Exporting

Communicating in the New World

Written by Clayton Reeves for Gaebler Ventures

In a global economy, everything from textiles to taxes is being exported to overseas companies. While this may come as a shock to many, it increases the standard of living worldwide. There are a few reasons why it is so easy to throw work around the globe these days.

With the arrival of the "Net Generation" into the workplace, there are several things that should be addressed regarding communication.

First, communication has become more important than ever. The world is beginning to resemble a giant collaborative force of talented people working with one another.

Corporations are becoming flatter, as is the world itself. Groups in India work all night for a firm in Chicago, who then transfers their work seamlessly the next day. Everything is becoming streamlined, and communication process becomes even more important. These are the most reasons that communication is becoming such an important aspect of 21st century business.

Prominence of team oriented business

Teams have started to become the main part of business around the world. They can entail anything from a few people in the same department of the same office, to an international, culturally diverse team of advanced professionals. Both of these scenarios reinforce the need for good communication.

The world is becoming flat. Thomas Friedman has written a well acclaimed book that anyone who is interested in globalization should read. Coincidentally, it is called "The World is Flat." There is collaboration and interrelatedness all around the world. The book is quite fascinating and expansive in this area.

Technology and innovation have had an incredible impact on communication over the last twenty years. This is making the distances between countries become irrelevant, and language barriers seem miniscule. There are such great opportunities for interaction between people around that world that the advent of team oriented business is something that should come as no surprise. Just make sure that your business is ready for employees that expect to be involved in decisions.

Diverse domestic and international employees

The domestic workforce in the United States is becoming more and more diverse with each passing day. Even more importantly, for international businesses, are the relations with foreign teams and entities. This makes communication between business task teams even more important. Language barriers, while still present, are becoming irrelevant as language experts are easily integrated into businesses and English becomes the standard worldwide.

All in all, the diversification of the labor force is a positive thing for businesses worldwide. It makes communication more integral to the process of information flow.

Technology improves and makes communication instantaneous

Finally, the technology has progressed to such a point that it is delinquent to not enable your business to have the ability to communicate seamlessly with other stakeholders. Things like teleconferencing enable your employees to communicate face to face with their targets. Fiber optic cables spanning the oceans and satellites circling the Earth enable cheap, instant communication. It is no longer an option, but a necessity for U.S. based businesses to investigate the option of working with teams from overseas.

Classic economics states that work should be sent to where it can be performed for the cheapest price. This has something to do with outsourcing, but outsourcing is becoming less about sending jobs overseas and more about sending work overseas.

Now, instead of having someone's job outsourced, you may outsource a mundane part of their job overseas at a fraction of the cost so they can engage in something more rewarding and in line with their abilities. I don't think anyone will argue with outsourcing busywork. This enables people to grow in their careers.

When he's not playing racquetball or studying for a class, Clayton Reeves enjoys writing articles about entrepreneurship. He is currently an MBA student at the University of Missouri with a concentration in Economics and Finance.

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