10 Online Collaboration Tools To Boost Your Project’s Efficiency
With 43% of us spending at least some time working remotely, online collaboration tools are becoming a vital element of the modern workplace.
And because the modern workplace often isn’t a place at all, we need to adopt a well-organized, central space where all of the project documentation and communication lives. Our clients may be located in New York, our developers in Bali, and our marketing team in London. But our documents, processes, deadlines and schedules live under the same roof.
At least, they should.
Not convinced? Consider this: a McKinsey Global Institute report found that 61% of the workweek is spent on among these three tasks:
- reading and answering emails
- searching or gathering information
- communicating and collaborating internally
The majority of our working hours are spent on collaboration and coordination tasks. Collaboration software removes some of the redundancy and confusion from collaboration tasks, so we can free up hours for more role-specific work.
Yes, many of us are scraping by with a not-so-slick combo of Google or Microsoft apps coordinated via a tangled web of emails. If this is you, stay tuned. There’s a much better way…
What Are Project Collaboration Tools? (And How They Can Help You)
What Are Collaboration Tools?
An online collaboration tool enables a more coordinated workflow by providing a unified platform for team discussion, file sharing, online storage for documentation, task assignments, and real-time project collaboration. At their heart, collaboration tools are all about aligning people.
Collaboration software comes in many forms. You’re probably familiar with Slack, a common collaboration tool with a focus on group messaging (if you’re on Slack, feel free to join our rapidly growing Digital Project Manager community on Slack). And you’re undoubtedly familiar with widely-used Google collaboration tools (Drive, Docs, Sheets, Hangouts) or perhaps Microsoft collaboration tools (SharePoint, One Drive). Yes, collaboration tools can be basic as the familiar Skype (one of MS collaboration tools) or even your good ole’ email account. Modern collaboration apps take collaboration a step further by unifying all of these work interactions within a single platform.
What Features Do Collaboration Tools Include?
If you’re already using PM software, then you already have access to some collaboration tools. These days, all project management software, including resource scheduling tools offer features for collaboration, such as task status updates, file sharing, and progress visualization charts. However, a tool designed specifically for project collaboration may include additional features, such as video conferencing, live sharing on co-created documents, and client-facing portals.
What Are The Benefits Of Collaboration Software?
When all project communication, files, and progress are centralized in one place, your team benefits from a clearer exchange of information that will help you avoid miscommunication. If you’ve ever made the mistake of sending an outdated version of a shared document to a client, you’ll understand why collaboration is important. The benefits of collaboration tools go far beyond improvements in communication, however — with everything accessible in one place, your process become more efficient, and you’ll gain more accurate insight into your project’s progress.
Read the full article here to find out which are the best project collaboration tools to increase your project’s efficiency.
Originally published at www.thedigitalprojectmanager.com on October 29, 2018.
