Forbes magazine recently put out a list of the most annoying buzzwords in business. The article explains that these buzzwords function as lip service that never gets implemented, which makes them so maddening. "Buy-in," "empower" and "ecosystem" all made the list.
Using terms about collaboration without actually taking any action is frustrating for employees, especially since there are technological solutions that enable businesses to collaborate across departments, geographic regions and personality types. The following are a few of the tools that businesses can use to implement collaboration.
Collaboration Based on Behavior
The first step in creating strong collaborations is finding the habits that make them durable. Shadowmatch is a behavioral benchmarking platform that identifies habits of collaborative partners. It focuses on behavior rather than personality, so it can work on business performance and team development. These identifiers can be used to plan departmental and operational strategies across the entire business. Business owners can use Shadowmatch to identify the actions that make a positive impact in their staff and then replicate them across their entire organization.
Cloud Accounting for Business Development
Assuming that the overall goal of any business is to make money, its financial information is the hub of all company communication. Sales and marketing have a stake in the company's income, and operations are drivers of expense. Even employee job satisfaction is related to overall financial success.
To facilitate fiscal collaboration across departments, give managers access to a cloud-based accounting package like Sage One. Successful businesses make decisions based on their profit and loss statements, which are composed of an income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flow and change in equity. Giving senior managers live access to online accounting software allows them to communicate and immediately make changes to effect better results.
Data Sharing Across the Cloud
Collaboration is nothing more than storytelling if facts are not being shared. Idea sharing is one thing, but numbers are the facts of a business. Another form of cloud-based technology is the Software as a Service (SaaS) utilization of Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). This algorithm lets Web services share data and create collaborative conversations with other service providers. The BPEL algorithms organize the conversations and automate things that can be performed without human interactions. This enables employees to devote their time to things that need a human mind.
Collaboration 2.0
Businesses need to make their collaborative process as simple and accessible as possible. Like Web 2.0, in which user-generated content takes center stage, Collaboration 2.0 is an overarching platform of collaborative tools that depend on the user’s implementation. Under the Collaboration 2.0 umbrella are apps and tools like Google Hangouts, Microsoft Office 365’s file sharing and Voice over IP conference calling. When employees have access to Wi-Fi, they can control their collaborative functions.
Groupware
It's the company’s job to facilitate collaboration and match employees with the needed behaviors and skills together. Then, it's the business owner's job to let the collaborators take the reins. Creating a Groupware space is one way to accomplish this. Groupware is any software that can be used by multiple people, usually using one rack space. Businesses should develop the rack space for their companies to make successful collaboration something more than a talking point that is easily dismissed.
Although collaboration is a buzzword without meaning in many companies, it is still an important part of successful businesses. Business owners should give their employees the tools and space to collaborate and see how much it benefits their company.