How collaborative technology solves enterprise challenges?

With the growth of remote workforce, 2014 saw a vast number of organizations and companies getting more proactive and seeking out effective communication and collaboration solutions.

As more and more companies, especially small and middle-sized, are realizing the value of collaboration technology and of the digital workplace, it’s no longer the question of whether new ways of collaboration can help, but how to get the most out of these solutions.

Collaboration tools are becoming vital to how businesses work and grow, and companies should not fall behind with this digital change. 

Without effective collaboration technology, companies will experience work fragmentation and disorganization and above all inconsistency in work, getting further from reaching their goals.

Collaboration technology offers enterprise solutions that increase productivity and workforce collaboration.

But how?

How can collaborative software solve enterprise challenges?

Let’s take a look at some numbers.

• The average knowledge worker spends 15-25% of his/her time just looking for information, according to IDC White Paper
• Knowledge workers spent approximately 28% of their time dealing with email, according to McKinsey Global Institute
• By 2017, we will be sending and receiving 132 billion emails each day, according to the Radicati Group’s report

Time management isn’t an individual problem

Time management is an institutional problem and companies do have control over it, given that corporate structure is the cause of the problem.

If for instance every department in your company uses different tools, analytic tools for marketing departments, financial dashboard for accounting or a project tracking software for the development team, how fast can you pull all data from different tools to create one report? 

The solution? A collaborative project management tool.

Collaboration tools are created to change the way a company works, but this change is seen in enhancing the workflow by changing the way teams or departments communicate. 

With effective collaboration project management tool, first and foremost, content will be centralized for employees to share information and insights easily and effortlessly. By knowing who is working on what project,  real-time reporting is accessible and the employees will have access to the right information. 

To improve email communication, collaboration tools can easily organize communication threads letting you track conversation from different platforms or by projects and groups. What was once an endless reply-to-all communication, with the right communication tools, email communication can be organized for easy view and access.

Timely communication is the key for effective project management and teamwork productivity.  Tweet

When and if you see the work in all stages,  it’s easier to prioritize and coordinate.

But, what about employee-manager relationship and communication?

If we turn to reports, this is what we know:

• 85% employees and executives blame ineffective communication and lack of collaboration for workplace failures, according to Fierce. Inc
• Only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work, according to Gallup’s report
• 52 % of UK workers do not have confidence in senior leadership, that is, in managers’ ability to motivate and guide them through modern business environment, according to Towers Watson. A lack of trust is also one of the top reason to consider leaving a job.

Moreover,

• 59% of middle managers lose valuable information every day  mostly because they can’t find those information or never see it, according to Accenture report
• For 42 % of IT managers and 40% of HR managers there is “too much information” for their job, which hinder their work

Good teamwork without good leadership and motivation is bound to failure sometimes in the future.

Employees that get respect from their leaders reported 89% greater enjoyment with their work and 92% greater focus and prioritization.

In an article Why Are So Many Employees Disengaged?, Victor Lipman explains that most employees are disengaged at work because of the relationships with their supervisors:

“Put simply, the qualities commonly associated with management and leadership – being authoritative, decisive, forceful, perhaps somewhat controlling, if not moderated by a high degree of awareness as to how one comes across and is perceived by others, are also qualities that have the potential to easily alienate those on the receiving end.”

While pay is critically important, the relationship with managers is what engages and motivates employees. Leadership and the message from the top create and set an organization's culture and influence and determine levels of employee engagement.

How collaborative technology helps leaders and managers communicate better and motivate their employees?

Shared technology standardizes workflow and automate things, for instance progress reports, that way managers won0t waste time searching for documents, which will result in faster project completion. Moreover, given collaborative software provides visual information, executives can identify priorities and see the stages of the project.

The main purpose of collaborative technology is to enhance workflow and communication which means collaborative tools are built to meet the needs of different working styles and methods.

Corporate leadership can achieve productivity by giving an employee a chance to solve problems in an innovative way. Collaborative technology enables employees to accomplish their goals in a more flexible way, which increases productivity and satisfaction in the job.

Collaborative technology helps leaders and managers recognize the best skills in their employees. Feedback from managers doesn’t only send a clear message that a job is well done, but also that employees are recognized, valued and appreciated. Companies with engaged workers have higher productivity, profitability and customer ratings, and lower absenteeism. When we are honored, we are more motivated. 

Collaborative technology contributes to eliminating unwanted behaviour and attitude of individuals and create a positive corporate culture, setting the norms and principles of work. Freedom in work is motivational, still employees should be aware of what is acceptable and what’s not. Leaders should be good listeners, approachable, easy to talk to, and perceptive. If companies are concerned about high level of employee disengagement, they should quaestion their managers’ skills and abilities.

Harnessing the right collaborative technology means that every person in your company speaks the same language. Tweet