Communication – the modern way

Our workplaces have changed so much that they are almost unrecognisable in comparison to those from only two years ago. This is due to both our ever-increasing reliance on technology and the sudden – frankly catastrophic – effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had. Both situations led us to find new ways of working that will remain with us post-pandemic and long into the future. We now know that we will continue to improve and refine the technology to ensure we are using our time as productively as possible.

No matter what changes are made in and around the workplace, there is one ever-present factor that is essential to any workplace having a chance of remaining a successful thriving environment – and that is communication. Communication is the backbone of every organisation around the world; without it, there is no hope of being productive and effective.

Communication is no longer simply a conversation over the phone or face to face as, over the years, technology has enabled us to communicate in a variety of different ways. Let’s explore some of the ways of communicating that we are all familiar with and then delve into the future of communications.

Traditional communication

Email

By quite some way the most popular form of communication in the workplace during recent years has been Email. Email has had an incredible run – being at the peak of communications since its release in the early 1970’s is a very long time in tech terms. But is Email a good enough form of communication when compared with the capabilities of the modern workplace?

Email does have its problems, as we know, with spam being the most prominent. Spam filters are improving but a very large percentage of emails received are still spam and for some this simply isn’t good enough. The modern world of business simply doesn’t accommodate for the time it can take you to sift through the endless ads for local takeaways and the random website you visited a few months back, before you are able to continue with your important work.

The time it can take to convey conversations when using Email is far too long and simply not productive – users can spend hours playing ‘Email tennis’ and this has a serious derogatory effect on the amount they can achieve in a workday.

Meetings

Meetings are no longer meetings as you knew them. Traditionally, meetings consisted of the team forced into a cramped, hot room where the boss outlined the positives and negatives of the way business was being completed. Meetings conducted in this way have always posed problems – this is probably why meetings are often rarer than they should be in most workplaces. (It can also be an impossible task to find the best time for every team member to be free to attend, and the probability of a team member coming in on their day off for a meeting is practically nil.) However, in recent years – with the aid of technology – businesses have adopted an alternative method for arranging meetings – and it’s a very good one at that.

The Telephone

The Telephone still stands at the very peak of business communications, and this is showing no sign of changing – it is still by far the most popular form of communication for businesses worldwide. The modern world offers many alternatives but, let’s face it, there is nothing as powerful as tone of voice and your own language when trying to complete a business deal – the personal approach gives far better results than a written email or message. The alternatives include popular chat-based messaging platforms such as Teams and Zoom – but for conversations that need to take place right now the telephone is still predominantly the first choice for most.

We are by no means recommending that business owners get rid of their office telephones and move to the alternatives alone. However, we are recommending that you assess the phone system you are using as it is likely that it needs a modern makeover.

Traditional landline technology is dated. In the modern world of work it is essential that you are available to be contacted at all times. If potential or existing clients are unable to get in contact with you, there is the risk of them taking their business elsewhere or, at the very least, them having a bad image of the way you do business. The phone is the lifeline that keeps you, your customers, and your suppliers in contact, so if you wish to achieve levels of collaboration, communication, and productivity that will enable your business to not just survive but thrive it is imperative that you are contactable constantly. Nothing can stop this being possible. The modern customer doesn’t care what the circumstances of your absence were – be it an unforeseen power cut, a flood, or anything of the kind – they still want unbroken contact.

In the next blog, we will take an extensive look over modern communicative methods and see how these up-to-date methods have the power to revolutionise your workplace forever.

Guaranteeing the best methods of communication for your business

4TC take time to understand the daily challenges that your business faces. We then provide cost-effective tech solutions to these challenges that will help you save time, protect vital data, and enable you and your staff to be more effective with your time management. We will ensure that your team are using the best methods of communication that work for them, whilst making sure that they are educated on how to use them as productively as possible. Utilising your IT to its full potential is essential to guarantee that you and your business can thrive and grow into the future. If you would like to find out more on how 4TC Services can provide affordable tech management to your business, drop us an email or call us now for a full demonstration.