Technology has changed the landscape of our planet, and it will continue to do so even more as our reliance on it continues to grow. Our workplaces went from benefiting from just a bit additional tech to relying solely upon it to make our workdays as effective as possible. This need for good technology has placed it at the very top of the list of concerns for business owners. Technology is constantly evolving, and it seems that every day there is a new piece of technology that makes another obsolete, but none of this matters if – after purchasing the latest greatest tools – you don’t use them to their full potential.
Modern workplaces are flexible. Again, it is technology that has made this possible, allowing us to change business processes on a whim and then back again, but there is one element of the workplace that must stay at the very highest standards all the time no matter the circumstances, and that is communication. Effective communication is essential for all businesses – regardless of the sector in which they occupy, your team needs to be able to communicate with each other, your client base, suppliers, partners, and various other entities, with very little delay; if not there is no way they can be productive throughout their workday.
Business owners know that a digital transformation is on the horizon, but what are the options to solve the communicative challenges of the modern workday? Is there any way that you, your team, and the various entities involved with your business can communicate seamlessly whatever the circumstances?
The answer is ‘Yes, there is’, but why is this necessary? What is wrong with the traditional methods of communication that we are all so familiar with?
Communication – The Traditional/Dated Methods
Email is one of the most revolutionary communicative tools of all time, and has played a key role in keeping us connected to each other and our client base since way back in the early 70’s. This is unprecedented, as technology never stays relevant for this long – Email was unique, nothing else could do what it could do. ‘Was’ is the key word here though, because Email is simply no longer good enough for the modern workplace.
Spam – the mere mention of the word is enough to send shivers down one’s spine! Yes, filters are getting better, but, in today’s world, these communications have become the majority of all Email traffic sent and received on a daily basis. This form of traffic – as you know – offers literally no value to your team, who can’t be spending their time searching for important information through an onslaught of ads for takeaways and holidays. The modern workday needs to be productive consistently so this waste of time simply isn’t good enough.
Even if we ignore the problems that are posed by Spam Emails it still has its problems, the main one being that it is very time consuming (a conversation can take hours to come to a conclusion) – when those hours could be spent in a much better way.
The Telephone
The telephone is still as important now as it always has been – of course, they have changed a lot since the old days, but the premise is the same. The modern world offers many wonderful alternatives, but the phone still stands proud as the best form of communication for a personal one- to-one conversation – apart from a face-to-face meeting, of course. In business in particular, our tone of voice, the language we use, and the mannerisms we adopt – play a pivotal role in the outcome of our conversations. The phone is a great platform for projecting your personality into the conversation, which in business – as you know – is essential. As we said, there are many wonderful alternatives (like Microsoft Teams or Zoom, for example), but, for an impromptu conversation that needs to be personable, the phone is the best choice by quite some way.
Of course, we aren’t saying that the phone is dated and you need to get rid of all of the phones in your organization, but what we are saying is to upgrade your current phone system so that you can reap the benefits of the new alternatives whilst simultaneously still enjoying the advantages of the phone calls you are used to.
Clients in the modern age are fickle and will simply find a new business to deal with if their demands aren’t met as and when they wish. The telephone is the main form of communication to stop this from happening. Your telephone keeps you in contact with the various entities that enable you to offer a top-quality service. You must be contactable at all times; customers won’t care about your reasoning if you aren’t.
Meetings
Meetings used to be undertaken in a conference or coffee room in the office his way of doing things has never been productive – but we had no other way of doing things. It could be an extremely difficult task, to find dates and times that suit all the members of your team – but, in recent times, technology has offered a lifeline and has allowed businesses to better use their time.
In the next article we will explore modern communicative methods (VoIP) and take a deep look into how they can bring your workplace into the modern era.
Communication made easy
Since 2002, Echelon Technologies has been a leading provider of IT support and consulting, focusing on small and medium-sized businesses in the Greater Phoenix area. We have helped hundreds of companies, and thousands of users, to increase productivity and profitability by making IT a streamlined part of their operations. We equip our clients with customized technology solutions for greater operational value and to reduce risk. Please don’t hesitate to get in contact and see what we can do for you.
