It seems that with every year the pace of business innovation is increasing. What seemed like a novel concept last year is now passé. Now that we’re a few months into the New Year, let’s take a look at what we think will be some of the big business communication trends in 2017.
Trust-Building
As employees are in the physical office less frequently, the importance of building and retaining trust with employees becomes more important than ever. Digital platforms that encourage collaboration on projects are critical for engaging teammates who may be spread across the country (or the world). Such tools help to maintain critical interpersonal communication.
Enterprise Social Networks
Use of enterprise social networks (HipChat, Slack, Asana, Basecamp, Yammer, etc) has grown from 10% to 65% of businesses in the past 10 years and a McKinsey Global survey recently predicted adoption would level out at 70% by the end of 2017. If your company isn’t utilizing an enterprise social network, look into the benefits that a connected workforce can achieve.
Employee Engagement
According to the most recent Gallup “State of the American Workplace” report, 70% of U.S. workers are not engaged at work. Companies can take advantage of digital tools to improve communication and increase employee engagement by encouraging collaboration and feedback within the company. Studies show that even a slight improvement in employee engagement results in an increase in revenue.
Generation Z
Brace yourselves, because the Post-Millennial generation is starting to hit the workforce and they were raised on technology. This workforce has grown up in the rapidly evolving digital world and is more tech savvy than any generation before it. Ensuring that your internal business communication is geared toward their expectations will benefit your company. This is especially important in the retail and restaurant industries where many young employees enter the workforce for the first time.
Video
It’s not surprising that video is gaining ground in enterprise communication. Tools like Google Hangouts have existed for years, but the mainstream adoption of social apps like Snapchat and Instagram Stories have normalized the exchange of video, either real-time or asynchronous. Video’s use in training has increased as well, corresponding with the rise in mobile devices in the workplace. People are more comfortable watching video on a mobile device than having to awkwardly carry around a laptop.
What steps are you taking to modernize your business operations?
