According to the 2022 Grammarly report with The Harris Poll, miscommunication costs U.S. businesses over $12,500 per employee each year. That’s approximately $1.2 trillion lost among U.S. businesses. In the same study, around 72% of business leaders admitted their teams faced challenges in effective communication over the past year. Additionally, they estimated teams lost nearly a full workday each week (7.47 hours) dealing with communication issues like unclear messages or follow-ups on requests. As a result, one in five leaders reported losing business or deals.
Are we simply “out of sync?” Or is there a deeper communication issue?
Cross-departmental collaboration is crucial for innovation, problem-solving, and overall organizational success. When different departments collaborate effectively, they combine diverse skill sets and create more well-rounded solutions.
But cross-collaboration doesn’t always come naturally. There are many common problems that companies experience in the quest for communicative greatness. Formstack has some solutions to keep your company’s [phone, chat, or email] lines from getting crossed.
Problem #1: Digital Tool Overuse and Fatigue
Now that 58% of the workforce (92 million workers) does their job remotely, digital communication has become a preferred method for workplace communication and productivity. However, some business leaders mistakenly equate collaboration with constant communication over tools like email, video calls, and chat tools.
But an overemphasis on these methods can be distracting, leading to “alert fatigue” and actually hindering collaborative work. Harvard Business Review's analysis highlights a concerning trend: Time spent on communication tools has surged by 50% over the past decade, now consuming 85% or more of people's work weeks.
Solution: Formstack Approvals Keep Everyone in the Loop
Formstack's revitalized Approvals tool provides a centralized place for managing approvals for things like time off or important documents. This eliminates the need for back-and-forth emails or messages, ensuring all approval-related communication is concentrated within the system.
Approvals includes an automated notification system that alerts relevant stakeholders when their input or approval is required. This reduces delays and ensures individuals are promptly informed, minimizing the risk of communication gaps or missed approvals. Users can easily see where a request stands in the approval process, fostering clarity and reducing the likelihood of misunderstandings.
Problem #2: Redundant Work
Every week, employees spend over 10% of their time doing redundant work, averaging around four hours and 38 minutes. This adds up to over 200 hours annually lost to repetitive and low-value tasks that have already been completed.
Solution: Formstack Portals keeps everyone on the same page with the most current information.
The Formstack Portals add-on acts as a centralized hub where you can store and organize information, reducing scattered documents and multiple versions of the same information. This avoids redundancy and ensures everyone can access the most up-to-date data. Portals also provides a shared space for communication and document collaboration, ensuring users can view information with access control and permission settings.
Problem #3: Data Silos
Ninety-one percent of organizations believe Software as a Service (SaaS) is an enabler of emerging technology. However 53% of SaaS licenses remain unused, even though companies employ more than 300 SaaS applications on average. As messaging apps and platforms grow, they reduce our dependence on email and empower organizations to stay connected. But too many conversations across various channels can harm productivity, creating data silos and causing distractions.
Solution: Formstack Integrations Make Your Data Flow Seamlessly
Formstack offers customizable integrations with a wide range of third-party applications. That means you can tailor these connections to your specific needs, ensuring data is shared and used in a way that aligns with your unique workflows. Integrated workflows ensure data moves seamlessly through different stages of a process (for instance, CRM data to populate a contract). This not only enhances efficiency but prevents data silos where information is stagnant or inaccessible.
Formstack Brings Your Teams Together
Overcoming common obstacles like digital tool overuse, data silos, and redundant work keeps your business collaborating (and one step ahead of the competition). Digitization plays a pivotal role in supporting cross-departmental collaboration. By implementing digital tools like Formstack Portals, Approvals, and Integrations, your organization can streamline communication, document sharing, and project management to work smarter than ever.
Experience streamlined data management and enhanced collaboration. Start your Formstack 14-day free trial today, and transform the way your organization handles forms and workflows!
