History Repeating: How collaboration tools ignite business success

It wasn’t that long ago when people had to be physically in a place to meet another person. Over the last century, we have seen a rise in technology that has impacted the consumer and business behaviour across the human race that has seen us become more informed, more knowledgeable and more efficient. Think about it. In the 18th and 19th centuries where industries were thriving with the industrial revolution and the rise of business, wealth was with the few. As well as language and geographical restrictions that prevented the business growth that businesses desired was a grim reality of the past with stories of merchants that would have to travel to countries to negotiate and collaborate on their working projects. Fast forward to the start of the twenty-first century and we can see that with the developments in technology, we have also created enhanced developments in our communication and collaboration abilities through voice collaboration technology that has impacted our behavioural habits and working practices to drive success in our modern day working lifestyle.

Catching the technology wave early on

In terms of business correspondence, there was the letter that migrated to the email. There was the messenger or the telegraph which is now the phone or even instant messenger. There was the need to visit someone in their physical environment such as an office, where as now, you can be there virtually without even leaving your surroundings. It almost sounds like it is something out of a science fiction movie. But this is the reality that we live in, and it is time for us to seize the opportunities that exist that will not only make us succeed, but will further help us plan, manage, deliver and coordinate our tasks in order for us to fulfill our business objectives. The improvements in technological software and hardware continue to reap benefits for businesses that are early adopters. Improving the operations within the business, saving on expenses and yielding better profits is the dream that business owners are after.

The common challenges with collaborating

Organising a team to collaborate efficiently, effectively and cooperatively is often a massive challenge. This includes aligning everyone’s vision, motivation, task scheduling and delivery of tasks to meet deadlines and project milestones. Although people have been collaborating successfully for hundreds and thousands of years, there’s been a tendency to waste a lot of resources due to the collaboration process that is undertaken. And this has mainly been fuelled by the limitation belief (or realisation) that has been the bottleneck for increasing efficiency and workflow processes. Limitations such as:

• Geographical location
• Technology and infrastructure setup
• Training requirements on processes and collaborations
• Accessibility to communication channels

While these limitations can and still do exist, they need not be a barrier for businesses choosing to excel their collaboration processes. Businesses committed to improving their process can thrive on the availability of tools across a wide range of platforms. From desktop extensions to smartphone and web applications, businesses can customize a suite of tools that best serves their collaboration purposes.

Businesses can leverage these collaboration tools to create a virtual office. There is no longer a limit to working due to geographical restrictions. Online collaboration tools allow people to access their virtual office to complete their work from any location as long as they have web access to IP and web addresses. The tools range from:

• Project management collaboration
• Instant messaging and chat conference
• Workflow management
• Task management

These tools also allow productivity in real time. Just as if the person were to be in an office, feedback between collaborators can be achieved instantaneously, allowing for quicker amends and a reduction in project delays. So look into a suite that suits your business and that will improve your organisations collaborative efforts for the better.

What should we expect in terms of success?

Businesses who integrate collaborative technology into their organisation should reap from employee-driven innovation, improved productivity and efficiency. This benefit should transfer into increased revenues, reduced expenses and yield better profits for the business over the long term.