How to use technology to motivate our team and strengthen the company’s performance

At Inovum IT Solutions we believe human resources are a mental energy, an intellectual capacity, a source of information, innovations and an effective factor that can contribute positively to the company’s success. Keeping your team members engaged and motivated may sometimes present a challenge. Smart leaders use technology to help boost engagement and create an attractive work environment.

Here are a few examples of what we do to motivate our workforce and with that, improve their productivity and strengthen the company’s performance.

Use efficient business communication tools

Good and reliable business communication tools are key for an efficient running of everyday business processes. Popular in-house communication tools include, for example, chat rooms, enterprise networks, intranet services, ticketing systems, etc.

The use of business communication tools facilitates the exchange of information and file sharing between different teams and allows the team members to stay connected. That way, co-workers remain engaged and are encouraged to work between departments over the computer.

Effective communication helps get the job done on time and within budget. Using the right tools contributes significantly to the success of a business.

Inovum IT Solutions uses HipChat for instant communications between our teams and team members. HipChat is a secure communications platform that allows group or private chats, video calling, screen sharing, and file sharing. HipChat allows our team members to stay connected at all times even when working from different locations.

Besides that, we use Skype, Google Hangouts, and GoToMeeting to stay connected with our different teams, customers, and partners. Both Skype and Google Hangouts are free cloud-based communication tools that allow instant messaging, audio and video conferencing, online meetings, and file sharing. GoToMeeting is another popular communication tool for online meetings. This web-hosted service is especially usefull for meetings with customers and partners. It not only offers  audio and video conferencing but  also desktop sharing. It can be used from web browsers and mobile phones. Participants can connect to the meetings from their PC, mobile phone, or by dialing in from their landline.

Performance Management Tools

Through performance management tools team members can access and manage company data. This enables team members to better communicate with each other and the management team in order to work more effectively.

Managers can take advantage of the tool to review the team’s performance and set realistic goals. Seeing more means being able to do more for the team. It enables managers to provide productive real-time feedback and it helps individual team members to identify their strengths and weaknesses. This makes the performance review process a whole lot easier for both parties.

HubSpot CRM & Sales, for instance, provides a quarterly sales rep review and coaching template to help measure and coach their sales representatives in order to improve their performance.

Also provide your team with tools that help save time and boost their productivity!

• Speaking is faster than typing: Dragon Dictation is a voice recognition application that quickly transforms your words into text or email messages.
• Save time by organizing your tabs: Whenever you find yourself with too many tabs on your scrren, you can use OneTab to convert your open tabs into a list. When you need the tabs later you can either restore them at once or individually.
• Health is important: lux was designed to protect your eyes from the blue light of your computer screen. It adjusts a display’s color temperature according to location and time of day.

Virtual Workgroups

Workgroups help your team engage, sync and share information throughout the lifecycle of a project. Workgroups allow you to diversify your business goals between team members and share multiple points of view regarding projects such as the development of budgets, structuring timelines and streamlining communication.

Cloud-based SaaS (“software as a service”) platforms are now more mainstream than the intranet and allows you to create workgroups where you can store and share information using the internet. These platforms allow you to create a variety of tasks and to see the progress of work completed by your team and provide them with feedback.

Inovum IT Solutions manages most of its workflows with JIRA, an effective software development tool that allows us to organize projects, teams, tasks and customers. Jira Software is especially designed for software developers in order to plan, track, and release high quality software.

Besides that, we use Trello, a collaboration tool that helps us organize our projects. Trello functions like a bulletin board with post its. It is a simple tool that shows you what needs to be done, what’s being worked on, and tasks that have been completed. Projects are presented in a very visual way through clearly structured sticky notes with colored labels and images on a virtual board.

 E-Learning platforms for your team

Training and development is an essential part of most businesses to remain competitive. E-learning platforms allows your team to maintain a flexible schedule. The e-learning materials are accessible 24/7. Hence, each team member can learn the subject at their own pace and in comfortable settings. As a result, it may increase the learners engagement.

Furthermore, E-learning is very cost effective. The company no longer has to invest in trainers, classroom rentals and materials, etc.

Lastly, with E-learning  the knowledge is always available at your team’s disposal – this gives them better access to subjects they are interested in. Not only does this benefit the learner, but also the company. Businesses that enable access to valuable E-learning subjects enjoy better loyalty from their workforce who will have a greater sense of accomplishment at their workplace.

Social Engagement using technology

Enterprise social networking refers to a company’s use of social media in order to connect individuals who share similar business interests. This refers to internal social software platforms as well as external social networking services.

External social media not only allows businesses to improve communication with and between teams but they also provide an opportunity to engage with individual team members in order to create brand awareness. They will be encouraged to actively help promote the business by posting information about the company such as upcoming projects, business news,  promotions, or events. These ‘sharings’ help generate visibility of the company and reach potential new clients.

In summary, technology has a variety of positive effects on a company’s workforce. It can make work a lot easier and less time consuming. It is essential to help improve communication within the company, which increases motivation, encourages ideas, leads to a pro-active attitude, and strengthens the company’s performance. At the end, your team will be happier and produce better work which will lead to satisfied customers who will appreciate your effort.