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implement and encourage adoption
of a system. This, however, is a
difficult line for senior staff to tread.
If someone influential within a
business responds immediately to
a Slack message, the inference on
the part of junior employees is that
they need to follow suit. Such tools
can act as a proxy for effort and
engagement, while invading people’s
mental space and undermining
people’s ability to choose when or
how to communicate.”
Fa ce - to - fa ce co n t a c t i s
important. In Social Physics: How
Good Ideas Spread – The Lessons
from a New Science, computer
scientist Alex Pentland wrote about
studying the way in which people
communicated in a Bank of America
call centre. He recommended that
the business reschedule its coffee
breaks to enable everyone in a team
to take a break at the same time. This
opportunity to talk, and the resulting
boost in employee satisfaction,
generated the company an extra
$15m in terms of annual productivity.
This finding isn’t necessarily
consistent, however, with the lay of
the land in other offices: the 2018
Deloitte Global Human Capital
Trends report found that 44% of
respondents believe that face-to-
face communication would decrease
in future.
Of course, physical proximity does
not automatically lead to effective
face-to-face communication. Coplin
is critical of open-plan offices,
which he considers destructive to
deep productivity. “People like a
sense of personal space,” he says.
“They don’t want to talk to their
colleagues all the time and so they
end up collaborating digitally with
the people they’re sat next to.” This
seems like the worst of both worlds.
“What we should be doing is
ensuring that people have the
Commonly used collaboration tools
38 //
Slack Yammer
Though Slack
only allows you to
communicate with
people from your
own company, it
integrates with
multiple types
of software and
costs nothing. You
can purchase an
advanced version
but even the free
model includes
customer support.
You might wish
your messages to
have end-to-end
encryption, which
Slack lacks, but it
is blissfully easy
to use. As part of the
Microsoft Office
365 suite, Yammer
can be more costly
but is seamlessly
integrated
with Microsoft
software. Its open
platform enables
the creation
of an “organic
knowledge
repository”.
Its document-
editing facilities
have come in for
criticism, however,
and inane personal
updates have the
potential to bury
more important
company
announcements.
Future Talent
Workplace by
Facebook
Because everyone
is Facebook-savvy,
the Workplace
platform is easy to
grasp, making it
somewhat likelier
to break down
any internal silos.
Unfortunately,
however, searching
for a colleague
is limited to their
name (rather
than job title). But
the platform also
offers in-depth
analysis, allowing
you to see how
many people
viewed a post, for
example. And
it’s free.
Trello
Per user, this
may be the least
cost-efficient
option, but Trello is
simple, mobile-
friendly, and easy
to use. Excellent
for project
management
in particular, it
promises never
to let you miss
a deadline. The
cons include a
comparatively
small storage limit
and, for multiple
teams in multiple
countries, it might
not be your first
choice.
Google
Hangouts
The only popular
feature to have
emerged from
Google+, Hangouts
is a low-cost tool
used by businesses
and Barack Obama
alike. Its design
is geared toward
time-sensitive
communication. A
free account allows
you to have video
meetings with up
to 10 people, but
some features are
only accessible
if you pay for a
Google Apps for
Work account. And
its interface isn’t
mobile-friendly.
Skype
Though
synonymous
with video, Skype
has an instant
messaging
function
beloved of many
businesses.
One of the chief
advantages of
Skype is that it is
free. It can also
integrate elegantly
with your Outlook
calendar, telling
contacts when you
are in a call, for
example. However,
some users
complain, that
inconsistent call
quality terminates
meetings abruptly.