How can digital tools improve your communication and collaboration?

Digital Tools help us is moving faster and more reliably and they also help us to take effective decisions which will enhance our communication and collaboration with your team.

Reflecting on my own experiences, I recall a company that effectively improved communication and collaboration by implementing a centralized project management platform. This digital tool not only allowed teams to collaborate in real time but also provided a single source of truth for project updates, reducing the need for endless email threads and meetings. This approach not only increased productivity but also enhanced transparency across the organization.

Technology helps in informed decision making as it streamlines communication, enables collaboration and improves efficiency . Digital tools improves productivity and leads to transparency and accountability. Use of audio visual digital tools helps people who have certain physical challenges (PWDs) and encourages them to participate equitably in the normal work environment without feeling alienated. After covid19, Digital transformation has led the growth and development of every sector. It has enabled citizens to have flexibility in work timings and supported remote work environment especially helping diversity hiring (women resources) giving them full accessibility to all available resources.

As a Executive Search firm managing Talent journeys of people and talent needs of companies collaboration & partnership is cornerstone for growth. We use Google workspaces very effectively along with a bespoke tracking system. Knowledge Sharing and effective knowledge mgmt strengthens the client and candidate experience. Having said culture behaviours of the team members to nurture and give back to the system will only make it more effective..... Data culture ultimately about driving human habits.

Digital tools cannot replace humans. Digital tools aids humans. So while thinking of best practices of digital tools or technology, we have to keep in mind its utility vis a vis the cost of technology. Firstly for implementation of any tool, the organisation has to set the purpose and the process right. The tools should meet the goals, it should be safe and secure in the cyber world, easy to use. The roles and responsibilities of people using the tools must be defined, relevant access should be given to authorized personnel, the tools should have proper backup mechanism to retrieve data and it should be trustworthy. Best tools are the ones that enable ease of doing business.

In our organisation, we use Google sheets very effectively. We also have developed our internal database system that helps us to store data and retrieve data. We have also integrated Whatsapp, SMS and email system to enable effective communication. Zoom/ MS teams/ Google Meet remains our preferred mode of communication internally and externally with our partners and clients. We have used Survey Monkey to do sentiment analysis and also for our performance appraisal system internally.

I slightly disagree with the article's suggestion that digital tools can entirely replace face-to-face interactions. While digital tools are invaluable for remote collaboration, in-person meetings and interactions still hold significant value, especially for relationship-building, creative brainstorming, and team-building exercises.

Even the best digital tools cannot create effective communication where they don’t already exist. Communication is a suite of interpersonal skills that can either be enhanced or eroded with technology. It’s more important to establish a strong foundation of understandings around the fundamentals of what good communication looks like before trying to determine what tools will make it better. This will also help you determine how to establish the guidelines, best practices, and training required for a successful implementation and long-term adoption. At the end of the day, success isn’t just about implementing a tool that people use well. It’s about integrating a tool into how people interact to improve their overall performance.

There's no tech tool that can "do it all." It takes trial and error to find the one (or stack) that will work for you. Sometimes developers sunset the ones you love or that are deeply embedded in your workflows. The learning curve may be tricky and some of your team members may be reluctant to use your tool(s) of choice. That said, technology can do a lot of the heavy lifting and help you streamline communication and be more efficient and productive. Before you buy a specific tech tool, be sure that your workflows are solid and that you know how your tool of choice will enhance your systems and processes. This means a bit of auditing and planning up front but will be well worth it in the end.