A survey by Google found that while 39% of SMBs expect to increase their use of online collaborative tools, many are still clinging to more traditional methods of communication like phone and email.
The study of over 3,500 small business employees in the UK and Europe found that over 70% of workers found the lack of teamwork, working hours, and work load ‘tough.’
Communication and administration issues were found to be the biggest problem for SMBs with many workers finding it hard to collaborate with co-workers efficiently.
Over 50% had weekly email issues, reporting that mailbox size was the biggest problem.
Collating feedback from different people into one main document also proved difficult for SMB’s. Google found businesses did this seven times a month on average, taking almost two days a month to complete each time.
Online collaborative tools like instant messaging and cloud-based shared documents have helped organisations see an increase in profits or turnover in 2012.
Google says that tech-savvy small businesses understand how collaborative technology can benefit the workplace and suggests SMBs using traditional methods of communication to make new collaborative technologies a priority in 2013.
"With so many resolving to work more efficiently, perhaps 2013 will be a turning point where we see more small businesses working smarter, collaborating more effectively with their colleagues and customers, and accessing the tools needed for better communication," said Neil Delaney, director of EMEA SMB for Google enterprise.
