5 Most Common Pitfalls of Mobile Communication in the Workplace

Mobile communication has become a staple in the workplace. Whether workers collaborate on Teams or chat via WhatsApp, business communication is going mobile. This introduces a new level of convenience for all parties involved. Employers and customers can reach workers more efficiently, and workers now have more tools to work remotely. Despite these benefits, failure to plan carefully for mobile communication can lead to severe pitfalls. Here are five of the most common.

1. No Communication Compliance Policy

Without a clear plan, workers may not fully understand the policies in place or how they affect compliance goals. This can lead to confusion and violations that could cost the company millions in dollars and one priceless asset: customer trust.

Managers must work with compliance professionals to determine the regulations and business communication requirements that apply to the business in various capacities. Only then can the company move forward with creating an effective communication plan.

2. Failing To Educate Employees on Communication Compliance

Employees are often the first and last line of defense when it comes to protecting corporate data. Therefore, companies need to focus on more than just effective compliance communication. It must also take on the task of communicating compliance to employees. Here are some of the ways companies can do this:

• Utilize educational tools that explain requirements and the ramifications of noncompliance regarding mobile communication.
• Use compliance-focused training sessions to ensure employees understand what the company expects of them.
• Develop policies that clearly outline expectations and consequences for not following procedures.
• Provide employees with resources to help them understand how to comply with regulations, such as mobile communication archiving and monitoring tools.
• Open up a two-way line of communication so that employees can ask questions and raise concerns about potential vulnerabilities they have identified.
• Managers should lead by example and apply compliance requirements fairly so that no employee begins to see themselves as exempt.

3. No Review of Communication Apps

Do the apps used by your workers provide end-to-end encryption? This is just one of the critical questions your IT team needs to ask before allowing workers to use any app for business purposes. Encryption might not seem like a big deal if workers do not use the app for sensitive information, but it is challenging to ensure that.

A much better approach is to only allow apps that meet company requirements or take steps to bolster them for compliant use. Here are some standard and secure options for business communication:

• WhatsApp Business: This is a secure, cloud-based messaging app that has enjoyed enormous success in its consumer and business forms.
• Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams provides an encrypted messaging platform for businesses.
• Signal: Signal offers end-to-end encryption for secure messaging and is growing in popularity.

4. No Provisions for Monitoring Employee Communications

Employee monitoring is a touchy subject in any industry. Workers want to retain their privacy, while employers want to monitor how much they work and what they do. Some big corporations, such as Microsoft, now advocate for companies to give up productivity paranoia and stop trying to track everything workers do.

However, when it comes to compliance, some mobile communication monitoring is critical. Employers must take care to ensure that they are only monitoring communication that is related to business activities. This is especially important when workers use personal devices for work. Companies that use communication monitoring apps must disclose this to workers.

5. Manual Mobile Communication Archiving

Many organizations are still using manual methods to archive mobile communications. This requires plenty of time and resources, making it a costly endeavor. Furthermore, unless the archived files are encrypted, it isn’t easy to ensure information remains secure in transit and storage.

Employers must look into automated archiving tools that can securely store communications for future reference. This is also a far more objective way of ensuring capturing all relevant conversations without interference. Regular review also allows managers to monitor communications and investigate suspicious activity.

How LeapXpert Capturing and Archiving Solutions Can Help

LeapXpert Communication Platform brings together a growing hodge-podge of chat apps by creating one centralized interface for workers to communicate with each other and their customers. It also automatically captures and archives these conversations so workers can focus more on doing their jobs and less on manually backing up files.

Communication is rapidly changing, and companies must invest in the tools that innovate with them. We have created an award-winning message and voice capturing and archiving solution that records and stores all types of electronic workplace communication. This includes text, images, PDFs, videos, and voice calls. No other solution has achieved this breadth of service.

Are you ready to see how LeapXpert can help you avoid some of the common pitfalls of communication in the workplace? Book a demo to see our software in action.