How to Master Communication in the Digital Age

Don’t Let Familiarity Limit Your Options

With so many communication options available to us, it can be tempting to stick to what you know. As much as it’s important not to spend too much time learning how to use an entirely new system, you could also be missing out on benefiting from the most optimal way of conveying messages. Using the right method of communication, can help to significantly improve internal communication, with studies showing that using tools like those included with Office 365, can save employees up to 30 minutes of lost productivity a day (Forrester). You can also provide a better customer service by offering a varied selection of ways to contact you.

Fully Utilize Your Toolset

If you’ve chosen the right tools for the job, you need to ensure that your business is making the best of them. There’s little point in investing in a shiny new communications system like VoIP or Office 365, without taking full advantage of their capabilities. Don’t just use a service like Skype for Business instant messaging and one-on-one calls! Try holding entire meetings using its presentation and screen-sharing features. Modern communications devices and systems are now far too versatile to be limited to one purpose, so be sure to read up on what you could get or already have.

Remember That Data Hangs Around

With digital data being so easy to record and find, ensuring that your business is careful with its communication is now more important than ever. Sending bad communication, regardless of whether it’s intended to be public or not, can lead to some serious consequences. But it’s important to enforce a culture of caution in communication when sending AND receiving information. Ensuring that you’re collecting the information needed to comply to any relevant regulations (such as GDPR), or to protect your business from any legal hot water, is essential.  This can easily be done with the right tools, such as voice recording software or email storage capabilities.

Implement Your Technology with Intent

However, the most important part of mastering your digital communications is how you implement it in the first place. There always needs to be a purpose behind introducing new technology. Whether you’re looking to solve an existing problem, or hoping to prevent one from happening, the reason behind implementing always comes first. The most recent Gatehouse State of Sector Report (the largest global survey of international communications professionals), found that 61% of the companies they surveyed believed their technology to be a barrier to successful internal communication. In your pursuit to keep up with the digital age, be careful not to throw your employees in at the deep end too quickly. Remember that technology needs to work with your business, that you know what purpose it will serve, and that you have a plan to properly introduce it to staff and that they’re trained to use it.

Applying interpersonal relationship skills alongside technology, is essential to your employees’ ability to master communication in the digital age. Having the technology itself is not enough to ensure that your communication strategy succeeds. Your business needs to have the right motivation, the right knowledge, and the right skills behind it to make it work. For more advice on how the properly implement your communications plan, feel free to contact our support team on 020 8166 4540, or on the webchat below.