GYSBERT KAPPERS The platform provides a formal space for collaboration on daily operations and projects, as well as a channel where useful ideas can be raised and supported
A locally developed collaboration, communication and file-sharing platform enables companies to accelerate innovation through effective collaboration and communication among employees and expert groups, enabling good ideas to emerge and be considered as part of daily operations, says platform developer Wyzetalk CEO Gysbert Kappers.
The Wyzetalk platform can function on any device, including feature phones, and enables a company to facilitate collaboration among all employees.
“For example, a mine can use the system to communicate with its mineworkers, who may not have smartphones. The workers, in turn, can raise any concerns they have about operations using this system. Staff can be made aware of a problem and a solution can be found before there is an incident. Engagement makes employees active participants in the safety and operation of the mine,” he highlights.
Many ideas to improve operations lie dormant in companies, owing to the difficulty of communicating and gaining support for ideas. The platform provides a formal space for collaboration on daily operations and projects, as well as a channel where useful ideas can be raised and supported, thereby shortening the process of innovation.
“A personal assistant, who had not managed to gain support from her immediate superiors on an idea to improve operations at the logistics firm that employs her, posted her plan on the platform and it was endorsed by the firm’s COO and subsequently adopted. This idea would not have been implemented had she not been able to communicate and gain support for the idea that led to an innovation in the company’s operations. She has since been promoted,” says Kappers.
Further, the Wyzetalk platform stores all conversations and files shared among members of a collaboration group, enabling a company to use it as a corporate training and induction tool. Any new policies and initiatives can easily be communicated to the entire company and the conversations are stored and thus serve as a reference for the company.
The platform functions effectively anywhere in Africa and meets low-technology to high- technology requirements. Nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Reach for a Dream Foundation uses the Wyzetalk platform to communicate with relevant parties and establish discussion groups with multiple experts and organisations to improve its work.
Wyzetalk provides the collaboration platform for NGOs free of charge, highlights Kappers.
Large logistics firms, health insurers, managed information technology services companies and earthmoving equipment companies in South Africa are also using the platform for their operations throughout Africa.
Further, the platform can also be used to manage community engagement, as feeds from social networks and forums can be drawn into the platform. Complaints can subsequently be dealt with by the public relations department or be referred to the relevant authority in a company.