08 Dec The Problems with Traditional Methods of Communication
The modern world of work is unrecognizable to what it was even just a few years ago – the traditional workplace has gone for good! Rapid technological advancements have – not by coincidence – run parallel with our growing reliance on it. This reliance has made way for a brand-new way of working – we know tech will continue changing and evolving in ways most of us cannot fathom, but are you certain you are constantly using tech to its full potential to reap the benefits of this evolution? Any business in the world can throw money at all the latest and greatest technological marvels that are hot off the press, but there are certain parts of business operations that have to be constant no matter the circumstances.
Arguably, in the modern age one of the most important is communication – without adequate levels of communication your organization simply would not survive! Your in-house and general ways of communicating must be capable of meeting your customers’ exacting standards at all times.
Due to our reliability on tech, there are many companies already claiming to offer the best communicative method on the market. We will now look at some of the ways that we communicate in the modern business world, as well as taking a sneak peek into the future of business communications.
Communication – The traditional way
Email has gradually become one of the most important forms of communication that a workplace can have. Since its conception it has successfully connected businesses and people across the globe and the office simultaneously – and as it has been doing so since the 1970’s we can say that it is more than tried and tested. Technology rarely has such a long shelf life. Email is a marvel, and that is why it has sat on the pedestal as arguably the best form of business communication there has ever been. It may not seem like such a marvel in today’s world of instant messaging, easy video conferencing, and the various other technological marvels we enjoy but when you look back to the 70’s, communicative methods were only just evolving, making it revolutionary – to be able to send an important message or document to someone a few meters away across the office whilst simultaneously sending the same message halfway round the world, with both recipients receiving it at the same time really was revolutionary. But the question has now changed from “Wow, how good is email?” to “is email good enough?”
It was not always the case but now most of the emails we receive daily simply do not provide enough value. Often, they are counterproductive, time consuming, and cause distractions in the modern workplace. Scrolling through endless pages of spam whilst looking for the important ones has no place in business.
One downside to email is just how monotonous it can become; it can take hours of sending messages back and forth before reaching your conclusion. As we said, time wasted in the modern workplace is not good, no matter the reason.
The phone
The phone has not changed since its conception, and its importance in the workplace is just as important now as it always has been. As you already know, there is nothing quite like communicating with your clients – using your tone of voice and being selective with the language you use. These methods will always get a far better reception than an Email. Yes, for a planned business conversation, modern communications (such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams) offer top quality alternatives, but for a conversation that is crucially important and is unexpected, the telephone is not only the first but by far the best choice.
However, do not cleanse your business of phones and switch to other alternatives completely – this would be a step too far. You cannot simply ignore the modern alternatives – this leaves one choice – a sort of hybrid of the two.
Landline technology is outdated in comparison to modern alternatives – it is no longer capable of aiding in productivity in the workplace at levels that make a difference, therefore it is time to move on. For a modern-day business to be successful you must be available for contact at all times, with no exceptions. Clients are not the trusted loyal bunch they once were, nowadays they are much fickler than they were in the past – it is not because everyone is now heartless, but simply because everything is instant and there is always someone else offering the same product or service claiming to be cheaper or of better quality. Can you blame people for shopping around? It is simply that, if your clients cannot contact you, they will take their business elsewhere. On the occasion of a new potential client attempting to contact you and being unsuccessful, there is no worse way to start your relationship. The phone is the link between you, your suppliers, and your customers, so if you are not always reachable – regardless of the reason – that chain breaks and your business may fail.
Meetings
Even meetings have changed. As we all know – traditionally the manager would pile everyone into a room and cramp them all round a desk and whiteboard with someone taking the minutes; usually an experience that is time consuming and can be extremely monotonous. Gatherings conducted in this way have always caused problems and this is probably the reason they predominantly happen only when things are not going well or if there is a particular reason for them. For many organizations, traditional meetings are simply not feasible these days – finding a date and time that fits around their large workforce can be impossible – but, with the right technology in place, businesses can adopt a new solution that removes the time and effort that is needed to organize meetings.
In the following article we will explore some of the many modern communication methods on the market and see how – if implemented and maintained correctly – these methods can revolutionize your organization’s communicative capabilities, guiding you to a much more prosperous future with strategically aligned technology as the lynchpin of your business success.
Your Trusted Communication Partners
We are a trusted, licensed team of professionals. Our local experts understand what your business needs to succeed and will go to every length to exceed project goals. We anticipate the problems that others merely react to. Our history of successful projects gives us the foresight to see complications, create solutions, and assist you in adopting modern day telephony. Get in contact now and see how we can help you solve your business challenges through the effective use of the right technology.