In order for any modern business to be successful, it is crucial that everyone is on the same page…and in order for this to happen, a business needs to have the tools available to collaborate and communicate, internally and externally.
Let’s take a few minutes to go over what these tools look like nowadays to see if we can identify any gaps in your own resources that should be filled.
Essential Tools for Internal Collaboration
Instant Messaging Platforms
Whether it is used to share kudos amongst a team or to engage in an acceptable level of off-topic banter, an instant messaging tool is infinitely useful for building company culture and developing a habit of communicating amongst the team. Frankly, they provide a much more convenient and less disruptive way to collaborate, whether participants are working on opposite sides of the room or at opposite ends of the country.
Project Management Platforms
Similarly, some tools help achieve collaboration at scale. Adopting such platforms enables entire departments to stay up to speed on projects, initiatives, and other work progress. By doing so, your efforts can be combined and optimized, helping drive the business forward as a unit.
Implementing these tools helps minimize the impacts of context switching, ensuring your team can quickly establish and maintain focus on the task at hand while empowering their efforts to be more impactful.
Critical Tools for External Communications
Unified Communications
You want your audience to have every possible means of reaching out to you, if only to eliminate any barriers that might have gotten in their way. Unfortunately, this greatly increases the number of tools you then have to manage on your end… unless you have a unified communications solution in place. Instead of having to bounce between platforms and potentially missing messages, UC can keep you on track and ready to respond to any incoming queries.
Video Conferencing
The face-to-face meeting can be a powerful and influential tool, even if the faces aren’t in the same room. Video conferencing tools allow you to hold conversations with someone wherever they are, signalling trust and more open communication.
Client Portals
While email is a wonderful communication tool, the back-and-forth nature of its messages can make clients feel as though they aren’t being heard, or at the very least that their words could be missed. The portal helps alleviate this by consolidating all communications into one clear, accessible space.
How to Ensure Your Communication Tools Have Lasting Power
Before you can do anything else, you need to know that whatever programs and platforms you use will stand the test of time. This means they need to meet three critical benchmarks:
- They need to be secure.
- They need to be user-friendly.
- They need the ability to grow with your business.
We can help you select, implement, and manage the communication and collaboration tools that work best for your needs.
Let us come in for a consultation so we can help steer you toward the IT that optimally serves your needs. Find out more and set up a time by reaching out at (504) 840-9800.
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