For a business to function properly, it is not enough to have a good product or service. It is always important to plan and design an operations strategy that allows us to define the company’s value proposition, the responsibilities that each member of the organization will have and, of course, the means to achieve our objectives.
However, in recent years, situations such as Covid-19 have shown that even the best plans can go wrong, and that in order to get to where we want to be, we must be able to react to any challenges that arise. In these cases, the difference between being able to face these changes successfully or not is marked by how the company incorporates communication elements into its plans.
This is why many businesses, among other actions, have already started to use adaptive and flexible communication systems as the basis of their operations strategy.
These solutions, as long as they are the right ones and are included properly, help them improve and achieve their goals, allowing them to easily adapt to changes and even anticipate them. Do you want to know how to incorporate them correctly? Then keep on reading!
What is an operations strategy?
You are probably already an expert in designing operations strategies at your company. Or maybe this is the first time you are dealing with them and you don’t even know where to start.
Whatever your case is, before including a communication system in an operations strategy, it is important to know a precise definition of the term, as it will help us to better understand the process of incorporation.
An operations strategy is a plan in which the company defines how its departments and employees should work to achieve specific objectives. Thus, this project should include not only where the company wants to get to within a given timeframe, but also the tools that will be used in the process and the responsibilities of each team member.
The importance of designing a good operations strategy lies in the fact that, through the analysis of the environment that we must carry out to arrive at it, it is possible to find the elements that differentiate us from our competitors. With them, we will be able to bring quality to our products and services, improve productivity, increase customer satisfaction and reduce costs.
Why are communication systems so important in operations strategy?
Once we have analyzed our environment and identified the elements of differentiation, the next step is to implement our operations strategy. To do this, the members of the company must interact and collaborate continuously.
This is where communication systems play a key role. Coordination is essential in any company. If communication between employees is not fluid, we run the risk that information is lost and that, instead of moving towards a common goal, they carry out separate actions that can negatively affect the customer experience and, therefore, also the image they perceive of the company.
On the other hand, we mentioned at the beginning that a company’s ability to adapt quickly to any unexpected circumstance depends to a large extent on whether we incorporate adaptive communication systems into our operations strategy.
These situations usually involve changes in size, structure, location or even the working model. Thus, if the communication solutions that the company has considered when designing its strategy are not flexible and do not favor mobility, these changes can be slow and costly.
In addition, if the technology used by these systems is outdated and involves constant software downloads or upgrades, a sudden advance in technology can render them obsolete and thus cause the company to lose its competitive advantage.
How do we successfully incorporate communication systems into our operations strategy?
Now that you know the importance of communication systems in an operations strategy, the last thing you need to know is how to incorporate them successfully.
When it comes to selecting the solution you will use throughout your strategy, we recommend that you choose a cloud-based communication system. The reason is that, nowadays, more and more companies are opting for flexible working models that allow employees to operate from anywhere. These tools, because they work over the Internet, are ideal for teleworking and for the company to continue its activity, whatever the circumstances are.
However, not all solutions are the same. It is important to bear in mind that they do not all use the same technology. In this sense, we recommend that you opt for WebRTC, since, unlike SIP, these solutions are 100% cloud. This means that they do not require the installation of any software on the device that we are going to use, something that can be slow and even unsuccessful. With WebRTC, we can manage our communications directly by accessing the browser of any device (computer, mobile or tablet), without having to download anything.
On the other hand, as we said earlier, a good operations strategy starts with an analysis of our environment to find any element of differentiation that will allow us to gain a competitive advantage. And a communication system, in this case, can be the key.
Using a solution that allows you to integrate different channels, both for internal communication (chat, voice calls, video conferencing) and customer service (live chat, WhatsApp, Telegram…) can make a difference that users will notice and appreciate.
A well-functioning operations strategy requires a constant exchange of information. This is why providing employees with different ways of contacting each other will allow them to maintain a fluid communication and not to lose any information.
In the case of customer service, different ways of communicating with our company means that users can solve their queries through the means that is most convenient for them at any given time. Their experience will be much more pleasant and we will achieve what should be the main objective for any company: the satisfaction of our customers.
Have we convinced you about why communications should be the basis of your operations strategy? Do you want to incorporate them successfully? At Fonvirtual we can help you. Do not hesitate to contact us through any of the channels we offer you.
