What makes an office efficient?
Is it the equipment and how fancy it is? Or the software? Or how well-stocked the break room is?
No—it’s the people, of course! And nothing will cause those people to lose efficiency faster than a lack of communication, connection, and data transparency. As a whole, these problems are called “information silos,” which describes a situation where critical information (such as documents, customer data, and so on) isn’t available to all of the personnel that might benefit from it.
The good news is that Xerox has plenty of solutions. First, let’s examine how the problem of information silos can arise, then we’ll look at how to eradicate them from your organization.
When Co-Workers Struggle To Share Critical Information, Everyone Loses!
It’s worth noting that for many businesses, not all information needs to be shared with everyone, and indeed shouldn’t be. A good example of this is in-progress research and development on a “top secret” new product launch. This isn’t the kind of information we’re talking about here—we’re talking about the kind of data that should be getting shared, but isn’t.
If you’ve ever experienced a situation where you’ve completed a task, such as drafting a document, emailing a customer, or updating client information (such as a phone number), only to later (perhaps way later) find out that someone else had already done it, how did it make you feel? Bad, probably, because ultimately you wasted time doing something. If your workplace was more connected, a situation like this may have never arose.
Another common problem caused by information silos within organizations is the frustrating situation where you make an important decision, only to find out it was the wrong one—and the mistake could have been prevented if you had knowledge another team or coworker had already discovered. For example, imagine that your team launches a new marketing campaign based on assumptions about customer preferences—only to learn afterward that the customer support department had already gathered data showing those assumptions were outdated.
Needless to say, these are things that should be avoided. Xerox can help.
Xerox Has the Solutions You Need for a More Connected, Transparent Workplace
What does it mean to have a connected, transparent workplace? It usually begins with two key elements that need to be made easily available to employees:
- A way to reliably and regularly collaborate
- A well-organized document storage system (typically digital)
Xerox has a bevy of ready-made solutions that can help everyone in your organization stay on the same page. For collaboration and document storage, DocuShare Go is a great choice. It’s a cloud-based content management system that’s especially useful for small to midsize businesses—with it, you can securely store, organize, and access files from anywhere. This ensures that important information and documents are never locked away in a single person’s inbox or device.
You can learn more and decide for yourself about this great platform in our blog post Is DocuShare Go the Right Content Management Platform for Your Organization?
Of course, that’s not all. You may also consider Workflow Central, especially if your organization has remote or hybrid staff. This cloud-based suite has a robust range of features that some businesses really benefit from, like file translation, redaction, and format conversion—or combination workflows that might include all of the above. Of course, its primary function is to make document sharing, storage, and collaboration easy, even for teams in different physical locations.
Ready To Establish Better Workflows for a Faster, More Efficient Office? We’re Here To Help
If your goal is to set up a more connected, efficient office, there are plenty of ways to go about it with Xerox technology—what we’ve discussed to day are just a couple of great options. If you’d like personalized help, our team is here to assist you in making smart choices for the upgrades that will serve you and your team the best. To get started, just contact us or request a free online quote.
