More than 200. That’s the average number of messages employees at large companies sent on Slack, according to Time Is Ltd, a productivity analysis company. These messages are supposed to make collaboration easier. However, they waste your time.
At a time when social interaction is scarce, instant messaging apps such as Slack, Microsoft Teams or Fleep allow for quick exchanges, emergencies or more informal discussions. But if not used thoughtfully, enterprise social networks can have a negative impact on your productivity. Here’s why…
👩💻 "Always-on" work culture
Like social networks, instant messaging apps are compulsively consulted during work time (or even more) and generate stress and frustration at the thought of missing part of the conversation. The famous “Fear Of Missing Out”. And what about the teams scattered around the globe, with different time zones?
In a constant stream of notifications and alerts, discussions take place and encourage an “always connected” culture, which often comes at the expense of productivity. The average employee is getting interrupted 50 to 60 times per day and about 80% of these interruptions are unimportant. These distractions disrupt the famous “deep work“, which requires concentration. According to Darius Foroux, a productivity blogger, our concentration decreases when we receive too much information. A University of California (Irvine) study showed that after an interruption, it takes an average of 23 minutes to re-focus on the initial task.
With Speach, you can gauge the company’s pulse without feeling drowned in information! Our asynchronous collaboration solution allows you to communicate at your own pace and track each other’s progress seamlessly.
👁 Close surveillance
Some companies are misusing enterprise social networks as monitoring or control tools for managers. On the employees side, it can be wrongly used as a mean of proving activity. But instant messaging apps are not intended to replace the roll-call taker. In remote work, managers prefer the culture of results to that of presenteeism.
With Speach, there is no need to define an online status! Everyone is free to move forward at their own pace. Speach’s statistics allow you to know who watched a video and whether it was watched all the way through. People can comment on the speach and answer quizzes or polls embedded in the video. Each speach can be co-edited by several people and be subject to an approval system.
💬 Disjointed conversations
On enterprise social networks, ideas are proposed, discussed and eventually get lost in the flow of conversation. Documents and links disappear as exchanges go by. The same questions and problems resurface regularly and always require the same answers.
And as if that wasn’t enough, last-minute requests on instant messaging apps are often raw and spontaneous, thus disconnected from their context. In short, instant messaging has many advantages, but it often results in fragmented and inferior communication.
With Speach, you go from a flow logic to a stock logic: information is centralized in one place, organized and accessible anywhere, at any time. Employees form a collaborative internal knowledge base that allows everyone to know what they need to do and find the resources they need.
📱The limits of chatting
With emojis and gifs, spontaneous exchanges on instant messaging apps help to maintain the social bond in these times of confinement. But what better than video to convey emotion and break the feeling of isolation? Body language is an important part of communication and visual cues reassure the viewer.
In writing, the tone of a message or the formality of an e-mail can be misinterpreted. Video has the power to show things rather than try to describe them!
With Speach, you can directly comment on a presentation, record your screen and share this interactive video in just a few minutes. Speach allows you to maintain the social link while avoiding misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
To better collaborate remotely, don't let yourself be distracted. Organize information, structure your messages and share short, visual explanations (without the drawbacks of live broadcasting). Speach is an asynchronous communication solution that allows you to quickly and easily record videos to collaborate with colleagues and clients.
