The hybrid model and teleworking has forced organizations to look for new ways of communication among their teams. Technologies have been a major driver in this regard, providing new forms of collaboration that increase business productivity.
These technologies facilitate asynchronous and decentralized work in companies. Thus, they facilitate the performance of their employees, providing new possibilities for organizations to grow.
To sum up:
- The hybrid model and teleworking force organizations to provide new answers to their communication needs.
- Teams need to have real-time conversations despite being offsite, which is made possible by technology.
- Project management tools allow workers to collaborate on the same project and check its progress on a minute-by-minute basis.
- These types of tools also contribute to the automation of repetitive processes, saving employees from having to perform them.
Real-time communication
Work environments have evolved in recent years, becoming living organisms. The space now has to adapt to the needs of the teams, and not the other way around, as was the case until recently.
The hybrid model and teleworking have made it possible that the physical presence of an entire team in a space is no longer necessary for proper performance. Much of the merit goes to systems that make possible real-time communication between people who are not located in the same place.
Any organization that has opted for these systems has one or more tools that enable this. Some of the most widely used are the following.
Slack
Slack is a real-time messaging application that allows employees to communicate and collaborate efficiently. It allows sending direct messages, creating discussion channels and sharing files with ease. Integrations with other applications are possible for users’ convenience.
This tool for internal communication allows adding external collaborators as guests. Its style imitates that of IRC and it has a friendly and intuitive interface that enables efficient communication in organizations.
Microsoft Teams
This product from the Redmond company combines instant messaging, video conferencing and other collaboration features in a single tool. It is integrated into the subscription-based Office productivity suite and allows integration with non-Microsoft-owned applications.
It is available for iOS and Android devices and in web browser versions, facilitating interactions with members outside the organization. Microsoft SharePoint facilitates file storage in the cloud, facilitating asynchronous and decentralized work.
Project Management Tools
Project management is another fundamental aspect for the proper functioning of teams. They allow employees to collaborate on common projects, assign tasks and track their progress with ease. Some of the most widely used are:
Asana
It is an online platform that allows work teams to organize and track their projects. It allows you to create and assign tasks, set deadlines, add comments and files, and keep track of all aspects of a project in one place.
Among its advantages is the fact that it is customizable and flexible according to the needs of organizations. It allows real-time visualization of data in an automatic way, being able to control the performance of teams and individuals.
It also allows the automation of internal processes. By establishing a series of rules in its internal operation, it performs actions without human intervention according to the configuration provided to it.
Google Workspace
Formerly known as G Suite, it is a set of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools developed by Google. These applications enable workers to communicate, collaborate and share information in real time. The suite includes:
- Gmail.
- Google Drive.
- Google Calendar.
- Google Meet.
- Google Chat.
- Google Docs.
- Google Sheets.
- Google Slides.
- Etc.
Workspace is designed only for businesses, but also for educational institutions and other non-profit organizations. It includes free and paid plans, with increased storage capacity, advanced security features and personalized support.
Videoconferencing and virtual meetings
Although workspaces have become decentralized, meetings are still part of the day-to-day life of organizations. The main difference after digitization is that it is no longer necessary for all attendees to be in the same physical space.
Video conferencing and meetings enable teams to collaborate in real time, from different locations. Not only do they save time and increase productivity, but they also save on travel, driving down travel costs for organizations.
Zoom, Teams and Google’s Meet are the applications most widely used by organizations. Their features include screen sharing, meeting recording and voice or video calls to other team members or people outside the organization.
Task automation tools
Zapier, IFTTT and other tools allow organizations to automate repetitive and tedious tasks. These developments open up the possibility of dedicating resources to other functions that do require human intervention, thus improving business efficiency.
They connect other applications already in use by the organization to indicate how they should act with each other.
Time and attendance
Beyond knowing what time employees start and end their workday, these tools are very useful for improving productivity in organizations. Time tracking applications are used to know which clients or projects the teams spend the most time on.
In these systems, the user marks the time he/she spends on daily tasks, leaving entries as he/she changes tasks throughout the day. As if it were a chess clock, when a function is started, the previous one is automatically paused.
This data provides valuable information for company managers. It allows them to know if the cost per hour they are spending on certain tasks is profitable. Some of the most interesting platforms to measure the hourly performance of workers are:
- Clockify.
- Toggl Track.
- Harvest.
- Hubstaff.
- Time Doctor.
Technology to facilitate day-to-day operations
Today’s business operations would not be possible without technology to facilitate communication between employees. The hybrid model and teleworking require easy-to-use tools to be part of the organization’s day-to-day operations. They ensure the proper functioning of the teams and guarantee their efficiency.
Real-time communication, project management, schedule control and remote meetings would not be possible without today’s technology. Thanks to this technology, we have also been able to automate repetitive tasks, which allows us to dedicate human resources to other more important and differential tasks.