Leveraging Technology

We recently had a huge change in our state health code and inspection process (it went into effect 12/1/07), and in order to communicate changes, and frequent clarifications from our county and state, to our whole department, I set up a free online wiki. The wiki allows everyone to contribute information about the new code as well as have a quick, user-friendly reference for front-line management. It is great that our staff doesn't need to wait for me to get back with them with answers, and they can contribute their ideas as well so that we're not all reinventing the wheel with each new process change!
Kris I.
UGA Food Services, Athens, GA

If communication must be real-time in any organization, it requires an internal system, like Microsoft Outlook, that supports calendar scheduling of important events, as well as email or text messaging. Those of us at Enmark who need to keep informed real-time, must carry a communication device (we use the Motorola Q) that interfaces with our Outlook calendars and email. Any scheduled events or emails will be uploaded to our Q device as frequently as we wish...I set mine up to get updates every 15 minutes during regular business hours...and we can set up the notification for new messages or meeting reminders as ring tones or vibration mode. In this way, we can stay connected, even if one team member is in New Jersey, another in Chicago, and the rest are back here in Ann Arbor. If your team members are in closer proximity, and you just need to speak with then, even within a couple of miles, a Nextel-type "walkie-talkie" system may be the ticket, or the less-obnoxious head sets like they use in Office Depot.
Jerry K
Enmark Systems, Ann Arbor, MI

On a previous job I had staff inside and outside of the office and in order to communicate the same information to both, I asked each individual to check their emails each night for the next day's information, scheduling, etc. If it was a detailed item, I would have them leave me a voicemail that night of the best time to call them the next day and would do so. If we had more general information that was group related, I would set up a conference call 2 days in advance so they would have a day to rearrange their calls for that day. If necessary, I would arrange drop off's and utilized snail mail as a last resort of course.
Bob O
Arden Companies, Southfield, MI

Asgard Press is a virtual company and growing rapidly. So the aspect of inter-company communication takes on a greater significance without an office or any common workspace whatsoever. As an added wrinkle, our team is a mixed bag of those of us that travel a lot, and those that are pretty much home-based.
Well, it turns out there are some common workspaces that are emerging. Here's a rambling streamofconsciousness description of what we've tried, what's worked, and what hasn't worked---and what's a work in progress.

Basic assumptions
As a virtual company, communication is based on a few assumptions. First, that we each have a computer of some sort that can access a high-speed Internet connection. Second, that we each have a separate phone line for old-fashioned calls--either a landline or cell phone.

Skype
This free program is pretty good for multi-party conference calls of up to 10 people. Whenever we need to have conference calls, we use this. The sound quality is usually superior to any landline or cell phone as long as you have a reliable internet connection. We routinely use Skype to chat with the folks at our printing plant in Korea. It's great.

iChat Video
Since most of us are Mac users, we occasionally use iChat for video conferencing. It's not as reliable as Skype for some reason, but when we need to have that 'next best thing to being there' experience, it's a great way to communicate 'face to face'. We've also tried multiparty videoconferences of 3 - 4 people, with mixed results. The host must have a great internet connection, and everyone else needs to have a pretty good internet connection as well. This is particularly helpful when we are trying to work on a printing project where visual description is essential. It's also a good way to discuss stuff that is sensitive and subject to misunderstanding - it's helpful when discussing bad news, for example, when you can read each other's facial expressions.

Email
Of course, email is our primary form of intercompany communication. However, what we have found is that it can get out of control if we 'cc' everyone all the time, which we used to do in the name of keeping everyone 'in the loop'. What we found out was that it had the opposite effect. People got used to just skimming the subject lines or ignoring emails entirely, if they weren't addressed directly to them.

Google Docs
We tried to work with google docs a bit, but found it to be a bit inelegant and not as user-friendly as we would have liked in terms of collaborative workspaces.

Intranet / virtual office solutions
A work in progress that David is now spearheading is our virtual office / intranet. Basically he is designing a web-based area where we can post our projects and related information---a central repository, if you will, but also more than that. It's a place we each of us can give feedback and offer comments, and also share certain documents as we build them out--like spreadsheets and databases.

This has already cut down on the number of emails and missed communications considerably. I have personally been very frustrated in the past when I've taken the time to write and send emails about certain things in depth, and a few days later people ask me the same question or vice versa. With this virtual office, we input the info once, and everyone can access it easily and quickly.

Ultimately, there is no replacement for face-to-face communications. The energy and enhanced productivity that comes from working in 'real time' cannot be substituted by virtual solutions. We try to find excuses to get our team together at least once or twice a year---a trade show or other gathering provides a good excuse for team building and in our case, for folks to meet one another for the first time(!) Meanwhile, the upside is that we are each able to maintain a good amount of freedom to work in our pajamas or save water and not take showers or brush our teeth when necessary. And for those of us with small children, it's great to be able to spend more quality family time as well. Another plus is that we are able to work across multiple time zones, so when the busy season hits, we can provide customer service over a longer virtual day.
Peter S.
Asgard Press, virtually everywhere