A successful business owner knows that effective workflow practices and collaboration are they keys running a lucrative business, regardless of the market or industry. As advances in technology continue to progress, so have the workflow tactics. The integration of technology is a necessary part of working as a team in my soon-to-be career.
In college, the word “collaboration” often brings about many feelings of anxiety and distress because it can only mean one thing: group projects. Aside from dealing with the inevitable “group slacker”, one of the main challenges of these assignments usually involves finding a reasonable workflow process. Who will complete what? By what date? Where will work on this? How will we combine our efforts into a cohesive finished product? These can all be resolved by using technology for as a part of the process.
As it turns out, virtually all aspects of a career in communications, marketing, or PR involve a variation these group projects. While employers are seeking qualified candidates with “hard” skills such as a degree and knowledge of the context, the ones who set themselves apart are those who portray “soft” skills as well. Soft skills are essentially people skills that are acquired through experience learning and interaction.
Collaboration is a soft skill that the workforce requires in order to maximize productivity. When I think of a team collaborating on a project, I often picture a group of people physically present and talking. However, the use of technology brings a new component to collaboration where team members must be able to communicate and work together both physically and virtually.
There are several technology applications that have been developed to allow for better internal communication among businesses and work space for projects to be stored. This is especially important for companies that allow or require employees to work remotely. Another benefit to implementing or having collaborative technology is that it digitizes everything. This will decrease the likelihood of having documents physically damaged or misplaced, and makes them accessible to everyone in a standardized method.
I have had the opportunity to work with several different types of workflow technologies through my internship experiences. Specifically, I discovered that there are apps like Slack and Basecamp, which are mainly designed for internal communication, but also offer file-sharing capabilities. These systems allow for multiple group chat channels and even include digital emojis to add the option to portray emotion within messages.
While dedicating a channel for communication is important, I have also used applications such as Google docs and Dropbox to actually store and work on projects themselves. Google docs is especially useful in this setting because it makes changes, additions, and edits in real time and allows you to see who else is working on it as well. While these are only a few of the many systems designed to ease the workflow process, I have found them to be extremely beneficial and can see how collaborative technology can fit into large-scale companies as well.
Each organization has a tailored workflow management process to fit their specific needs. Engaging in the collaborative technologies will not only make you a better team player and employer, but ultimately increase efficiency to make the company more successful. As a college senior, I anticipate learning a new system in my future career.