Why Can’t Collaboration Technology Get Any Love?
Even though the benefits of collaboration technology are well-known and widely accepted, there is still a resistance in the widespread adoption of collaboration technology. This kind of technology has made life easier for so many of us, especially those who are spread out across the globe, but you cannot reap the benefits without first taking the plunge. Following are reasons why collaboration technology is worth it:
* Cost — Travel, when not impossible, is often more expensive than videoconferencing or IMs.
* Convenience — Technology allows you to communicate at any time through Twitter, text messaging, email, IMs or calls.
* Workplace pressure — The more your colleagues embrace this technology, the harder it will be for the others to stubbornly resist.
* Productivity benefits — Studies show that this type of technology helps you to get more done.
* Support — Offer support to colleagues who might be uncomfortable trying it out.
* Personalization — People think that face-to-face is essential, but the truth is that they can often be more informal via chat, tweets, etc.
Today’s corporations have more field-based workers than ever before. Employees are spread far and wide. Many reasons prompt this trend: outsourcing to external vendors and/or offshoring; allowing employees to work from home for environmental reasons; technology like this makes it easier to connect and communicate if you’re not in the office. This shift creates a clear requirement for collaboration software, which enables multiple users to stay connected and work together on projects from any location on nearly any device.
Collaboration technology typically includes email, shared calendaring, VoIP services, video conferencing, collaborative documents and message boards, among many other platforms. Most companies agree that these technologies save money on travel, office space and IT expenditures.
TJ Keitt, senior analyst for Forrester Research, asks, “So why, in a business world where 42% of the workforce is mobile, do just 19% and 9% of content and collaboration professionals see improved innovation and faster time to market, respectively, as outcomes of using collaboration software?”
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