The Value of Simple and Seamless Collaboration

By Marina Gregory, Chief Operating Officer - 28 Feb, 2017
Collaboration & UC
4 Minutes Read

In today’s constantly evolving business landscape, most of us feel an urgent need to collaborate and stay connected. We use smartphones, tablets, and laptops on a daily basis on almost every level of work. And, with the increasing use of various mobile devices in the workplace, it’s a challenge to keep collaboration between coworkers, clients, and teams open and free-flowing. But if you want to keep your company viable, simple and seamless collaboration is a must.

Why? The globalization of business is here. Whether it’s across the office or across the Pacific, companies need to be able to communicate with their clients and team members. They must find ways to push beyond clutter and unnecessary difficulties in their communications. The answer is collaboration technology.

Why Collaboration is Vital

The saying, “time is money” is as relevant now as it’s ever been. And in today’s competitive marketplace, most organizations are looking for ways to save time and streamline their efforts in driving revenue.

Easily finding information and sharing it with the intended person or persons in real time has obvious benefits for both employers and employees. Programs like Microsoft Teams include software that eliminates long searches for content and gives employees the power to share and collaborate on multiple devices simultaneously.

Video collaboration is becoming one of the most powerful and streamlined methods to communicate efficiently. Through video collaboration, companies don’t only save time, but also promote more positive relationships with whomever the collaboration is taking place. And while employee morale and client relationships are important to any company, so are the numbers.

Companies that utilize video collaboration grow almost twice as fast as businesses that choose not to adopt video collaboration at all. If that statistic is not incentive enough, 41 percent of video collaboration users say it made decision making faster, and 71 percent stated it increased productivity in the workplace. With these kinds of statistics, it’s easy to see why more and more companies are choosing to explore video collaboration options.

Collaboration in the Mobile Age

Today, most of us has a device in our hands or pockets. With everyone interconnected, collaboration should be at an all-time high, but, surprisingly, it’s not. Mobile workers still find it difficult to access information essential to doing their jobs. Mobile collaboration, when implemented and used correctly has major benefits for a business. Performance, communication, and employee satisfaction are all increased when mobile collaboration is in the mix. If businesses want to best their competitors and stay on the cutting edge of efficiency, adopting mobile collaboration should be at the top of their list.

Challenges of Simple Collaboration

While there are a wide range of benefits to collaboration, there are some challenges you must consider. First and foremost, your organization needs to have clear and concise strategy when implementing new collaboration technology. While the majority of employees find collaboration tech helpful and easy to use, some don’t. And, unless you instruct your entire team on how to use and maintain the collaboration tool or technology properly, you won’t get the most out your investment.

Security is another issue to consider with collaboration technologies—mobile in particular—and your IT teams will need to thoroughly vet the collaboration tools before your employees start using them. IT teams are charged with the task of monitoring the technologies but must have a proactive and fast reaction when presented with anything perceived as a risk to security. With a vigilant IT team and a strong security policy in place, you shouldn’t have too much cause for concern.

Simple and Seamless Collaboration is a Must

Collaboration technology is at the forefront of the tactics companies are employing to increase productivity, build better relationships, and increase revenue. The bottom line is this—If you want to stay viable and competitive in the marketplace, simple and seamless collaboration is a must.

To learn more, download our whitepaper: Why User Experience Is Critical to Better Business Collaboration.

At New Era Technology we empower live meetings and remote collaboration by deploying the technology that helps your organization connect, communicate and engage with its customers, employees, and stakeholders. Connect with us to find out more about how New Era can help you achieve your business and technology goals.

 

Photo Credit: ScottKrautman Flickr via Compfight cc

Author: Marina Gregory, Chief Operating Officer