How
many times this week have you sent out an email to more than one person and the
replies come back thick and fast, and before you know it you have many replies
all in different emails and getting this back into one string is near on
impossible. Then add attachments to the mix and this potentially multiplies the
problem.
Am
I saying stop using email now? Not yet I’m not, but there is obviously a
problem that needs solving. There are solutions out there that solve this exact
issue, but why are we not all using them? (I am not saying this is the only
problem these solutions solve too)
I
have spoken to many clients that say in 5 years no one will be using email in
their firm. I disagree; I just don’t think that will happen. What I think will
happen is, it will become like faxing is now – very limited. There is always
someone that has to send/receive a fax, but faxing has dropped off a cliff in
the last 5 or so years (just ask the law firms that used to charge for a lot of
faxing). So for me it will be ‘less email’ rather than ‘email-less’.
The
younger generations of today are already moving away from email and using
social media and messaging services instead. I very rarely receive an email
from my younger cousins, but you can’t keep them off WhatsApp or Facebook.
One
of the main problems is email is so widely used today and by so many people that
stopping using it could affect your business. I’ve read about the firms that
ban internal email and only use email for external. I think this is a good
idea, but has serious flaws. Asking staff to switch from email (from a client
that you would normally forward on for comment) to say, an enterprise collaboration
platform, is putting up a barrier that some staff will struggle with.
Enterprise collaboration platforms generally refer to the system that combines tools and processes to ensure employees can connect and collaborate with the people, information and the resources they
require at any given time.
I
have used firm owned enterprise collaboration platforms with clients for
managing projects and so many times I hear…’can you not just email it to me’
from their own staff. There is nothing wrong essentially with the platforms
they are using, staff just don’t buy into it.
And
there is another problem. I heard these words the other day ‘there are loads of
collaboration platforms used today and so many passwords to remember, it’s just
not as easy as email’. I’m sure most people would say email systems are simple
and easy to use, however is that because we are used to using one platform
every day that rarely changes. If you jump between Outlook 2010, 2013, Yahoo
and Gmail every day for a week, the user experience is so different it’s enough
to put you off using email. 
My conclusion is, like with many projects and implementations, it’s very much about buy in and leadership. There is an answer and a better solution to the problem and maybe this will evolve with time as the younger generation grow into the business world, but it is not widely adopted enough yet, and are the leaders in businesses using them enough and in the right way and leading from the front? Enterprise collaboration platforms give you not only a way to improve the flow of information between employees and customers, but also a way to facilitate interaction with employees internally. I believe the successful businesses of tomorrow are already using enterprise collaboration platforms internally and externally.
So will I stop using email tomorrow? No, but we are using our own collaboration platform (Nikec Hub) and Salesforce Chatter to cut down on internal email…. Oh and using the old fashioned option of speaking to someone directly. Plus I got my dad using email last year, after countless times of trying, but he swears he’ll never get on social media so I’ll keep my Yahoo account live a bit longer.
Damian Jeal [
]
Nikec Solutions [ www.nikecsolutions.com ]
Nikec Hub is a powerful extranet for all your firms collaboration, communication and document security needs.
Nikec Hub is an extranet that provides firms with a secure and efficient way of managing information, while enhancing communications and collaboration with colleague and clients. It integrates seamlessly with your document management system allowing users to create their own extranet in a few quick steps. It also integrates with many practice management systems enabling firms to provide up-to-date management information to their clients all from within a single, powerful portal.
Nikec Hub is a powerful extranet for all your firms collaboration, communication and document security needs.
Nikec Hub is an extranet that provides firms with a secure and efficient way of managing information, while enhancing communications and collaboration with colleague and clients. It integrates seamlessly with your document management system allowing users to create their own extranet in a few quick steps. It also integrates with many practice management systems enabling firms to provide up-to-date management information to their clients all from within a single, powerful portal.