For many small business owners – particularly those working in professional services like accounting or law that require a high degree of confidentiality – creating a closed private enterprise network helps team members share and access files from any location in a secure environment. But if you are looking to increase internal communication and collaboration – the sharing of ideas and knowledge – that is facilitated by easy access to data and information, then you need to look at your organizational structure. The “organization has to be structured to use the technology,” says Russell Mickler, principal consultant for Vancouver, Wash.-based Mickler & Associates. “Employees need to be able to make decisions on their own.”
Easing Friction
For a high-level transfer of information to occur and for team members to be truly connected, small business owners need to strive to create more of a frictionless environment. A frictionless environment, says Mickler, is one “where employees can talk privately anywhere in the world, and talk all the time and work on problems in a social space so that they can help each other.”
Most organizational cultures are still very hierarchical. Simply purchasing a network, such as Yammer or Jive, can put the technology in place. If the management style is too top-down, however, then no communication system will deliver the kind of results you can get if you consider more of a flat organizational structure.
Virtual Collaboration
In the best of technology-enabled worlds, the entire team will work together and collaborate, talking in real-time, editing documents together. Today’s data plans and coverage networks make it easier and more affordable than ever to stay connected, yet there needs to be a clear shift in the way computers and technology are viewed by the organization. In order to maximize internal collaboration, “computers are viewed as tools to investigate, communicate and explore the world,” says Mickler.
Otherwise, any enterprise system will only reinforce silos and at worst case, only store files. “It will be empty space of data that sits out there,” warns Mickler. “It reminds me of the Intranet, private web-based systems used to share stuff. Every Intranet I ever met was ignored. They were on public networks, and people only uploaded files and then directly accessed. They didn’t describe the files so others could use it.”
So before you launch any private enterprise system, make sure your organizational structure is set up to best take advantage of online collaboration and communication tools. You’ll not only increase the productivity and efficiency of your team, but also maximize the return on your technology investments.
SooJi Min is a freelance writer and nonprofit executive based in Ann Arbor, MI. She has written on small business topics for Crain’s, Imagination Publishing and The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.