10 Things You Should Know About Collaboration Software

We often see that work at an organizational scale is handled very differently from, let’s say, a small business. These two types of establishments are on opposite ends of the scale when we consider their workload and this is definitely no surprise. A big tech company like Google is obviously going to be working around the clock because of how huge they have grown as compared to a local IT service provider. As such, the bigger the company is, the more they focus on division of labor to keep its workflow smooth and efficient.

In this day and age where technology reigns supreme in pushing industries forward, companies have incorporated advanced software tech to revolutionize the collaborative effort of different teams.

If you are looking to deepen your insight on team collaboration and intuitively understand what collaboration software is and what they have to offer, then you’re at the right place.

What is Collaboration Software?

Imagine you are working for a tech company in their marketing division. Your division has been assigned a new marketing project and you are to lead them in the project. Immediately, you will struggle with team communication and managing assigned tasks. You need a platform where all the members involved in the project can hop on and share their progress and ideas and this is where collaboration software comes in. In simple terms, collaboration software like teams.cc is a tool that digitizes coordination between team members that are working on a project.

Think of it in this way, in schools it is common for the teacher to divide the students into groups and assign them different projects. In such a setting each team member needs to coordinate and share the work they are assigned with the other members to complete the project. For this ‘internal’ collaboration, they would need a platform to communicate, share, track and brainstorm ideas.

10 Benefits of a Collaboration Software

Now that we know what collaboration software actually is, let’s move on to discuss what they have to offer and how can they be a useful investment.

Time Saver

You must have come across the saying “Time is money” at least once in your life. Well, this is especially true in businesses. Think of it this way, as a business owner, you are paying your employees for the skills and time they offer to the business. So, the better and faster your employees work, the more time they have to spend on other important tasks while you get your full money’s worth.

One of the many benefits that collaboration software like teams.cc offers are exactly that, saving you precious time. A platform connecting different teams and team members makes for a better and more efficient workspace. Ultimately, you are avoiding one of the biggest time-consuming errors, miscommunication as well as the resources needed to fix the problems resulting from this error.

Productivity

We know that every organization splits up its workforce into different departments such as the HR, PR, and Marketing departments. These departments are further split up into teams to handle different workflows.

This kind of segmentation within a workplace warrants the need for better management and coordination to ensure optimal productivity. Collaboration software like teams.cc offers just the right tools for boosting productivity. With a central and unified platform where team members can interact and cooperate not only with each other but with other teams as well, inter-organization coordination becomes a reality than a possibility.

When communication, supervision, coordination, and resources are made available for teams to access through a central portal, teams can do their jobs more easily and the business can benefit from increased productivity, a win-win situation for everyone.

Remote Work Collaboration

Over the past two years, the “work from home” culture has since become the norm, albeit out of necessity, and with the benefits and convenience it offers, it looks like it's here to stay. Especially in the tech industry, skilled workers such as data analysts, software engineers, and web developers are often offered remote work with occasional visits to the office.

One of the many reasons that such types of employees go for working remotely is because their job requires them to sit in front of a computer the entire day. As such, commuting to the office and workplace shenanigans affects their productivity negatively.

While remote work may seem really dazzling at a glance, not all that glitters is gold. Some of the major issues with it is the lack of effective communication and coordination which hinders team collaboration. It’s a real big hassle when employees working remotely need to shuffle between different applications and devices to communicate with their co-workers and scavenge through clunky databases or sketchy file hosting services to share resources among themselves.

This is where collaboration software like teams.cc comes in. When the major issue is the lack of a systemic platform, collaboration software fills in the gaps and provides teams with a unified platform to communicate, coordinate, share resources, and hold online meetings through video call conferences. With a proper collaborative setup in place, teams can work efficiently on projects even from the comfort of their homes.

Faster Scheduling

In business, time is of the essence, and not only just your time but your employees’ as well. So, to make the best of everyone’s time, businesses usually plan and schedule work activities spanning all the way into several weeks or months. However, plans can get derailed and schedules need to be adjusted. Notifying the teams and employees involved and confirming they have acknowledged the change and adjusted their work schedule accordingly can take up a lot of precious time.

In such scenarios, collaboration tools can provide the perfect solution. With different teams connected to a single platform, you can conveniently push schedule changes and new schedules faster than ever before. With features like calendar sharing, employees can coordinate and collaborate more easily and everyone can work more cohesively as a unit.

Project Management

Managing a project can be really demanding, especially if we’re talking about several dozens of projects which can become an administrative nightmare. Working hard and earnestly is all good and dandy but we need to work smart as well and what better way to do so than to use smart tools. Collaboration software offers loads of features and functionalities that can make project management much easier and streamlined.

With the scheduling tools from collaboration software, you can conveniently lay out the details of the project and plan accordingly. When you need to choose the right person for each task, a collaboration tool helps you browse the employee database and look for the one with the right skillset. Last but not least, you can easily coordinate and control the project activities spread out among different teams and team members so that nothing goes wrong and even if something does, you can make adjustments on spot.

Transparency

Collaboration software offers the benefit of transparency. Each member can make their work and progress public for the rest of the members to see. This not only helps the team to identify problems and bottlenecks stagnating the project’s progress early on but also highlights individual responsibility.

It’s important for members working within a team to be given transparency. Not only is it good for building trust but it also helps individuals understand the company they’re working for as well as their role in it. Collaboration software helps achieve this by allowing calendars and internal reports to be made public to the employees.

Global Connectivity

Many companies employ people residing in different cities or even in different countries for that matter. What this offers is a larger and more diverse pool of talent but coordination and collaboration become significantly difficult, mainly due to the distance and culture.

Digital collaborative tools help in bridging this gap by offering seamless connectivity and a unified platform to communicate and coordinate on. You can not only benefit from the creativity brought in by culturally diversifying your workforce but also hand-pick the best talent to work for your company.

Team Morale

Today’s commercial and corporate industries are highly competitive since everyone is looking to beat their rivals and dominate the market. Under fierce competition, companies work more fervently round the clock and this puts the employees under a lot of stress since even the slightest hiccup in the workflow will net them an earful, even if the reason for that is not being given the right tools to work with. As a consequence, team morale greatly suffers and this has a lot of negative impacts, the main being productivity.

Collaboration software not only gives your employees the right toolkit for striving in a competitive environment but also gives them a much-needed breathing space since all of the tasks and resources are organized and streamlined. With readily available communication channels to coordinate with other members and teams, employees can get work done more efficiently which immensely boosts team morale.

Client Relationship

Collaboration software makes it easier to communicate with different teams working on different projects. For project and accounts managers, this is a saving grace. When a client that is commissioning a project inquires the company for an update, the project managers can track the progress through collaboration software and reciprocate the data to the clients. This improved communication with clients helps build a better and stronger relationship with them. Moreover, they’re more likely to commission your company in the future as well since they don’t need to chase you around for updates on their projects.

Data Security

Today’s work culture has changed dramatically. What was once a tightly locked down work environment to prevent inner affairs of a company to reach unintended ears has now become that of collaboration and openness. Despite this change in work culture, the central theme hasn’t changed, protecting your company’s intellectual property, its trade secrets, and its ideas.

Collaboration software offers tools to keep confidential or sensitive data under lockdown. By allowing supervisors or admins to put passwords in place, different levels of authentication and authorization can be created to ensure data security. You won’t have to worry about crucial data being leaked ever again in a collaborative work environment.

Collaboration is and has always been a cornerstone of successful businesses. But the new millennium came with astounding developments in computer technology and our workplaces have been forever transformed. As such, collaboration tools have become more important than ever. These ten points are prominent benefits of collaboration software and will definitely help improve your business.