Online collaboration can be a wonderful thing, at least when you’re using the right tool. Since businesses are moving more and more to remote work and online communication, people are starting to invest in tools that will be able to keep their team and clients together and happy. It’s no wonder, since online collaboration tools and digital workplaces facilitate increased productivity by up to 30%. However, finding the right tool isn’t always easy, and with so many new options coming out each year, it can be overwhelming to decide what your team should go with.
Luckily, Desktop.com knows a few things about online collaboration tools. From streamlined communication to easy management, we understand what it takes to find a tool that will work for your team. So take a look at our tips on what to look for when choosing an online collaboration tool.
No matter what kind of business you’re in, chances are your team needs to use several different apps to function effectively. Collaboration tools are meant to bring in all aspects of your work or personal life into one space. This can include messaging, social media, marketing tools, really anything that benefits your team. With integration, you can access everything you need from one central location, and won’t even have to manually login to each app over and over. This helps provide a seamless workflow across your team, allowing you to perform tasks quickly and efficiently.
When growing your business, you need to be open to change. Unfortunately, only 43% of people say that change makes them happier. This means that when you’re adopting a new tool, more than half of your team will probably resist or get frustrated with adjusting to this change. That’s why it’s important to find a collaborative tool that will make it easy for your team to transition to. Sure, every app is going to have a learning curve, but by finding one that is intuitive and user-friendly you reduce unnecessary friction within your team and allow for a smoother adoption process.
Everyone works a little differently. While you might prefer to view tools and folders alphabetically, others may prefer to group them by function or client. By finding a customizable platform, your team can manage their own workspace in whatever way suits them best. With customization, teams and departments can organize their work in a way that makes the most sense to them, allowing people to work better and collaborate more efficiently. The better your team can work, the happier your clients will be.
How important is communication? According to BIT.AI, companies and organizations that communicate effectively are 4.5x more likely to retain the best employees. As you can see, communication is the foundation for a strong online collaborative team. Without it, people are missing documents, confused about projects and are uninformed about meetings and deadlines. When choosing your online platform, ensure that communication is upfront yet simple. Make sure your team can message or video chat when the need arises, or are able to share documents or apps with each other through the tool. The fewer obstacles your team needs to overcome to get a message across, the better your business will perform.
When finding the right tool, you want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. It’s important to ask yourself and your team how you plan to use your online collaboration tool, and who will be consistently utilizing it. Depending on your budget and the size of your business, finding an affordable platform that does the necessary work is going to be one of your top priorities. By getting a realistic idea of what you’re willing to spend, you’ll be able to more accurately find the right tool that will perform best for your business.
A lot can happen in a short amount of time. From new projects to updated tools to last-minute meetings, it can be hard to keep track of everything if nothing’s communicated with you. That’s why you should find an online collaboration tool that has a timeline feature or similar function that can inform you when another team member made an update to the platform, when a document’s been added, or when a meeting is coming up. With a constantly updated timeline, your team will always know what’s going on within their workspace, which better prepares them for managing their duties.
From integration to customization to communication, these are all features that you should look out for when choosing the right online collaboration tool. One of those tools that you could use, is none other than Desktop.com. Our platform includes all of the above-mentioned features to help your team stay connected. Want to see for yourself? Go to our page and try us out today! Let Desktop.com help you connect the dots to remote work.
