Data Management and Communication Strategies

Introduction

In the recent era of globalisation, it is necessary for the corporate organisations to manage their data base and gather market information for running the operations sustainably (Stupnytska, Kalaman and Markova, 2019). The organisations try to maintain the efficacy of data handling and managing the digital data base in the organisational workplace, in order to support the staff with adequate information and valid data for enhancing their performance and productivity in long run (Pavlineri, Skoulikidisand Tsihrintzis, 2017). The study is effective to analyse the data silos and the database management system at the organisation. Additionally, the study also provides a scope to identify he communication channels in the workplace of Luton Town Residences (LTR), as well as identify the communication gap in the workplace. The study is also beneficial to develop alternative strategy for enhancing internal communication, so that the staff members can handle their performance and fulfil the responsibility to contribute efficiently in the firm. The study is hereby advantageous to analyse the existing workplace activities of LTR and develop alternative innovative strategy for managing the organisational data base and enhancing communication, so that the workers at LTR can perform better in long run.

LTR is a famous housing association operating in Luton, and the mission of the LTR is to provide quality housing to the local community members with the aim of giving assistance and support to the vulnerable individuals in the society. LTR operates from a central office suite located in the Luton Town Centre and there are four housing blocks across Luton with individual management team. There are customer’s service team, finance team and facilities maintenance team where the staff members are efficient to manage their services for the benefits of the individuals. There are different housings systems in LTR which are emergency hostels for the single young people aged from 16 to 25 years, two hostels for the young mothers aged between 16 and 25 years and also there is transitional flats from 16 to 18 years old leaving care. Hence, LTR is efficient to manage their operations and providing quality housing with additional facilities to the individuals. There are 10 staff members in the finance team and 8 staff is there in the faculty maintenance team. The customer service team has 15 staff, and on the other hand, there are supported housing personal coach with 15 staff, general administrative department with 8 staff and senior management team with 10 staff members. All the employees in LTR are efficient and experienced to manage the internal operational activities and maximise consumer satisfaction by delivering quality housing and other additional facilities.

Part 1: Data Silos in LTR – Data Sharing and Digital Collaboration

Data silos are the set of collection of data and information in the organisational workplace, where the business leader tries to keep the data safe and secured in the organisational data base (Ruan et al., 2019). There are different departments in the organisation and the data and information in different departments are diverse from each other and in this regard the organisational leader and management team try to keep data safety and security for protecting the personal information and internal information of the organisation (Landau-Ward, and Porter, 2019). Data silos are necessary to be managed well in the workplace so that the particular department can access the data as per their requirements. There are diverse range of data and information stored in the company database such as the human resource data, employee performance data and personal information which support the human resource management team to strategies the business and handle the employees efficiently (Pavlineri, Skoulikidisand Tsihrintzis, 2017).

On the other hand, data sharing and digital collaboration is playing a crucial role in managing the workplace activities and in this regard the organisations in the recent era of globalisation try to create good database in the company and give access to the different departments so that the management team can have access the information and improve their performance in long run (Ruan et al., 2019). Data silos are hereby beneficial for the organisations to run their operations efficiently and develop integrated system of data sharing and cooperation (Jeong et al., 2020). The corporate leader can share the data and information with other departments at the workplace as well as guide the employees by providing authentic information for better performance and productivity. Hence, different data solos at the workplace are mandatory to be maintained well for better performance of the staff. Data silos are also beneficial for the organisations to improve their operational efficacy and lead the staff towards achieving the organisational goal (Landau-Ward, and Porter, 2019).

The organisation LTR is efficient to manage the operations in the workplace and manage four housing successfully by managing different departments and handling the staff members. The data base of the organisation is also effective to share the data and information related to finance, customers personal data and information, information about facilities and other related data to housing. There are different departments at LTR which are finance, facility management team, customer service, housing personal coaches, and senior management and administrative departments. The departmental heads are efficient to manage own database and also they try to share adequate information with other departments for working together. The finance team with ten staff members is effective to maintain own database in word and excel format (Oota, Iwafune and Ooka, 2021). The finance team uses primarily Excel spread sheets, and word documents as well as they also utilise a specialised Sage One Accounting. For sharing the important information and data, the finance manager share the information through SharePoint server with restricted access to non-authorised employees. Hence, there is restricted access to the information and database of the finance team, where the data related to organisational personal, revenue and incensement and other budgetary information are stored and handled with safety and security (Kim and Park, 2018). In addition to this, the customer handling team also utilise the excel sheet and word documents for noting down the exact issues and requirements of the customers. The word documents are widely used across 4 housing estate of LTR where the management team at customer service department utilise work processing for arranging the issues and personal requirements of the customers for developing further strategic planning to resolve the existing issues.

On the other hand, the other departments are also effective to store and handle the data safely and in this regard the facility maintenance departments also utilise uses a specialist cloud-based system called 360 Facility to manage their facilities. It is mainly a cloud based software system for handling digital data and information of the organisation and analyse the data for further creative solutions to the business (Siniak et al., 2019). Hence, utilising cloud-based system at LTR is beneficial for the organisation to manage the facilities and provide high quality housing services to the individuals in the society at Luton. The facility management team hire the personal coaches at LTR to support the individuals with quality housing services and other additional facilities, where data sharing with the coaches is helpful to guide them for better performance and productivity. There are password protected word file, cloud based system and computer where the facility managers give access to the trustworthy coaches for accessing the personal information of the customers as well as the internal data about facilities at the housing, where the coaches are concerned about managing date safety and utilising the data securely (Manville and Greatbanks, 2020). Through this system, data confidentiality is being managed well in LTR. The functional team and leader of LTR manage data confidentiality and protect the sensitive data and information successfully through password protected laptops and cloud based system. There is personal hard drive in which the sensitive information and internal operational data are stored securely. Hence, the cloud based system at LTR as well as the password protected system are useful for the organisation to handle the operations and utilise the information for better facility management to satisfy the individuals. Hence, the data silos and the internal system of data handling and management at LTR are useful to maximise the operational excellence.

