E-Mails as a stumbling block to greater efficiency
Everyone is talking about digital collaboration. Especially in the last few years, this topic has become even more important. In many companies, however, the prerequisites for successful digital collaboration first had to be literally tapped out of the ground. Certainly, this results in numerous advantages – not only for the individual employees, but also for the entire company.
This article is firstly about the opportunities and benefits that come with successful digital collaboration. And although we have many new digital tools at our disposal these days, the tried-and-true email will continue to make up a large part of communication. So in this article, we’ll also look at the challenges that come with it.
Digital collaboration – A brief definition
If you follow the tips below and keep to the rules in a disciplined manner, you can get a better grip on your e-mails and save up to 20 percent of your precious working time. If you want to minimize the time you spend processing e-mails, you should remember two guidelines in particular: only open your inbox when you have the time to process the messages. And, if possible, check off an e-mail after opening it for the first time. This will save you the effort of having to look into the e-mail again at a later time. And you free yourself from the psychological burden of open but unfinished emails.
Our digital daily life
In our day-to-day work, we often find ourselves in situations where we have to work together across different locations and with different parties. Regardless of the business context, we use various tools for this purpose – from telephone calls to e-mail and video conferences to joint chat applications or platforms for sharing documents, there is a wide range of possibilities.
In this context, digital solutions have become indispensable as a form of collaboration. The digital transformation makes it possible to support teamwork more and more with collaboration tools. Be it for communication, in the area of knowledge management, the organization and implementation of projects, or or or.
Many companies use applications such as Slack and Microsoft Teams as communication channels and repositories. Trello, Jira or similar applications are used for project planning, process analysis or task management.
The problem here is often that transparency within work groups is lacking or that responsibilities are not clearly defined. This not only affects the productivity of employees, it can also mean that tasks cannot be completed and processed on time, possibly resulting in significant costs and unnecessary additional work.
With simple solutions for a clearly defined workflow, you can ensure that these problems do not arise in the first place. The correct handling of information from e-mails, both in your own mailbox and in group mailboxes, is the first step in this process. This way, you can benefit from the advantages of digital collaboration and save time in the implementation of your projects at the same time.
Advantages of digital collaboration
Digital collaboration creates many benefits for teams and companies of all sizes. These not only benefit employees, but also supervisors and the organization as a whole. We would like to highlight some of the benefits of digital collaboration and the use of collaboration tools below:
- Simple implementation
A short and uncomplicated workflow ensures a uniform process that all employees can easily learn and use from home. - Your work becomes profitable
Your productivity is increased through more efficient processes. - Transparent communication
In the office, it’s not uncommon for important things to be discussed in between meetings, and it’s not uncommon for important information to be lost. By using digital applications, all important conversation content is preserved and can be retrieved by all participants at any time. - All information in the right place
By using suitable collaboration tools and a clearly communicated procedure, for digital collaboration, the search for information has come to an end and all people know where they can find the necessary information for certain processes. - The flood of e-mails has come to an end
…and the feeling of a never-ending story when you think about your email inbox is finally over. By increasing your use of collaboration tools, you’re finally putting a stop to the time-honored “email ping pong.” Find the information where it should be and save yourself a long search in the email inbox. - You are crisis-proof
The Corona pandemic showed it. When special circumstances require working from home, companies need to be positioned accordingly. With standardized processes, transparent solutions and the necessary technical infrastructure, your employees can carry out their tasks as usual anywhere and at any time.
Outlook in the morning, …
And yet it still exists… The good old email. The first thought after opening your Outlook in the morning is often one of horror? So many unread messages again – that you have ever emptied and “worked through” your email inbox, you are already done with that.
The secret is to link this communication channel with the additional applications (MS Teams, Jira, Trello, Sharepoint, etc.) in a target-oriented way. If you manage to do this in your daily business, you will not only save time, but you will also be able to become much more productive, delegate work or make it available for discussion/information.
Perhaps you know situations like this: You ask yourself, “have I already filed this email somewhere? After all, I already forwarded the email, but I don’t know anything about the current processing status. Is there anything left to do now? Someone will get back to me if there is anything left to do from my side…”
This is just a simplified example of the daily email chaos – but it shows the lack of transparency for what comes after the receipt of the email – The tasks, projects and other activities that derive from the receipt.
Applicant management as a digital challenge
Applications by mail have almost ceased to exist. Here, too, e-mail has simplified the application process. Today, many companies already use different variants of digital application platforms – but the right match of candidates is still often missing and there is an enormous amount of work involved in processing the incoming applications. Personnel-intensive companies in particular are still reaching the limits of their capacity. The solution: applicant management through artificial intelligence. Let a chatbot do the work that only takes time. This way, the HR department has more time to focus on the tasks that offer direct added value to the company – As a result, you not only gain efficiency but also the best selection of suitable candidates for yourself.
– Does this sound interesting to you? Let’s talk about the implementation.
Digital collaboration, group mailboxes & Co.
In collaboration, a lot of time is lost searching for up-to-date lists and documents. In some circumstances, a team member may even be working with an outdated list, wasting hours of work. With digital collaboration using unified software solutions, everyone has access to the most up-to-date documents and files. The result: less time wasted searching for the right documents.
Make email processing easier and don’t let email become a burden.
The best tools and apps for successful digital collaboration
- Microsoft Teams:
Applications like Microsoft Teams are a must-have for the modern workplace and an ideal platform for digital collaboration. The social media like software is not only great for departmental collaboration but also for project communication with clients and guests. - Outlook Add In Mailissa:
Everyone benefits from this simple functional extension to your Outlook client – the individual employees and the entire organization. You can use this add-in to comment on your e-mails directly in the Outlook sidebar, take over editing or pass on responsibilities and set a status. You can file the emails directly in the right business context in your systems (MS Teams, Sharepoint, and many more…) and access the processing history at any time – and all this without leaving your Outlook client. - Office Expert & End Performance Management
Digital collaboration is great when the conditions are right. Fast devices, reliable applications and services are of great importance for end users. They play a big role in terms of adoption and their productivity. Analyze and work with real-time data, save yourself the hassle of collecting any log data and increase the efficiency of your IT and thus the productivity of the end users.
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Clear the way for successful collaboration in teams and create the necessary transparency for the long-awaited structure in group mailboxes with the Outlook Add In Mailissa. Find out now about the other functions and request your free demo version. Let us examine your individual situation together and find the perfect solution for your company.
