Document collaboration is at the heart of any tool. In our opinion, it’s not for these reasons. For most organizations, teamwork is necessary and a part of employees’ everyday life. CIOs have found that using collaboration tools helped streamline business processes and save money -- thus increasing ROI. Luckily, they do. With 124.5 billion of them being sent and received each day by businesses, email has been named as a top risk for 2018. In Part 2, you will explore the document sharing functions by using Google Drive to set up document sharing. For, a start you can login anytime, anywhere so there’s no need to be in the same place as the person you’re meeting. With this reduced, your colleagues can spend more time being productive and less time on boring, admin related tasks. Some other terms the present category of programs can be called are workgroup support systems, groupware or group support software. “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”. Online collaboration software gives you back this control, by clearly showing the latest version of a document. Communication gets chaotic when you use emails for daily communication, Evernote for articles, SlideShare for presentations, Pocket for videos, Buffer for social media, and any one of a hundred different cloud platforms for file sharing. Collaborative work is a kind of work which isn’t found in traditional ranked organization but is based on collaboration between several workers which is possible because of new information and communications technologies (NICT). Need more information? While many of these tools deliver, the most pressing problem is their sheer number. This can help cut down the time that they spend searching for documents. Collaborative tools can be very useful for that problem because you can easily follow the project step by step,  who does what and so on. In the modern business world, a workplace is comprised of people working from different time zones. With people sending multiple versions of a document, it’s almost impossible to know which one is definitive. Network collaboration tools give people the opportunity to work together efficiently and productively without the constraints of location or time zone. You’ll no doubt have a long list of tools that you use on a daily basis. Wouldn’t it be better to have everything in one place? Are there some problems with the projects? Each time your firm collaborates with others you optimize the capacity of your associates to extend beyond their comfort zone, grow, and in turn, stretch the boundaries of the organization. A tool is a tool is a tool—no more, no less. Document collaboration 3. Online document collaboration tools have many benefits that can help your business reach new heights of success with reduced overhead. View Larger Image. A collaboration tool is a form of application software that allows you to work together and share knowledge online with other users. Shared calendars 4. Also, because these tools are easily searchable, you and your colleagues can easily track down an idea if required. You would hope so right? It gives team members the opportunity to edit project files, provide feedback, leave comments, and chat with each other all in real time, without having one file that must be “checked out” and “checked in,” or tracked for version control. Google Drive is a web-based office suite and data … . As mentioned earlier in this post, leading vendors regularly test and put robust security measures in place to protect your data. It is the connections you form with others, and the different ways you collaborate with those people you formed connections with, that will help you grow your business to new levels. There are many types of collaboration technology, all with different features to help you achieve this. Step 2: List at least two reasons for using collaboration tools. There are a million good ideas floating around in the creative genius of the world that will never get implemented because most people are tied to to their paychecks and family obligations and can’t afford the risk. To be most effective, your collaboration tool needs to meet a set of strict criteria. The more people there are working on a project, the more difficult it is to follow the project’s evolution from all involved workers. So how do collaboration tools help? Part 2: Share Documents with Google Drive With a collaboration tool, you can then use just one login and access a wide range of tools and data at your fingertips. The topic: Why are conversation and collaboration tools so underused? Hence, I would strongly recommend use of quality tools like webex, gomeetnow, gotomeeting, R-HUB web video conferencing servers for conducting sales demos, online meetings etc. . Here are 10 major reasons why your company must start deploying an online document collaboration tool ASAP: 1. Answers will vary but could include: centralization, less email, reduced travel, and less environmental impact. The added benefit is that all the comments related to the document are located in one place for easy access and analysis. Moreover the members need not save the necessary documents on their personal storage devices like USB stick etc. Collaboration is critical to being successful in the workplace. What Is a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy? For total transparency, you can then use the audit trail to see what changes have been made and by whom. Collaboration tool provider RingCentral released a survey this month of 2,000 knowledge workers that found most workers use an average of four collaboration tool applications — … Increased productivity is inherently fostered by excellent collaboration tools. This is especially so with a tool which includes tasks management. Possible Pitfalls of Using Collaboration Tools. Kahootz selected onto the UK Government’s G-Cloud 12 Digital Marketplace, The Benefits of Using Kahootz for Bid and Proposal Management. Document management 2. You might use Excel to record holiday requests; a survey tool such as Survey Monkey to interview key stakeholders, a productivity app like Todoist to manage your tasks – the list goes on. You can also often add emojis, gifs, pictures, files and so on. The reasons for this are clear. Did you receive the same file in 5 different versions? Job done. Dave lists 7 reasons and I jumped in with a number of other points answering a set of questions Dave posed. When working in teams, work organization can get difficult. The main for this is that it got lost in the sea of emails they receive every day. Collaborative tool types include document sharing, web meetings, In Part 1, you will identify collaboration tools that you … Innovation results from implementation of a complete solution or idea. They enable professionals to be more effective in their daily tasks while setting up a more transparent communication channel. The best reasons for using collaboration tools in your organisation Collaboration is critical to being successful in the workplace. When you work in a team, you’re more focused and produce better results than you would if working alone. Collaborative tools allow you to gain time, they make you avoid useless tasks and they make you see clearer the projects’ progress in a simple way. With a chat tool, you can talk to your colleagues, suppliers, and clients as if it was a Facebook conversation or a text conversation, with more short and immediate messages. Once logged in, tools such as calendars, conference call facilities, and task management allow you to carry out your meeting and immediately record any follow up actions. These are some of the best global collaboration tools … There are many types of collaboration technology, all with different featuresto help you achieve this. You really don’t know anymore to whom the tasks are assigned to, who does what and when are the deadlines…. Below are the 4 reasons to use collaborative work tools. The typical way to collaborate on documents is email. Major reasons to support collaboration within the digital workplace. Collaboration tools helps businesses in increased productivity, better client interaction, reduced costs, etc. The UK Information Security Classification System: What is OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Information? They can then work together in real-time to get the content exactly how you want it. That’s where online collaboration comes in. Click here to visit our website and here to start your free trial period. A cloud tool enables you to have access to all documents from anywhere and to be always updated. The key is to limit the number of tools by finding a fe… Even now, they are still hugely popular. In one study, those who were primed to act collaboratively stuck at their task 64% longer than their solitary peers, whilst also reporting higher engagement levels, lower fatigue levels, and a higher success rate. With a rise in remote workers, great team collaboration software is … Task management 5. Project collaboration tools offer easy communication with team members. While collaboration is key to innovation, convergent thinking is still a risk. 7 Reasons Why Your Team Needs Online Collaboration Software. Knowing which version of a document is the last one and being sure about the safety of shared documents can easily become challenges. To be useful to you and your team, the best online collaboration tools will include a few essential components, outlined below. All of the aforementioned reasons contribute to helping an innovative solution reach implementation. There’s no need to write again and again  ‘Hello’, ‘Best Regards’ and so on at each and every email you write. Collaboration software will give your company much needed focus and structure And with each, the promise is the same: work less and get more done. Several Reasons for Using of Collaboration Software When an individual is referring to collaboration software , it is possible to term it in different ways. When you’ve got to travel for a meeting the costs can rise quickly. How often have you discovered a great idea to improve your organisation, sent it to your boss and never got a response? No upfront commitment required. This article will give you 7 reasons why it is interesting for you to use a collaborative tool. So of course, you don’t know which one is the one you need! 23% of workers think emails harm their productivity, moreover, the time spent to manage them constitutes 28% of  total work time. 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