First, Don’t Be Reluctant to Move to a Collaboration Tool
Some of you waste a lot of time sitting through countless phone and in-person meetings while working out logistics and exchange of information.
It’s not a productive way to do things.
Fortunately, online collaboration tools are now making teamwork easier and more efficient. Sadly, however, many business owners ignore these tools in favor of technologies that are decades old (i.e. email, conference calls, web conferencing and texting).
Does this sound like you? It’s understandable if you are reluctant to move to a collaboration platform. After all, it’s a new system to learn and a new way of doing business.
Unfortunately, your reluctance is also hurting your business. Every minute spent on unnecessary meetings, hunting down files or repeating information to a client or employee costs you money.
8 Reasons Why Not Using Collaboration Tools Cost You LOTS of Money
I’ve generated a list of eight ways you are losing money with old communication systems or lack of utilizing online collaboration tools. Here they are:
- Time spent in meetings, phone conversations or endless email chains delay project completion. For small businesses and startups, this might mean turning away new business or putting off important projects.
- Frustration and confusion caused by miscommunication negatively affects employee morale, productivity, and work quality.
- Do your freelancers charge by the hour? You get the bill for every minute your freelancer spends chasing down documents or approvals.
- Project delays lead to late project delivery or a rushed product. Both can alienate clients and eliminate long-term opportunities.
- Remote workers, particularly those living in different time zones, end up marginalized, further disrupting workflow.
- Accountability becomes a challenge as team members find ways to blame logistical issues for their lack of productivity. (i.e. “I haven’t heard back from him.”)
- Hiring is a difficult task, particularly when you need team input. Multiple rounds of interviews, emails and in-person conferences delay necessary hires. Why not save everyone time and centralize this process?
- You may have dumped your old filing cabinets years ago, but now you have a bigger problem: Important files are stored in individual employee computers and/or on one of several shared drives. Crap!
- There are more ways you are losing money…but I said I’d only list 8. You want to think about how you are losing money by not centralizing communication and utilizing collaboration tools.
How Business Collaboration Tools Save You Money
Does the list above make you nervous? It should. It should also convince you that investing in an online collaboration platform is a good idea.
Here’s what collaboration tools can offer your business:
- Information Accessibility & Accuracy. All work documents and communications are in one place. No more chasing down files, no more mistakes caused by working with outdated information.
- Extreme Accountability. When deadlines, communications, reports and contributions are available for everyone to see, team members think twice before slacking.
- Time Savings. No more lost emails, unanswered calls or travel to lengthy meetings. Online collaboration tools make conversations and agreements easy.
- Less Interruptions. I don’t know how many times an email takes me away from focusing on the priority project at hand. Turn it off and move to a platform that you can control vital messages.
- Centralized Documented Discussions. Use these tools to capture discussions that need to be retained for future reference. Emails just get lost in the shuffle. With online collaboration tools, these discussions can be saved and moved easily to a task (assigned to a specific team member) so action can be taken.
What to Do Next
Move to a business collaboration tool or otherwise known as a project management software. We would love for you to try ours. You can test us out for free. But, bottom line, we want you to be successful. We want you to find a collaboration platform that addresses your needs and results in a happier staff and a healthier budget.
Stop losing money and jump on the online collaboration train.