F
FEATURES | Mental Health
functionality south very quickly,”
continues Price. He views email as
one of the culprits in the productivity
decline, with modern tools such
as Yammer and Slack potentially
representing a step forward. But they
need to be used correctly. So what
does using them correctly entail?
Alistair Milnes, director of global
HR and communications at Gazprom
Marketing and Trading, argues that
“the whole point about collaboration
is agility and breaking down
organisational silos and breaking
down silos in mentality and thinking.”
Gazprom started using the
learning platform, Saba, in 2016 and
Milnes believes that it is an enabler
for people to be more successful
in the job. But the platform
certainly isn’t intended to unseat
email altogether. As he explains, “it
In the very early stages of
team formation, there needs
to be a lot more face time
was about opening up a different
channel; it wasn’t to remove or slow
the usage of email down. It was to
create more conversations – which
you can’t do on email.”
Crucially, he says that the
company makes sure it builds a
culture permeated by collaboration.
The company does not monitor
employees’ usage of Saba. “If you
treat people like children, you tend
to get a child-like response,” says
Milnes. He also notes that even the
best collaboration tool shouldn’t
replace human contact.
ow business leaders use
and advocate use of
collaboration tools is
significant, according to
Dux Raymond Sy, chief marketing
officer at software company
AvePoint. Without role-modelling
by leaders, it is challenging to
H
March – May 2019
// 37