Collaboration is important for many businesses and it is something that takes some time to master. In fact, a lot of businesses that do pretty well struggle when it comes to getting their project teams and operational staff to work together. Today, we thought we would take a look at technologies and strategies that will not only help collaboration, but can promise rises in productivity as well. 

Voice over Internet Protocol

It’s no secret that the telephone system is one of any business’ most crucial tools. What may be a secret, however, is that you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get the comprehensive business telephone system you need. Most businesses that still use telephone services through a telephone company are missing out on an opportunity to significantly cut their communications costs while also gaining access to some of the very best collaborative tools a business can have. 

VoIP is a platform that uses your business’ Internet connection to fuel its telephone system. Not only does it provide the crystal-clear communication that customers and employees demand, it also provides options that no RJ11 cable can deliver. Services like video conferencing, text messaging, and mobile phone access make VoIP a much more valuable product than your typical business telephone service through the telephone company. With hundreds of additional features available, you can pick and choose the communications platform that is right for your needs and budget. 

Cloud-Hosted Collaboration Tools

One of the positive elements that has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic is that since so many people worked (or are continuing to work) remotely that many businesses had to find a way to get their newly-remote employees the tools and resources they need(ed) to have a chance of success. A lot of businesses had moved some of their information systems to the cloud previously, of course, but the growth of cloud-hosted management software nearly tripled from March 2020 to today. 

There are several platforms that work for businesses. Some choose to go with services that allow for one-button video conferencing, while others lean heavily on the message board and instant messaging capabilities. Some just provide collaborative access inside working documents. Regardless of what platform a business uses, however, it should be noted that it is all in a concerted effort to build a collaborative workforce in a time when a lot of their human resources need remote access.

Today, a business can get about any type of computing they need in a cloud-hosted platform from some of the top business software developers on the market. Google, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and others can be used to the benefit of just about any business that is looking to expand their computing capabilities to the cloud to adapt to an increasingly-remote workforce.

Move Support Off Production Workers

For many businesses, the same people that create products and services are forced into support roles due to budget constraints. If you want your team to be on point and working collaboratively, having to juggle support issues could be negatively affecting their productivity. There are several ways that you can move support off of your employees. They include:

• A rotating support schedule - Instead of having support be a major distraction for your whole staff, consider assigning one or two workers to handle support calls and requests on a rotating schedule. Not only does this provide fairness, it also ensures that your product and service support is covered as it is a crucial part of your offering. 
• Hire new workers for support - If you have extra capital, hiring a support staff is one of the most effective ways to get returns out of a department that doesn’t bring in much in the way of revenue. 
• Use technology - Nowadays there are artificially-intelligent platforms that can be used to handle organizational support queries effectively and keeps the amount of human resources involved with support to a minimum. 

Collaboration is going to continue to be a key for a lot of businesses as purse strings tighten in the near future. Getting your team to work together improves your products, services, and your customers’ experience. If you would like to talk to one of our knowledgeable IT consultants about how to integrate the right technology to get your team working together more effectively, give us a call today at (203) 261-2201.