Consider the following:
- Have you ever completed a task, only to later realize someone else had already done it because you weren’t aware it was finished?
- Have you ever experienced a situation where a team or individual in your organization made a decision without realizing its impact on others due to a lack of shared information?
- When was the last time you wasted time searching for an important document, only to find out later that someone else already had it but didn’t share it?
If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, don’t feel too badly—it’s a common problem in organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to multinational corporations. In fact, as your business grows, it’s more and more likely that problems like these will crop up.
These kinds of problems are usually caused by “information silos.” Let’s take a moment to explore what that means and how Xerox equipment and tools can help your team enjoy better communication and collaboration.
What Is an “Information Silo”?
“Information silo” is a phrase that describes a situation where important information is kept within one team or person’s possession instead of being shared with everyone who needs it (or might need it). This, obviously, can cause confusion, extra work, and unnecessary mistakes, because people don’t have the right details to do their jobs properly—and it happens all the time!
Typically, an information silo is comprised of some kind of data. It could be as simple as a client’s contact information, or the details of a new product release. Sometimes businesses need to restrict information (e.g., for confidentiality or compartmentalization purposes), but that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about the kind of information that should be shared, but isn’t.
Xerox Tools That Help Reduce or Eliminate Information Silos for Your Team
Xerox has a great many tools that can help to reduce or outright eliminate information silos in your organization. Let’s talk about a few of them:
For small and midsize businesses that need to centralize document management for sharing and collaboration among individuals or small workgroups, Xerox DocuShare Go is an excellent choice; you can learn more about it in our post Need a Content Management System? Here’s Why Xerox’s DocuShare Go Is a Great Choice.
For organizations with remote employees or “hybrid” staff (those who are sometimes in-office, and sometimes remote), Workflow Central is a robust system that will prevent information silos from forming thanks to its many features designed around making sharing and collaborating on documents and media easier and faster. We’ve also discussed this excellent platform in our post Xerox’s Most Powerful Productivity Platform: Get to Know Workflow Central.
Efficient Collaboration Made Easy With Xerox Technology – Here’s How To Transform Your Workplace
The solutions discussed here are just a start—for custom solutions tailored to meet your unique needs, we encourage you to contact us today. Our team of experts knows that no two organizations are exactly alike, and we’d be very pleased to introduce you to flexible, modern Xerox technology that can do exactly what you need it to do. If it’s time for an upgrade, we also invite you to request a free online quote.
