Hope Lukoto, Chief Human Resource Officer, BCX, unpicks the stumbling blocks, the tools, and the technologies required to enhance and embed collaboration within the business.

Forrester believes that enterprise collaboration has become a critical success factor for organisations wanting to better manage employee relationships and engagement. The right tools reshape performance. They allow people to work seamlessly from anywhere without compromising on productivity while creating an environment where teams can truly thrive. 

The enterprise collaboration market is projected to exceed USD 85.8 billion by the end of 2026, according to Markets and Markets, reflecting the growing recognition of its ability to enhance competitive advantage and workplace engagement. Moreover, these tools offer solutions to common impediments that hinder collaboration within organisations.

One of the most common of these is ineffective communication. Without the right systems in place, there is a lack of clarity, which can lead to a misalignment of goals among team members. Where communication is not effective, collaboration rapidly follows suit. 

Siloed information compounds this issue, a common problem in larger organisations with diverse teams or for those managing a geographically dispersed workforce. The isolation of data and knowledge makes access and sharing difficult, typically restricted to a select few, impeding collaboration and slowing workflow. Wedded to this, is the fact that remote and distributed teams bring another challenge to the table – disparate time zones. This can make it difficult to schedule meetings and manage asynchronous communication.

These challenges are often exacerbated by old and outdated collaboration tools that don’t have the reach and scale organisations need. Manual processes with limited integration across teams, silos, and tools potentially add to the problems. Overcoming these hurdles can be as simple as investing in new tools and technologies that can be customised to boost collaboration and communication within unique business environments. Project management tools such as Asana, Monday.com, Trello, and Jira are designed to help teams organise and track tasks, assign responsibilities, and collaborate on projects. 

These tools can be enhanced by communication and messaging platforms such as Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Enreach, Slack and Google Chat. Designed to facilitate real-time communication, file sharing and collaboration, these solutions also enable real-time video collaboration and can be boosted by Google Docs, Microsoft Office 365 and Dropbox Paper to allow for simultaneous, real-time document collaboration. Miro and Mural are two exceptional tools that enable teams to create visual representations on virtual whiteboards.

Cloud is one of the biggest enablers of all these tools and collaborative endeavours across the business. It enables teams to access files and applications from anywhere, at any time, and on any device. Cloud-based collaboration tools enable real-time editing and engagement so people can see changes as they happen. 

Cloud offers centralised storage and version control, so everyone has the most up-to-date versions, while data-loss risks are reduced and errors are minimised. Its ability to integrate across multiple business applications is also an advantage, as information, data and workflows can be optimised across the business and different tools. 

That said, all these tools and technologies must be balanced by human engagement. Overreliance on digital communication can lead to miscommunication and slower decision-making, while limited in-person interactions may compromise relationship-building. Collaboration fatigue is a legitimate concern, particularly when teams heavily rely on virtual meetings and constant online communication. This often blurs the boundaries between work and personal life, exacerbated by challenges such as load-shedding, technical issues and connectivity problems, which are particularly pertinent in the South African context.

To fully harness the potential of these technologies, companies must invest not only in the tools themselves but also in ways to foster personal connections, mitigating digital fatigue while amplifying the value of their technology investments. Modern collaboration and communications platforms must be complemented by a strong people-centric focus that nurtures human connections within digital environments. This approach not only allows businesses to reap the benefits of technology, but also leads to engaged employees and heightened productivity.