Fostering Effective Communication and Collaboration in the Workplace

Effective communication and collaboration in the workplace are critical to high performance, employee engagement, and productivity. Achieving these advantages though requires a multi-pronged strategy. Added to that, with many more team members working remotely or in hybrid environments, the adoption of new collaborative technologies is quickly growing into an increasingly important part of the picture.

Benefits of workplace collaboration: collaboration has long boosted productivity and performance

In conducting a series of Total Economic Impact (TEI) studies about communication and collaboration technologies over the years, Forrester has determined that in almost all cases the most significant benefit is higher productivity. 

“Not only can the number of in-person meetings be reduced, but the associated time in travel, preparation, and follow-up is also brought down. These types of technologies can also make finding information much easier; collaboration technologies, for instance, enable chat and feedback in the same place as where documents are shared, saving the need to search through emails, go to shared folder links, and update spreadsheets,” Forrester analysts said in a blog post.

Earlier studies show that communication and collaboration in the workplace have long been a major ingredient in company performance too. Workers primed to act collaboratively stuck with their task 64% longer than their solitary counterparts. They also reported higher success rates, lower fatigue levels, and higher engagement levels, according to a Stanford University survey.

Yet another study discovered that companies promoting collaborative work are five times more likely to be high-performing. The key to productive collaboration is establishing a sense of purpose, according to results of the research, performed among 1,100 organizations by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) and Rob Cross, Edward A. Madden Professor of Global Business at Babson College.  

Beyond that, businesses must make sure that a variety of systemic factors all work to support collaboration, the results suggested. These factors include how decisions are made, how employees are measured and rewarded, how information flows through the organization, and the physical design of the workplace.

Digital strategies to promote collaboration in the workplace

With the emergence of the pandemic and post-pandemic eras, the physical design of the workplace isn’t necessarily what it used to be. Many employees spend either all their time working at home, or only a few days a week in the office, technology is taking a stronger role than ever in fostering effective communication and collaboration.

In one post-pandemic study, for instance, McKinsey identified four different strategies utilized by “resilient” organizations, or the 50% of companies that experienced performance improvements during the pandemic. One of the strategies identified was that these resilient organizations are more likely to absorb and adopt new collaboration technologies.  

“Five years ago, the vast majority of group interactions took place via email, conference calls, or in-person meetings. We now have many more options,” according to McKinsey. “Learning about these collaborative tools and using them well becomes a mandate for team leaders and executives. “

What enterprise collaboration tools should you invest in?

The bottom line is that collaboration is no longer constrained by the limits of a traditional physical office. Employees are communicating with co-workers from their home offices, and are likely to do so increasingly from cars, hotels, and airports with the resumption of business travel. Meanwhile, many organizations are beginning to redesign their physical workspaces to better support multiple modes of hybrid collaboration. 

With that said, the collaboration tools chosen by your organization should support your overall strategy around how to improve communication and collaboration in the workplace. 

Many organizations, for example, have moved beyond email to include video meetings and virtual events for company teams, with some also embracing text-based tools for casual chats. Other organizations are adding more formalized video capabilities for company-wide presentations. 

Solutions from Yorktel

As your partner for digital transformation, Yorktel can help you to choose the right enterprise collaboration tools to support your strategy. 

Yorktel provides a full gamut of video and audio communications products from many different technology partners. These include Collaboration, AV integration, Digital Signage, Security, Streaming Virtual Media & Events, and IT-as-a-Service.

We also offer a complete range of professional services around communications and collaboration, including software licensing, subscriptions, and renewals, along with installation, commissioning, training, programming, integration, help desk, and managed services.

Yorktel’s Enterprise IT Consulting Services can provide you with as much assistance as you need to fulfill your strategy for improving communications and collaboration in your organization. To find out more, contact us at learnmore@yorktel.com