The document discusses the benefits of cloud collaboration in boosting employee participation and productivity but highlights challenges in employee adoption due to unfamiliarity and management reluctance. It suggests tools like gamification to enhance engagement, emphasizes the importance of choosing the right collaboration tools, and advocates for leaders to actively use the software to set an example. Additionally, it stresses the need for accessible content and ease of use to maintain employee interest in the collaboration platform.

1. Cloud Collaboration:
Boosting employee
participation
So your company has embraced cloud collaboration (and is aware of the vast
benefits collaboration can offer, such as the efficiency with which projects can be
managed, the increase in productivity and communication, and the
quality), however your employees are slow to participate and use the software.
Adapting to new methods of working and new pieces of software, when
employees are used to basic Email or IM, can be daunting.
There are many reasons why management and employees are reluctant to say
yes to Cloud Collaboration, like the reliability, security or the fact they have never
used collaboration software before. However, in order to roll out the software
successfully, companywide there are some tools and approaches that can be
implemented to ensure complete integration.

2. Gamification
The idea of Gamification is to take the enjoyable characteristics of
games (online) and to implement them into business practices. These
can include features such as a points system, leader boards, levels
and rewards. By utilising the fun facets of gaming and employing them
in a company’s cloud collaboration software, businesses are able to
actively encourage employees to participate more and achieve higher
productivity. Deloitte believes, ‘gamification will be incorporated into 25
percent of redesigned business processes by 2015’*. This could very
well be in part to a recent Modern Survey study which suggests that
‘only 10% of employees in the US are fully engaged at work’**, yet
these same employees could probably spend hours engaged in a
game.

3. Choosing the right tool- what
do you need it for?
It is pointless giving employees a brand new expensive bit of loud
collaboration software if all you are using it for is to share files. There is
so much more that cloud collaboration can offer; such as groups for file
sharing- but also version updates, and @mention facilities allowing
individuals or groups to be alerted to a change on a project they’re
worked on, and employees can collaborate together on a project though
the cloud- so away from their desks. You need to know what you want
and what you want to use it for before rolling it out to employees.
Without doing this you risk constant changes to the software and
features of the software not being utilised to their full potential as they
are not right for your company, resulting in bored and fed up employees
who eventually give up on the collaboration you are offering. The
software needs to be current, useful to what you need and something
the whole company can easily rally around.

4. Leading by example; why
would the employees adopt the
collaborative tools if the CEO
has not?
This is one of the most important approaches to take when implementing
companywide collaborative software. According to a survey published by
Forbes Industry, ‘58% of the participants and 90% of leaders said that cloud
collaboration results in more efficient business processes.’***. If the
CEO, executives and managers of the company believe cloud based
collaboration results in more ‘efficiency’ then they need to do more than say
so. The leaders need to proactively use the software, even if it means
ignoring employee emails and replying to them via the collaboration tools.
However if the employees are using the software and the top dogs of the
business aren’t this can’t instil much faith in the employees over the
software? Both need to use it and the management need to lead the way.

5. Content &ease of Use
Another crucial area of advocating the software is content; if employees are
greeted by a blank looking screen with a few buttons and no files or groups set
up, then they will swiftly grow bored and uninterested in it. As important as
gamification, content will grab their attention and hold their curiosity; if they are
invited to groups and to collaborate on files and projects, not only will it get the
ball rolling successfully but it will attract their interest. Ease of use is equally
vital to holding the initial interest of employees. If the cloud collaboration
involves multiple day’s worth of training and a dozen links and buttons to reach
their collaborating virtual destination then they will become tired and
disillusioned with cloud collaborating and willing to embrace it in the long term.
source* - Enterprise Apps Today
source** - ASTD
source*** - CertsHelp

6. www.clinked.com