Part 2: Internal Communications Analysis of LTR – Alternatives to Email

Internal communication system is important for the organisations to manage the operational efficacy and share the information and data for better performance. There are several communication issues at the workplace of LTR and it is important to develop alternative solutions for the organisation to enhance internal and external communication. The organisation LTR mainly utilises email for enhancing communication where the managers at different departments send email on a daily basis to share the information, data about consumers and any other operational information to improve the performance of the employees. However, the employee’s complaints against the system of sending email on a daily basis, as they sometimes skip the mail or they face difficulties to handle large volume of email. The wide organisational information is also shared through newsletters and email which is also time taking activity for the employees to read the whole information (Abdul-Aziz et al., 2017). The customer’s service department also utilises emails, where there are huge numbers of emails sent by the customers. The consumers of LTR complaints that they did not get reply within time and their complaints are not resolved by the employees. Waiting time of the customer increases day by day due to mismanagement of the email where the employees have issues with their laptops, internet, and lack of access on personalise computer system (Borkovskaya, 2018). The finance team utilise SharePoint drive for sharing the data and information which is beneficial for the employees to handle their operations and fulfil their job responsibility to support the individuals. However, using email is a major issue for the employees at LTR where the staff members cannot handle huge volume of emails which raise problems in managing the customers and operational efficacy.

It is hereby necessary for the corporate leader of LTR to select alternative solutions for maximising internal communication and cooperation. The use of telephonic conversation is one of the major strategy through which the organisational leader can communicate with the employees directly and share the data and information for further operational activities (Puķīte and Geipele, 2017). In this regard, it is essential for the finance manager and facility management team to implement the telephonic system, across the four housing estates and enhance internal conversation (Muhammad and Johar, 2019). The employees can directly call the managers and also the managers can share the important information and latest updates with the staff members at different locations of LTR across Luton. The telephonic conversation in the workplace is helpful where the staff members can interact with the senior management staff and other managers in different departments of LTR directly as well as there would be open discussion and collaborative working practice. The staff members in the customer’s service department are also able to communicate with the customers over telephone and resolve their queries successfully (Selyutina, Pesotskaya, and Maleeva, 2019). This is effective for reducing waiting time and maximising the efficacy of the organisational representative of LTR for better customer’s services.

On the other hand, the second strategy to enhance internal communication is online video conference through Skype which is one of the widely used software for developing interactions between the organisational representatives. Skype is a cost effective strategy to enhance internal communication, instant messaging and flexible software to be utilised for developing workplace communication and cooperation. The management team can contact the employees through video conference and share the important information and data for better performance and productivity (Czischke, 2018). One to one communication through Skype is effective for developing strong bonding and creates cooperative workplace with high collaboration and partnership working. Hence, implementing the strategy of telephonic conversation and Skype for video conference is effective for managing internal communication, where the employees also can get assistance from the senior team members of LTR and work as a team for achieving the visions of the organisation.

Part 3: Email Replacement Project – Project Management Business Case

Email replacement project is necessary for LTR to enhance internal and external communication. The activities and timeline of the project would be developed below,

The activities in the project are effective to be handled under suitable organisational culture, corporate governance and managing transparency in the operational activities of housing estate. The project manager must empower in the strategic change and provide them training to handle Skype, messages and telephonic conversations. Enhancing collaborative working practice and guidance are also fruitful for the leader to support the employees and lead them toward achieving the future success. The major alternative strategy to email is telephone and Skype through which the senior managements can interact with the staff at different departments and share the organisational information for successful client handling. The telephones are implemented at different organisational workplace across the four housing estates. Continuous communication through Skype is also there for supporting the staff and maximising their performance to serve the customers with quality housing services and additional facilities.

Conclusion

The operations of LTR are effective to create values for the customers by providing clean hosting estate and other additional faculties to stay healthy and safely. The staff members at LTR are also efficient to serve the customers with continuous communication and cooperation and arranging additional facilities for them. The major departments at LTR are finance, customer service and facilities management which are effectively handled by the experienced staff members. The data protection and safety are also managed well through data silos. The finance team utilises spread sheet and work documents for storing and handling the data as well as there is SharePoint for sharing the data and important information with others. The customer’s service department also utilises documents for storing the customer’s data and personal information. Additionally, communication is effective in the organisation for managing four housing estate across Luton and it is necessary for the senior management team to enhance internal as well as external conversation among the staff members, leader and customers, so that it would be possible for the employees to work as a team and share knowledge and experience for serving the consumers efficiently. Email is adopted by LTR to share the information with the employees and it becomes difficult for the staff to handle a large volume of email and thus the alternative solutions for LTR would be telephonic conversation and using Skype for enhancing internal and external communication. The project management process is effective for developing timeline of implementing the alternative solutions to email.

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Reference List

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