Top 7 Tips For Activating Digital Workplace Collaboration

In a pre-COVID workplace, conference rooms were making way for creative collaboration spaces. Now, companies juggling dispersed workforces are investing in digital workplace collaboration tools that employees can use anywhere.

2020 changed the way we work together. Check out our report to learn how Beekeeper customers adapted their collaboration efforts in the face of COVID-19.

With digital workplace collaboration platforms, productivity can reach an all-time high by:

• Allowing for a greater number of collaborators: Idea contributions will grow exponentially as team communication tools create collaborative partnerships with your frontline team.
• More collaboration channels: A group communication app enables collaboration to happen anywhere, at any time, through a variety of work streams from group chats, private messaging, and file sharing, to name a few.

Follow these top tips to create a highly collaborative culture in your digital workplace.

1. Choose Top Digital Workplace Collaboration Software With The Right Tools

All digital apps are not created equal when it comes to maximizing collaboration. Select enterprise collaboration software with features that foster teamwork no matter if your employees are on the frontline, at home, or doing both.

Mobile collaboration platforms, like Beekeeper, includes digital signage, chatbots, surveys, inline translation, and communication streams for enterprise-wide or team-specific communication. Each element encourages team building and creates a collaborative environment.

2. Encourage Collaboration With Your Internal Communication Strategy

Before the advent of the digital workplace, collaborative efforts were generally limited to desk-based workers. Frontline workers, often the backbone of a company, didn’t have a seat at the table. And as the employees with the greatest exposure to your customers, their valuable input can help your business more than you realize.

With a digital workplace collaboration platform, your internal communications strategy should include a mission of unified communications. With a shared vision, collaboration becomes easier as everyone has aligned internal brand awareness.

Create an internal communications strategy that encourages collaboration. Start with digital surveys through your team app to get this newly-connected workforce used to a new world where their voice is heard. Frontline employees will become more emotionally invested at work and begin to use the other features of the team communication tool for collaborative purposes.

And, aside from the amount of great ideas generated, employee engagement will get a big boost.

3. Build Peer-to-Peer Communication For Collaboration and Efficiency

In a digital environment, frontline workers can access information once available only to management. Collaboration software allows group and 1:1 messaging, shift scheduling, and information sharing all in one place.

Not only does it take a task off of management’s desk, but it also builds employee connections and facilitates peer-to-peer collaboration. While a simple task like shift swapping might seem like a mundane technicality, it will build communication between employees and facilitate future team building.

4. Hold 1:1 Meetings To Complement Group Collaboration

Collaboration software sets the stage for teamwork and innovation. But, there is always going to be a human element when it comes to workplace communication.

Despite 2020’s best efforts, 1:1 meetings are still a primary workplace collaboration activity. They just look a little different these days.

With your mobile collaboration platform, holding regular 1:1 meetings with your team has never been easier. Bringing everyone together to talk, laugh, and connect is the ultimate relationship builder and will encourage collaboration in a broader group setting too.

5. Prioritize Collaboration During Onboarding

New employee onboarding is the perfect time to build up engagement on your digital workplace collaboration platform. Some employees may not even know the difference, particularly if the onboarding session itself is leveraged through the platform.

By setting the expectation from the get-go, employees will naturally turn to the tool for any given situation.

6. Set The Tone At The Top

As with any change management activity, employees need to see it to believe it. Executive team member engagement on the digital workplace collaboration tool is imperative to fast adoption throughout the rest of the workforce.

Here are some ways management can lead by example:

• Send regular messages through the tool
• Share recognition posts
• Utilize surveys and polls to get other employees engaged

7. Don’t Overcomplicate Collaboration

In today’s digital workplace, employees have all the tools they need to collaborate effectively. In fact, some industries may have too many tools to choose from.

Businesses can simplify the collaboration process by adopting a centralized platform that facilitates communication, teamwork, and knowledge sharing. If employees still seem overwhelmed, consider creating guidelines for when, how, and how often they should be engaging with the platform.

Ready to start collaborating? A digital workplace collaboration tool will build an innovative, collaborative workforce with new voices from the frontlines. And, it might just be the most productive channel your company has seen yet.

Build a digital workplace your team will love. Download our white paper on how to choose the best collaboration software for your team.