What can companies do to successfully break out of collaboration via email? A few suggestions from practice:
1. Provide information and assistance on how to handle emails, e.g.
For which use cases is email the appropriate tool?
How do I deal with emails and how quickly do I have to respond?
2. Make agreements on how email is used in the company, e.g.
What information should be included in an email so that the recipient knows how to handle it?
When will additional recipients be added to CC?
3. Provide opportunities for real digital collaboration, e.g.
Collaboration and digital collaboration belong on appropriate platforms, such as Microsoft SharePoint or IBM Connections
Enable ad-hoc 1:1 communication between two employees via messenger.
Email is not a collaboration tool, but rather a collaboration inhibitor. However, the technology should not be described as bad across the board. It is a question of application: Or do you criticize Microsoft Word for its limited video editing options, for example? Everything has its purpose.
Using collaboration software for digital collaboration
You now know why email is not a collaboration tool. But how can you work together successfully digitally in the future instead? There are now countless special collaboration software programs. Providing an overview of them would go far beyond the scope of this article. And it would be of little use to you, because it is not the software that makes companies more productive, but the targeted application that takes into account the user's needs and the company or organization's goals.
Regardless of whether a company uses comprehensive collaboration platforms such as Microsoft SharePoint, IBM Connections or the Point Solution of a smaller social network provider: Before making any tool decision, it must be analyzed whether and where added value can be generated through digital collaboration and what will be necessary for a successful introduction. In principle, a strategic approach model is recommended, which should answer the following questions, among others:
* How do different employee groups work together today?
* What are the information needs of these groups?
* How is communication carried out between hierarchical levels?
* What is the company's purpose and how does it generate revenue?
* What does the target system look like?
* How are employees managed (e.g. target setting)?
* What does the IT landscape look like?
This list gives an initial insight into the questions that companies that successfully use collaboration software for digital collaboration have asked themselves. And now it's your turn!
Tim MikšaThe author: Tim Mikša is one of the pioneers of the social bank data workplace and an expert in Enterprise 2.0. As founder and CEO of netmedia, he is responsible for strategy consulting and helps companies on their way to the socially networked working age. His topics are the digital workplace of the future, effective social business strategies and new management concepts through Leadership 2.0. As a networker, he is driven by interesting dialogues, new contacts and exciting ideas.