Our parents could barely dream about being happy at work. They were satisfied with a monthly pay and some thought the job wasn’t that bad after all. In opposition, our generation feels entitled to be happy. Are we ignoring reality or seeing it for what it really is? Can we use collaboration technology to turn this potential into a sustainable realistic scenario?

Read this article and find out how collaboration tools simplify workflows and increase productivity, ultimately making people feel accomplished and happy with their work.

What makes a happy employee?

Some would say money, but we all know that’s not true. After a certain threshold, there is no amount on Earth that can make a person happier or more productive. People need something intangible. A sense of purpose, a feeling that they are good at what they do, and that others appreciate them for it.

As individuals, the external realities of our life don’t affect our happiness as much as our thoughts. But at work we are not just individuals; we work in teams to achieve goals. So, our happiness depends on how well we work together.

Technology is enabling companies to redefine the way we work. Productivity and collaboration tools are the engines that drive teams to a whole new level of social cohesion. They allow team members to collaborate transparently, with increased optimism and trust. If we, as individuals, feel that we matter and that our ides are valued, then happiness at work is possible. And collaboration technology can helps us get there provided that we understand it.

The proper way of using your collaboration tools

You are not going to use a hammer by throwing it at nails. Nor are you going to throws walls at a hammer. The same way goes for collaboration tools. The problems these new tools bring have less to do with technology itself, and more with lack of leadership and failing to implement a new work culture around these new tools. We can’t keep acting behaviorally like we do in real life and expect these tools to work. That doesn’t mean we will stop evolving technology to make working more human. Change has got to come from the top, but how can these changes make employees happy?

How collaboration tools make you happy at work

The arrival of faster, smarter, all inclusive, dynamic software has turned out to be the spark for developing a new work culture. One that allows users to work together in the most effective way possible through digital communication and collaboration.

Yes, you can work from home

For starters, collaborative technologies remove the typical real world barriers such as time, culture, distance, and even language. They are not so relevant today as they were back in the day, that’s for sure. Adopting the “bring your own device” to work philosophy is becoming compulsory in offices around the world. It allows people to be productive at work or at home, day or night, using their favorite device. They don’t need to attend every long, boring and irrelevant meeting; they can have more meaningful virtual interactions that help save time and money by removing travel from the equation. Needless to say, the results are at many times better than before.

Even closer than before

Collaboration used to happen in offices, at desks, in meeting rooms - anywhere near donuts and coffee, actually. Today it happens around a presentation discussed in a group chat or in a video call. Even if people are miles apart, they are working more closely together and more efficiently.

With these new tools, teams can also bridge the gaps left behind by cold, formal emails, with a more simple and human type of collaboration. All these new ways of communication are clear and transparent enough to remove blame games and reinforce human work relationships and collaboration.

Everything comes together

The global workplace is being unified and upgraded by technology. Mobile communication is excellent for working at home, video calls make it even better, while the new file sharing systems make unread emails and lost attachments a thing of the past. However, for some this may sound like a hot digital mess. The truth is that employees can spend up to a third of their time searching and gathering information. In this collaborative age, technology is bringing it all together making information more accessible.

Here at Hubgets we understand what makes or breaks your day and we focus on features that eliminate time-consuming processes. Our solution lets people organize their discussions and track every conversation be it instant messages, voice or video conversations. Gradually and naturally, team communication becomes a searchable knowledge base.

Better work life balance

More and more people work from home or abroad. Technology allows them to find their peak productivity times and improve on them. They can avoid interruptions so that they can focus on results. Decluttering makes less room for errors, and people are able to complete their work in the given time frame, sometimes from the comfort of their home. This in turn means a better work life balance and happier, hence more productive employee.

Collaboration technology replaces time-consuming real life meetings with meaningful virtual ones. It allows multiple users to access files in the context of their conversations, not in email attachments. Important pieces of information can be tagged and searched with ease, during a meeting or whenever necessary. Also, collaborative software empowers team members to create a more democratic platform where feedback and opinions are discussed from an equal viewpoint, leaving company hierarchy to exist only when it needs to.

At the end of the day, people feel better when they work better, when they have a sense of purpose, a shared vision and expectation, a clear role to fulfill and the perfect tool that makes work and life so much easier.