How To Select The Best Team Collaboration Tools
As technology has changed over time, the various methods used within and between teams have also changed. According to a survey conducted, it is viewed that more than 70% of people work inside the organization and even on the outside. There are 28% of people who work with people from different countries.
Many obstacles are faced by teams to work together. There can be a lack of information among the groups regarding collaboration or even knowing how to do collaboration work. Poor communication can quickly derail a project. To solve business service problems, the following tips can be handy.
Importance Of Collaboration In A Project
Internal Team Collaboration
It is good to do an internal partnership as it makes the team more efficient in attaining their goals faster. It also improves the quality of the work that is done by them. The smoother the collaboration is, the better is the productivity.
External Stakeholders Collaboration
Feedback is given to you by your external stakeholders, which include partners, vendors, and others, that feedback is used to improve the quality of the product or service. You can know what the customer wants and make your product accordingly. It is challenging to be good at everything, so external help is required to grow. When teams work together, they can achieve great things together.
Advantages Of Team Collaboration
The following are the positive outcomes of team management software and collaboration tools:
- It improves customer experiences as everyone works in a team, and work is done more efficiently.
- It keeps the employees engaged with one another and produces better results.
- It leads to Higher productivity among members of the organization as the employees help each other.
- It leads to Faster decision-making because the majority backs a particular idea.
- It is a Continual learning process for the members as they learn from one another.
- It helps in making better communication with remote teams because of the online platforms.
- It has streamlined project planning for the employees in the company.
- It helps make Clear accountability for tasks and deliverables as each member is responsible for their role.
- It leads to Greater alignment within and between teams because of working together.
- It has reduced administration expenses on projects as people work in a team.
- It requires balanced skill sets within project organizations and maintains them.
Collaboration tools may be classified depending on their main functionality:
- Communication: There is a need for chat, audio, video conferencing, discussion threads, and file sharing.
- Task management: You need to include timelines, workflows, calendars, task assignments, task prioritization, and planning and scheduling.
- Document management: When you use co-editing, templates, permission, and version control.
How to Create The Collaborative Work Environment?
Collaborative work environment isn’t just about using the collaborative tools, project management software, processes, and workflows in place. It should be a safe space where everyone feels supported and able to voice their opinions. For a team to be successful, the following practices should be done:
Learn about one another:
It is essential to get to know all the members of the team. It would help if you asked your members about their families, holidays, hobbies, etc.
Communication styles:
It is essential to understand that every culture is different, and you should embrace the person from a diverse society.
Get everyone involved:
Every person is different, and it is crucial to adjust according to their communication styles. Everyone is capable of good ideas, and you should give each member a chance to speak their mind.
Incorporate humor (where appropriate):
It can be useful sometimes to keep the mood light when team members are sitting together. It improves the relationship among members.
Tips For an Effective Team Collaboration
Make meetings more efficient by keeping the discussions short and crisp. When scheduling an appointment, remember these tips:
- Do not use status update meetings and use a software tool instead.
- It would help if you only invited the necessary people. Do not waste other people’s time.
- You should Create a goal-oriented plan and stick to it.
- You should end your meeting by clarifying everyone’s next steps.
- Try a more effective brainstorming technique.
- With the help of brainstorming, you can bring a spark to the collaboration work. These techniques can be followed for brainstorming:
- Brainwriting: The team leader shares the topic with the team, and the team members individually write down their ideas.
- Figuring Is Storming: You should think about how a person, such as your boss, a successful CEO, might handle the situation.
Rapid Ideation
You need to set a time limit and your team should come up with as many ideas as using whiteboards, post-its, or plain pen and paper.
Round Robin Brainstorming
You can gather in a circle and have each person offer an idea in turn, while a facilitator records each image.
Resolve Conflict Quickly
Conflicts are necessary when collaborating on group projects. But when disputes get resolved, they lead to stronger relationships within the team. Some pointers for resolving conflict quickly:
- You should Keep calm for the issue to resolve quickly.
- You should Pay attention to all members’ both verbal and nonverbal communication to understand them better.
- You should Keep your language and your tone neutral when speaking to other members.
- You should Avoid making threats and accusations among members of any sort.
- You should be generous towards your team members at all times.
How To Improve Collaboration In The Workplace?
The following tips should be followed for making a favorable work environment for collaboration:
Collaborative Work Environment
You can organize an open work area where the team members can meet and work together for better results through the cloud-based Zoho team collaboration tool.
Remote Collaboration
You can do video conferencing when the team members are in different places or are reaching their workplace with tools from software such as a Wrike team.
Engagement Everywhere
You can encourage the team members to draw their ideas on the whiteboard and show them to others. You can also reward the member with the best idea.
Conclusion
Collaboration is not only crucial for the success of the organization, but also the better morale of the employees. It helps in feeling a part of the organization as they can demonstrate their ideas better. Good collaborative work can show the organization’s culture, attract people to your company and then go with the Microsoft team collaboration tools.