It isn’t surprising that more corporations and organizations are understanding that collaboration can be an integral part of their overall development.
After all, technology allows workers to be more agile and remote than ever, and collaboration allows for a new level of idea sharing and communication.
When you also consider that organizations are forced to become more globalized than ever to increase profits, the demand for collaboration is only strengthening.
While artificial intelligence and automation are emerging technological trends, it is still clear that they cannot replace human creativity, experience, knowledge, and intuition.
CEO's are still eager to find the most talented and skilled workers that they can, and this means searching not only nearby, but scouring the global marketplace for potential hires. In fact, 80% of business executives agree that more U.S. companies should expand internationally for long-term growth.
Unfortunately, there are still cases where collaborations fail. Here are five reasons why that might happen:
Believing that UC = UC&C
There are more ways to stay connected throughout the world than ever, but unified communications and collaboration is about much more than just the messaging provided through unified communications.
It isn’t a single tool, but a strategy meant to ensure the productivity of organizations, through all of the various platforms, devices, and technologies out there. It means that you can simultaneously reduce costs and improve productivity, which is important for organizations in any sector.
Of course, if you believe that unified communications and collaboration is simply messaging, you won’t be utilizing it the way that you should be: to respond quickly to customers, collaborate with partners productively, and improve overall efficiency.
UC&C should be a way for your business or organization to remain as flexible as possible while also reducing IT costs.
Refusing To Standardize
There are many businesses that believe in cloning software rather than standardization, where systems can be standardized and centralized. It is easy to see how employees having to adapt to new video or audio systems can not only waste time, but it can end up hindering productivity in the long run.
In fact, it can be argued that standardization can boost morale by enabling employees to embrace the idea of “centralization”.
This means that your purchases will also be centralized. This is important for organizations to stay up to date with respect to technology and which devices and equipment might need to be replaced.
Whether it relates to inventory, policy, or overall efficiency, choosing to not standardize can be an example of how collaboration can fail, and an organization can might become less productive and/or efficient.
Believing People All Work The Same
There is something to be said for individuality, and that permeates every aspect of life, both personal and professional.
We all have our own methods when it comes to learning, understanding, and communicating, and an organization should understand that not every employee works the same way. There are some that might be more suited to a board meeting, others that might not adjust well when it comes to data analysis, and others that might provide their best wisdom on a video conference.
The truth is that there are all sorts of ways to convey information, whether it involves annotating a whiteboard or hopping on a conference call.
An organization with a diverse group of employees truly need to understand that there are geographical, cultural, creative, and individual methods that employees might prefer, that will help the organization be the most productive that it can be.
Keeping Content In Analog
We all know that there’s no reason that businesses, no matter the sector, shouldn’t be completely up to date with technology.
While there may have been companies that downplayed the Internet during its early days, there is simply no way that a company can deny the importance of a digital online presence at this point.
Similarly, content cannot be kept in analog if collaboration is expected. The fact that information of all kinds can be shared through cloud computing and the BYOD (bring your own device) policy.
This enables employees to constantly be in tune with the company’s operations, and information can even be accessed outside of typical work hours, if need be.
For collaboration to be a reality, content simply cannot be kept in analog.
Poor Planning
There are some that believe that because of all of the technology that is now available, that planning still isn’t a priority.
However, this simply isn’t realistic. It doesn’t matter how productive your organization is, collaboration still takes an incredible amount of time and effort to coordinate.
The truth is that while technology can certainly help make certain business processes easier, a true enterprise unified communications strategy is a delicate dance between employees, partners, and customers that has to be scalable as well as user-friendly.
Poor planning might involve not understanding your existing infrastructure in order to roll out an effective enterprise unified communications strategy, which can lead to all sorts of major issues for your company.
Proper time and research is required for collaboration to truly succeed, and the “planning” aspect of collaboration should never be downplayed in any manner.
Conclusion
While there are some organizations that might feel overwhelmed by the concept of true collaboration, the truth is that it can take an organization to an entirely new level.
However, it does require that technology is effectively used, that individual personalities and methods are understood and addressed, and that all content must be digitized.
Of course, collaboration also requires a certain level of planning and centralization to be most effective. In this manner, collaboration truly has the best chances of succeeding.
Written by: Muriel De Bruyne on Tuesday, June 15, 2021