How to reap the benefits of intuitive collaboration software

As many businesses shifted their workflows online over the past year, the old way of doing things didn’t always translate, and bottlenecks and pain points began to emerge. While companies have adapted to the changing times, one thing has stayed the same: Collaboration is a fundamental part of any project or team.

Improving internal communications and productivity might sound daunting, but with the right tools, it can be quite intuitive. From large corporations to small startups, remote collaboration software can help teams of any size work together more smoothly.

The benefits include better communication, greater efficiency and engagement, and more seamless project management.

Making the shift toward team collaboration software

According to Deloitte, when workers collaborate, 73% do better work, 60% are more innovative, 56% feel more satisfied, and 15% work faster.

Using a channel-based messaging platform, such as Slack, gives you the ability to integrate all the tools your team uses to get work done. Instead of constantly switching contexts between Workday, Asana and Google Docs, you can flow these apps into Slack, forming a single layer of communication and engagement.

The benefits of collaboration software

Remember the dreaded group projects from your school days, when most of the work tended to fall on one person? In today’s digital work environment, remote collaboration software makes it easier than ever to delegate and to manage people and projects. There are four main benefits:

1. Improved communication

Communication can make or break projects and relationships. With collaboration software, you can organize discussions into topic-specific channels, share ideas and increase transparency.

Rather than sending emails back and forth, you can engage in real time in a Slack channel. If you’re working on a document and have a question or suggestion, you can add contextual comments. Everyone involved will get notified and can respond right then and there. You can also pin files in a channel to find them quickly without digging through your drive.

Even better, you can share docs, messages and videos all in one place. It’s much easier to generate ideas when popular apps like Google Drive, Dropbox and Trello are at your fingertips. Launch a quick video call in your Slack channel to review the latest mockups or brainstorm in real time using a digital whiteboard.

Why not make it fun, too? Whether you need to pick a team lunch spot or agree on a catchy name for a new committee, you can use Slack to set up a poll.

2. Seamless project management

A big part of delivering successful projects to clients and stakeholders is knowing their status at a moment’s notice. Remote team collaboration software makes this easy. With all of the information available in one place, you can see at a glance upcoming deadlines, who’s working on which tasks and what stage the project is in.

When planning projects, you can share ideas with all team members (or a select few decision makers), so they can collectively give feedback and make decisions in one spot. It’s also easier to coordinate tasks across teams. If you’re setting up a new cross-functional group, you can search Slack for profiles that include the skills you need.

Instead of slogging through hour-long review meetings to share otherwise quick updates, integrate with tools like Trello, which can be programmed to automatically update key stakeholders at regular intervals.

3. Increased employee engagement

As remote work becomes more common, it can be challenging to maintain employee satisfaction and engagement. Effectively using collaboration software not only facilitates workflows but can also increase team participation.

Sending emails asking for feedback is a waste of time when no one responds. Instead, if you have a document to review, share it with your team in Slack. Add comments with specific questions or feedback and tag the people who need to weigh in. They’ll get alerted right away with a call to action and real-time context. As other team members see colleagues editing and commenting, they’re actively reminded to join in too. Plus, it’s easy to invite others to participate, to assign tasks, and to build on each other’s comments. Living, evolving documents keep everyone involved.

Seamless collaboration paired with mobile-friendly apps leads to more engaged employees and higher morale. Research shows that collaboration software users are 85% more likely to identify as happy at work.

4. Better overall efficiency

According to Forbes, mid- to upper-level managers spend 35% to 50% of their time in meetings. Can you afford to lose half your workday? Many of the things covered in those meetings can be done more efficiently through digital collaboration.

Online document collaboration alone can save a lot of time. Being able to share and give feedback quickly boosts productivity and ensures that everyone is working on the latest version.

Apps like Asana, Jira, Confluence and Zoho offer real-time reports and centralized document storage. Teams can get right to work analyzing rather than waiting for metrics or hunting down cross-channel files.

Remote collaboration software transforms the digital workspace

By enabling better communication, seamless project management, more efficient workflows and improved employee engagement, collaboration software boosts productivity and teamwork. Real-time document collaboration creates better overall workflows, and custom channels foster organization and focus. Integrating all your apps into one platform brings everyone together in a streamlined, effective digital headquarters.