Saturday, March 3, 2012

The Do's & Do Not's of Simplifying Your Business Communications ...

When it comes to ensuring a smooth flow of workflows and processes in business, it is important that you maintain simple lines of communication. Simplifying your business communications should involve setting protocols for all of your employees, agreeing on ways to communicate and utilizing innovative technologies that make outside communications easier. The top initiatives that companies struggle with in achieving success is internal communication, external communication and business process efficiencies. Address these issues head on to improve communication and achieve greater success in business, allowing operations to become more efficient and productivity to rise.

Keeping communication formal
Although the rise in popularity of social media has been beneficial for businesses in terms of marketing, it is not an effective way of communicating. Business communications should always remain formal; by limiting how your employees and colleagues communicate to modes such as phone, fax and the collaborative technology of ECM, you will maintain a sense of professionalism.

Maintaining professionalism in business communications is key to keeping your productivity on the rise. Methods such as phone calls and email have remained popular in the face of innovative technologies and have done so for a reason: they are effective and will not die out. Although some have been modernized, such as fax moving to fax 2 email, they will keep their place in business communication systems even in the face of new technologies.

Putting a system in place
No matter how big or small your business is, it is easy to fall foul of becoming seriously disorganized due to a poor communication structure. It is important that colleagues, employees and outsiders alike all know how to communicate with you, as well as each other. For example, if your employees need to contact you regarding a problem in the work place, make it clear to them that they can do so via a certain method. Make sure you stick to any plan that you implement, as this prevents break downs in communications and establishes a relationship of trust.

When it comes to implementing a business communications system with outsiders, having a structured plan in place is a little more challenging as you do not have control over the modes they choose. It is for this reason that considering varying methods of communication is essential, as this will allow you to be flexible with other businesses as well as potential clients. What makes this challenging is that other businesses and clients may not be up to speed with the latest technologies, and as a result you will have to utilize what they have to hand. Take faxing for example, the vast majority of businesses have now said goodbye to this method of communication, but a significant portion of companies do still choose to use it. If you do not own a fax machine, it is still possible to make the most of this method of communication through fax 2 email. You can also capture the physical documents that are mailed or faxed into the document management system, maintaining organization and a streamline communication process.

Be as innovative as possible
Although there is a fine line between being usefully innovative and using new technologies for the sake of it, it is always worth exploring modern options to give a faster flow of business communications. Many people confuse modern approaches with complicating their communication systems, but that does not always have to be the case. Take Brighton and Sussex Medical School in the UK, they choose to use Blackberry Messenger to communicate with their students and staff. Using a method of communication that is simple and low in costs is always popular, however, it is worth considering that such methods of communication are not infallible and can be prone to rare, but devastating, network crashes.

Simplifying your business communications is something that should not be underestimated. By placing a simple infrastructure amongst your staff, colleagues and outsiders, you will find that operations run smoother and morale is boosted. Always take the time to ensure that everyone within your company remains familiar with communication protocols, and don?t be afraid to explore new options should the need arise.

Stephanie Wagner is a freelance writer and business woman who takes a keen interest in modernizing business systems. She is not associated with Aplus, but does recommend them for their approach to fax 2 email communications.

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  • Source: http://www.idatix.com/technology-improve-simplify-your-business-communications/

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