Communication has always been one of the key factors for business success. Without good communication, there’s no collaboration between departments or individual employees, which could mean potential inconveniences and misunderstandings.
Such issues can hinder an entire company and prevent it from growing or developing further. Fortunately, modern technology has improved business communication systems, thus allowing companies to utilize the full potential of such systems.
Not only does this help a company improve its productivity, efficiency and overall performance, but it also bridges the collaboration gaps. When employees can communicate and collaborate seamlessly, they can do a much better job, as well as make more strategic decisions based on facts and relevant information.
That’s why it’s of vital importance that every company today makes an effort to improve an existing business communication system or implement a new one that will ensure exceptional company-wide communication and collaboration. With that in mind, here are a few ways business communication systems can bridge your company’s collaboration gaps.
Conferencing and face-to-face meetings
Human interactions are essential for good communication and collaboration between employees. Emails and instant messaging apps are great ways to communicate but they are often not personal enough for employees to form a healthy business relationship.
Conferencing and face-to-face meetings are, therefore, ideal ways to bridge this gap. Face-to-face meetings are designed for in-house employees who can meet at one place and share ideas or insights, whereas video conferencing is ideally suited for remote employees who cannot attend such meetings in person. When it comes to remote work, more and more companies are leveraging this trend.
However, if remote employees are not included in everyday company activities or if the communication with their coworkers is hindered in any way, they will soon become isolated and they’ll start to lose their morale, which can lead to a huge collaboration gap. That’s why your business communication system should include remote employees and make them feels like regular members of the team.
Effective phone systems
Phone calls may seem like they are an outdated communication method with all the apps and other modern gadgets going about. However, phone systems are still one of the most effective communication methods, especially when it comes to cross-department collaboration. For instance, if you choose Nextiva toolbar, which is one of the best office phone systems, you can vastly improve both customer service and support. Not only do such systems improve communication between your staff and customers, but they also enhance collaboration between departments. Customer support can easily contact other colleagues from sales or marketing departments to help resolve an issue a customer is having or to help provide them with relevant answers to their questions.
Moreover, marketing and sales teams can quickly communicate over the phone to create ideal strategies without the need for lengthy meetings or troublesome email correspondence. Oftentimes, the departments need to act quickly and communication over the phone is ideally suited for such scenarios.
Seamless flow of information
The successful collaboration between employees and their departments rests on the free and seamless flow of information. Back in the day, companies would silo relevant information. Managers or executives would then decide whether to disclose any of that information to employees.
Nowadays, it’s vital for companies to get rid of information silos and allow information to be freely shared between departments. Information in written form is particularly handy in such cases.
However, thanks to modern technology, written information doesn’t have to be handed out on paper. Instead, companies can leverage cloud services as a form of a business communication system.
The cloud allows for any piece of information or a document to be stored in the online storage where it’s available to all employees wherever they may be and on any device they may be using. That way, employees can access documents and information whenever they need it and leverage data to improve their efficiency, collaboration and productivity.
Knowledge sharing
Companies hire new employees all the time. However, these new employees need to be brought up to speed regarding company activities, operations and so on. This is an ideal moment to foster communication and collaboration for the very beginning.
Various tools, such as virtual classrooms, project management software, messaging apps and so on can help new employees create a relationship with their coworkers, as well as help them learn and hone their skills. This way, a company can guarantee collaboration through effective communication between their current and their newly-hired employees.
Therefore, by integrating your existing business communication system with relevant tools and apps, you can not only boost the productivity of all your employees but also encourage teamwork and collaboration company-wide.
Effective communication and seamless collaboration are vital for companies and their employees. That’s why the necessity for quality business communication systems is, indeed, important. Without such systems in place, the collaboration gap in your company may become too wide to bridge.