It’s no secret that communication is a vital part of running a successful business. Enabling your workforce to actively and quickly communicate with clients and with each other has been imperative since the start of business. Now, within the rapid-pace of our continuously growing digital economy, utilizing technology to communicate quickly and effectively is key to reducing wasted hours and supporting overall productivity.
The rise of remote work environments as the pandemic rages on has caused all businesses, small and large, to take a hard look at their technical communication capabilities. While today, face-to-face communication has undoubtedly become more of a luxury than a given, there is an incredible array of communication devices, apps, and platforms to help your workforce communicate and collaborate effectively.
If we’re to look for small silver linings when it comes to the current health crisis, it’s that digital communication has had to adapt, becoming more intuitive and sophisticated than ever before. In today’s blog, let’s look at these innovations and how they can help your business adapt and compete in a remote digital landscape.
Business Communication Platforms & Apps
Business communication platforms and apps have been around for a while now. They have recently gone from a “nice-to-have” to an essential functionality aid for small to medium-sized businesses. These platforms, such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, enable employees, managers, and teams to communicate with each other instantly, similar to the AOL Instant Messaging days of old.
Best of all, communication apps take the reliance off of clunky email communication, freeing up your inbox for clients and customers, and instead utilizes instant messaging, group chats, and private team channels. Notification features also help prevent lost, unread, or accidentally ignored messages while employees are out of the office.
Team Management Applications
Want more in-depth management and project communication? Various team management platforms, such as Trello, Monday, and Podio, provide minute-to-minute project updates, tracking, and internal communication features to boost team productivity actively. These platforms enable team managers, owners, and project leaders to assign and explain various tasks in detail, replacing tedious in-person meetings.
Many of these applications feature up-to-date file sharing as well, increasing the overall ease of remote collaboration. This makes work highly transparent and visible to everyone on the team or project, ensuring that mix-ups and miscommunications are significantly reduced. Team managers or supervisors can also track timesheets and scheduling regarding their teams, keeping projects on track to deadlines.
Video Conferencing
Video conferencing has become the number one way of communicating crucial information in the age of remote work. Platforms such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, and even Facebook Messenger have made it easier than ever to hop on a quality video call to host a meeting or communicate quick information before heading back to complete your daily tasks.
While many may prefer “face-to-face” communication, unfortunately, it’s just not possible for many businesses at the moment. With presentations, screen-sharing, fun background filters, and fleshed out meeting control settings for hosts, video conferencing has become an intuitive, user-friendly, and accessible option for overall business communication and even collaboration.
Categorised in: Business Management, Digital Age, Organization, remote employees, remote work, remote workers