How many times have you heard the phrase, ‘Technology has made the world smaller’? In fact, better still, how many of you remember Thomas L Friedman’s ‘The World is Flat’ -A classic with a brilliant take on technology’s ability to erase geographical barrier. He exaggerates its power by calling the world flat ! These 4 words not only make an attractive title, but have been accepted as a universal truth.
Technology has made people closer than ever and given us the scope to work with people across the world.
This blog highlights technological tools that business institutions use to make communication & business smooth & easy with people sitting at the other end of the world.
Video Conferencing: A tool that people could not wholly benefit due to poor internet connectivity or server problems but today, with fibre net technology, connectivity is no more an obstacle and video conferencing tools like Zoom, WebEX, Skype for Business, GoToMeeting are easily accessible and make for great collaboration tools. These tools allow for screen shares; so sitting in Bangalore you can share your screen with someone sitting in another part of the world. This live sharing of screens makes collaboration fast, easy & clear.
Voice Collaboration: For a quick verbal exchange voice collaboration tools are of great help.Cloud voice messaging applications can remain open on your desktop and indicate the availability of the person you want to contact. They offer text messaging & voice calling. You can customise them for your use like adding the ability to share screens and send files. Nextiva is such an example, but of course, you can try the popular alternatives like Skype & Google Hangouts. So something this handy makes work easier than phone calls or emails.
Project managers may soon be out of work with applications like Slack, Trello, & Basecamp holding the fort. Scheduling, file management, communication, coordination and much more is accomplished by these tools. People can leave comments, screen share & message or hold a conference – all this in one virtual workplace! Basecamp proudly calls itself, ‘a central source of truth’. Imagine the levels of transparency, authenticity & collaboration that can be achieved across the organisation, across its different branches scattered around the world.
Visual Design: Designers have a harrowing time trying to communicate with clients; especially when a creative platform like design bears the toll of subjectivity, there will always be back and forth in communication. Smooth collaboration & efficient feedback process is possible with tools like GoVisually, Mural, Concept Board & Prevue. So, photographers, architects, landscape & interior designers go ahead and create magic with these tools!
Mobile Collaboration: With sophisticated smartphones replacing laptops, mobile collaboration will make laptops or computers more redundant. IBM offers some incredible solutions that will monitor projects, share tasks and help sync files across devices. Some other affordable tools are Huddle, Asana and 8X8.
