Communicating with emojis, exchanging messages, discussing certain topics in different groups - an excerpt from everyday private life? Not only, because what was initially only part of the personal sphere is already being practiced in many companies today. The demand for flexible working structures is growing all the time. This includes, for example, working remotely, i.e. being able to choose your workplace regardless of location. Requests like these need to be heard. After all, it is the employees who determine the framework conditions in view of the current "war of talent". Sooner or later, companies will have to accept them.

In order to successfully meet this change, many organizations from a wide range of industries are already relying on a special form of collaboration, namely collaboration hubs. They facilitate and support modern teamwork in the digital workplace. This place of collaboration opens up new possibilities for communication and working together across rooms, cities, countries, even continents and time zones. The focus is on knowledge that is stored in one place, the collaboration hub, and is available to everyone. For many companies, however, the question arises as to what benefits such a platform brings. And more importantly, how can managers use this new form of communication to motivate their employees? How do teams benefit from such a tool on a day-to-day basis?

Three tips for employee motivation

1. more time for the essentials - create acceptance and knowledge!

The introduction of new tools into an organization is based on certain criteria, according to which IT, HR and the individual specialist departments must be involved. However, one thing must not be forgotten: Acceptance must also be created for the new things. It is therefore essential to involve all employees when introducing a collaboration hub, to educate them and to show them the possibilities that such a platform offers. By taking this step, they will feel that they are an important member of the organization that contributes to its overall economic success.

Collaboration hubs are more than just software. They change internal communication in such a way that exchange is always guaranteed, regardless of whether colleagues are working in the office, remotely from their home office or on the road. So-called channels, which bundle knowledge in different channels and on various topics, can be created at any time. Team members are added according to their responsibilities so that projects can be discussed at any time. This effective and transparent approach leaves time and space for the essentials. Less administration and complex coordination, but more clarity, opportunities for involvement, team spirit and creativity.

2. pulling together - "team first" for a common corporate culture.

Whether a company is successful or not also depends a lot on the shared culture that unites employees. In the long term, it is therefore important to establish the idea of "team first" in the organizational culture. The collective success that is generated does much more to meet the challenges of change in our society. Retaining employees in the long term should be the be-all and end-all if you want to successfully counter the declared "war of talents". Collaboration hubs thus become an enabler or an ally, as they are the technological basis and make the collective culture possible in the first place. The use of useful functions, such as emojis in daily communication, as well as the shared knowledge that exists via channels, creates a common culture in an organization.

3. make sure that employees have the right tools at their disposal.

When are employees productive? In our eyes, when they can develop creatively and work collectively on ideas and projects. This is only possible if they have the right tools at their fingertips. Collaboration hubs therefore not only optimize internal communication - integrated functions turn them into a large creative center that enables employees and teams to work on topics and current projects. External applications such as Google Drive and Trello or Salesforce and Hubspot for IT, sales and marketing can be used at any time. The tools available are integrated into the platform. The only thing they have to do in the morning is log into the hub. For example, if Sales has collected important leads from a recent event, this information can be shared in the relevant channel by simply inserting a Salesforce URL in this case. Every member of the channel is up to date without having to open the app itself.

To hold meetings, for example, both audio and video calls can be managed directly via the platform. At the content level, it is also important that the knowledge stored in a collaboration hub can be found. This means that messages, documents and other input can be accessed at any time and from anywhere. Once it has been discussed by a colleague or former employee, it is available to everyone. This tool also ensures that not only is existing knowledge not unnecessarily duplicated, but also that new, innovative ideas are generated. This productivity is a high priority for companies in any industry - and if employees do not have the necessary tools, they will not be able to fulfill it.

Collaboration hubs can help

There is no question that companies need to rethink employee retention and motivation in a new digital working world. After all, every single employee is a valuable asset that needs to be protected in the long term. New and, above all, remote forms of communication and collaboration such as collaboration hubs make a decisive contribution to this by optimizing teamwork and providing concrete tools.

Johann Butting, Head of EMEA at Slack / ag