How technology has advanced team communication

Using technology to better connect your team makes complete sense. With more remote employees taking over the workforce, and a greater need to engage with staff globally, instant accessibility is a must to make working collaboratively simple. It’s also a much more effective way to operate.

Forbes recently asked members of Forbes Business Development Council to share how modern technology changed the way their teams communicate together. Here are the highlights from what they said:

1. Faster communication

Christopher Kingsman from TransUnion said: “Although I get to see a lot of sales technology and platforms, by far my favorite is the simple chat program. I get enough emails on a daily basis, so when a colleague has a quick question it’s much easier to receive an instant message. This has drastically reduced my inbox count, and is one step further towards “business in real time.” Not only can we communicate quicker, but we can serve our customers faster than ever.”

2. Sales coaching using real conversions

Howard Brown from RingDNA said: “Modern technology allows sales teams to collaborate and learn from each other far more than ever before. Companies are building call libraries using recorded sales conversations to share best practices and train/onboard new reps. Sharing successes and failures using actual calls also facilitates continuous learning through peer-to-peer coaching, which is a step up from simply role-playing.”

3. More instant access

Adam Mendler, from The Veloz Group said: “Modern technology has changed the way our team — and virtually every other across every other business — works together and communicates. Each person is more accessible, as he or she can be reached by phone, email or applications from Facebook to Google Hangouts to Skype. Hence, even when someone is not in the office, that person can remain connected and productive.”

4. Harvesting best practices

Jim Niniviggi, from Brainshark said: “We use our own video coaching and assessment tool to capture the best thinking/practices of our sales reps. We send out regular requests (e.g. “How do you respond to this common objection?”), and reps submit a video of themselves in our system. We then determine the “best of the best,” share examples with the sales team at large and convert them into searchable and measurable learning content.”

5. Comfortable collaboration

Christian Valiulis from Automatic Payroll System said: “Use technology platforms that your team is comfortable with to encourage collaboration among team members. For example, we use Slack as a way to quickly communicate with multiple departments within the company. But a smaller group of millennials has a Snapchat group to congratulate team members on their personal successes. It’s a way for them to interact using technology they’re comfortable with.”