Tip of the Week: Collaborate Better

Today’s businesses are more dependent on collaboration than ever before, and that’s without even taking the current social climate into consideration. However, accounting for these considerations, it seemed appropriate that we shared a few tips to help increase your collaborative capabilities while your team is working remotely.

Prioritize Concision and Clarity

While communication is vital to your business, it can become detrimental to your operations if it is abused. Think about the meeting that goes on endlessly with only a little being accomplished. This is never a good situation, and it’s only all the worse when the team you’re working with is a remote one.

Make sure your team is using its technology appropriately and keeping things efficient and streamlined. Adopting a company shorthand can help move communications along—a quick label tossed in the message can give it a little more context. For instance, adding NRN to a message for “No Response Needed” lets the person getting your message know that no further action has to be taken (provided that everyone understands what NRN means). Figure out what works best for you and your operations and make use of that.

Use the Right Tool

With as many communications as a business handles it only makes sense that there are so many methods to communicate with. Depending on the message, one form of communication may be the better option than another. Addressing a group via an email is much more effective than using an instant message, while the opposite may be the case when addressing an individual. This stands true for all your communication methods, from virtual meetings and other means of reaching out to your remote coworkers.

Test and Retest

Once you’ve decided upon a communication tool, don’t assume that there isn’t a better way to use it, or that it will be the best for your business in perpetuity.

So, instead of assuming that what you’ve selected is the be-all-end-all for your business, evaluate how your processes are working. If you find any inefficiencies, determine what caused them and figure out what needs to be done to eliminate them. Make your adjustments, substitutions, additions, and/or eliminations, and try it again. It may be that your employees just need more direction on what is involved in the process. Once you’ve made your changes, test it again, and repeat until things improve or a better option presents itself.

Computerware is here to help, as we can help you implement the solutions you need as we monitor them for these issues. To learn more about what we have to offer, give Computerware a call at (703) 821-8200.