The Internet is probably the best tool that has ever happened to man in this technological age. With the Internet, thru the world wide web, there have been several changes in the way man communicates and go about his work.
Perhaps the best contribution of the Net to the workforce has been that of email which allows for instant communication between employees and businesses that transcends physical barriers. In recent years, other forms of communication enhancing workforce efficiency has been developed. The most essential of which are collaboration tools such as video conferencing programs, file sharing programs and other real time online collaboration tools.
This works best for companies whose offices are far spread out over vast geographical locations. For one, in our organization, using emails to circulate memos and advisories is more efficient than relying on messengers to carry hard copies to branches which are in other parts of the region. Likewise, email has become a means to gather ideas and brainstorm on certain strategies even without meeting face to face.
But in recent months, online communication has diverged from the usual chat and email programs to include video calls and online mood boards – well at least for our department. Using Skype, I am able to meet with potential suppliers in Manila without me or them having to actually travel to one’s office. Likewise, HR has experimented with online interviews in the extreme case that the candidate cannot make it to a physical interview.
Another online collaboration tool we’ve come to appreciate recently is MoodShare where we get to share our ideas for a particular project in real time to our colleagues. MoodShare is an online mood board where we can attach pictures or texts or designs that would convey how we want a particular project to go. Authorized members can either view or edit the contents and in a sense it becomes a collaborative effort on all our parts to contribute ideas till the time a project is seen to completion.
Apart from these, there are still vast applications that our organization can use such as Google Docs or other online editing tools which would allow several people to work simultaneously on a presentation, document or spreadsheet.
Yet with all these technology surrounding us, there are still challenges we face. One of them is that of acceptance among majority of the employees. Admittedly, not everyone in the company is open to using online collaboration tools. Most are still stuck in the traditional business setup wherein hard copies of documents are needed to get anything done. Case in point was when I tried introducing the Google Calendar to get everyone’s schedule in sync. Unfortunately, some were not able to go with the bandwagon resulting still to a more traditional means of synchronizing schedules. Resistance to change is always a challenge to implementing technology, no matter how great or useful that technology is.
Another hindrance to fully implementing these kind of tools is that 80% of our operations is still in a geographical location that is fairly near each other. So the need for immediate communication possible via online tools becomes less important. Only departments who regularly communicates to the 20% of our operations appreciate the value of online tools and are more susceptible to using such.
Another more pressing issue we face now is actually that of security. In any organization, especially mid-size to large ones, there is always a possible threat to data security. Hence, it is advisable that instead of relying to the world wide web for interoffice collaboration (emails, chats, file sharing, etc.), intranet should be considered. Intranet, or an internal network, is something that is guaranteed to give an organization the much needed security that extranet, or commonly the Internet, cannot provide.
Basically, by allowing employees to use web-based email clients or other web-based collaboration tools, the risk that the employee can pass on any confidential company information such as sales data is high. When I was working in the BPO industry as an agent, our Internet usage was limited to merely the basic tools of our trade and for our communication tools we used the company’s internal programs. The bosses were allowed unrestricted access to web programs however. However, in small organizations, unrestricted access is available to all employees. Management simply trusts their employees not to divulge sensitive information.
Of course there are considerations organizations must have when deciding if they will go with an intranet or just the available and more convenient internet. A powerful server and a functioning IT department are just some of the considerations which all boils down to the cost a company is willing to spend. But when one thinks of the alternative – confidential data leaking to unknown and untrusted channel, I think the cost is worth the investment rather than risking a company’s fate on implicit trust of their employees.
In conclusion, the Internet, has proven its vast use to any organization that it is seldom an organization exist now a days without any Internet interface. In fact, the trend amongst organizations now, be it private or public, is to be present in social media channels. Yet as much as the internet can be a powerful tool to any business organization, for it to fully realize its potential, employees must first be susceptible to change. Further, organizations must also evaluate the security risk they face if they will rely solely on the Internet for their communication tools.
Related articles
- New Technologies Radically Increase Collaboration Possibilities (themarlincompany.com)
- Why wikis should be a standard workplace tool. (gilyehuda.com)
