or indeed any other “social” rather than work topics.
​
We have designed the whole Kantin user experience to set the right tone and mood, as well as keeping the user interface really simple for people to just jump into when they have a few minutes free and would like to have a bit of conversation and banter with their work colleagues. The simplicity of the application means the user doesn’t even have to think about it, just choose a table and join the conversation or create a new table and invite others to join you if you prefer. Just as you would do if you walked into your office canteen for your coffee break !​
​