Collaboration is a common concern for the modern enterprise. After all, as organisations grow, and begin to explore the possibilities of flexible and remote working, professionals need more than just face-to-face opportunities for communication.
The good news is that thanks to workforce optimisation tools and team applications, there are countless ways for enterprises to bring their staff members together. The less-good news is that there are so many different collaboration solutions in the marketplace today, that it can be difficult to determine which solution is right for your enterprise.
Before you invest in a new collaboration strategy for your venture, make sure that you consider the following things.
1. There's Compromise in Collaboration
Many IT decision makers struggle with implementing collaboration into the enterprise because they don't know whether they really need to roll out an enterprise-wide standard for communication. The truth is that collaboration doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing concept. A single solution approach might be perfect for regulated groups like businesses in the finance sector. On the other hand, for some enterprises, a multi-vendor approach using tools that integrate well together might be more suitable.
Successful collaboration in the enterprise is about allowing the needs of your business to dictate what your strategy should look like. Whether that means allowing individual units to use the tools that are best suited for their needs (if they follow the right security standards) or combining a range of collaboration services into a UC&C platform, don't be limited by your options.
2. Easy Adoption is Key
Adoption is one of the biggest challenges that any enterprise will face when implementing their collaboration strategy. You can roll out an incredible collaboration application equipped with everything your team needs for video conferencing, instant messaging, and file sharing, but if they don't use it, you won't get the results you're looking for.
User adoption starts with choosing the collaboration strategies that make sense for your teams. If you're just adding collaboration apps into an existing suite of communication tools, then you might not be making the most out of your benefits. You need to think about how you can improve employee buy-in by showing team members how easy your tools are to use, and how they're going to make their lives easier. For instance:
- Will they reduce the time spent switching between apps?
- Do your tools help employees to get the supervisor support they need?
- Can they make your team better at their jobs by giving them extra information and guidance?
3. Remember Governance and Compliance
Finally, collaboration strategies require a careful focus on governance and compliance -, particularly in the enterprise environment. The collaboration applications you use should feature the same governance policies as your other solutions for internal and external communication, like instant messaging, or email. Consider the regulations in your specific industry, and how you need to record, store, and audit the data that you collect.
Your governance considerations may also extend into user identity management and security. This could mean implementing team apps that feature single-sign-on systems that centralise account management and user provisioning. With the right security strategy and a vendor that has the capacity to support your security needs, your enterprise can discover the true benefits of collaboration.
