Communication impacts productivity. It is the glue that keeps projects on tasks and our overall efficiency at work ever increasing. From a company-wide perspective, improving communications can ensure your organization is running smoothly. But a company is the sum of all of its parts, and its parts are your employees. No matter how many tools and resources you provide to your employees, none of them will produce the return on investment you are looking for without integrating them into your employee’s daily work routine. It is imperative to get buy in from everyone in your organization to see the true value of Unified Communications.
First and foremost, it is extremely important to talk to your employees about the need for improving communications and why you are working on implementing a UC solution, such as Skype for Business. Lay out the scenarios in which we communicate… demonstrating both the good and the bad, and have them think about these things as they relate to their own personal gains and losses in work productivity.
Symptoms of communication breakdown:
- Voicemail and inbox clutter
- Lack of clarity
- Delayed responses
- Disconnected/offline conversations
- Endless meeting loops
- Travel time
Signs of healthy communication:
- Reach the right person at the right time
- Get immediate responses
- Collaborate in real time
- Shorten project duration
- Reduce travel time/carbon footprint
- SEE BETTER RESULTS MORE QUICKLY!
Next, discuss how Skype for Business can transform the way they get their work done. Demonstrate the efficiency of using Skype for Business and how it works with Office 365 to get in touch with someone on IM to get quick answers, view their calendars to check availability, schedule Skype meetings within Outlook and join in a single click from your calendar, set up video conferences and web meetings on the fly, and much more. Emphasize how it allows you to stay in touch with those they work closely with just a single click.
Bottom line… if you decide to roll out Skype for Business to your employees, be sure to put the proper emphasis on training your staff on how to use it, and provide resources to be able to learn and see the benefits it can bring to their work life personally, as well as the success of your business overall. View some additional resources on implementing a Hosted Skype for Business UC solution in your company here.
