Business managers have a wide range of options when it comes to improving communications.
The need for effective communication among the workforce remains as essential as ever, even though the options for connectivity continue to proliferate with regularity. As far as we know, the earth is not losing acreage, but "the world is becoming smaller all the time" has become a clich for a reason. Savvy business owners and managers are quick to take advantage of the newest trends and technologies to improve communications and, by extension, productivity.
Technology
The corporations behind such seemingly incongruous words as BlackBerry, Google, Yahoo, Apple and Twitter have razed the previous generation's communications landscape, in the process opening up reams of data and possibilities. Ten years ago, everyone considered computer screens that loaded in eight or nine seconds as blistering fast. Today, that's cause to call the repair shop. But technology is not enough; efficiency and accountability are keys. Given the incentive to enhance productivity, managers and employees are learning to harness that power. All the technology-induced timesavers mean more face time with customers and less time spent on mundane tasks.
Training and Transparency
Business seminars, regular employee meetings and mandatory training sessions promote systematic learning to keep all workers up to date with the latest consumer, marketing, product, service, sociological and economic trends. Whether making the most of Facebook faces, Twitter tweets or Constant Contact connectivity, those best able to make the most of modern tools find that both communication and productivity thrive. The transparency and immediacy provided by modern communications have made such tools widely available. Webinars, for example, allow for high-level international meetings and presentations without the need for passports and frequent-flyer miles. Furthermore, people who embrace others not only make for good employees, but successful job applicants as well. According to Shippensburg University, "Survey after survey of employers and placement specialists identifies high-caliber written and oral communication skills as the most important qualities desired in a job applicant."
Camaraderie
Companies that host employees lunches, outings and retreats have discovered anew the power of human interaction as a crucial way to enhance workforce communications. No matter how fast the latest processors, how ingenious the latest personal digital assistants or how instantaneous our modern interconnected life, no substitute exists for creating the personal bonds and fostering the natural passions that provoke desire for human interaction.
Tags: human interaction