subject: Better Game Plays With Collaboration Software [print this page] Better Game Plays With Collaboration Software
You can hand the ball off to the wrong running back when confused and ruin the entire play. In today's computer age, handing off documents is usually completed electronically. People working electronically work with the mantra to "Save, Save and Re-Save" constantly.
Inevitably, confusion can set in when people working on a specific document have no idea what draft version they possess. Too many documents start turning up with similar file names, and finally, someone has to blow that penalty whistle because there are too many "players" on the field. There's a better way to run the play - set up a collaboration platform for your team to share documents in a secure, online workspace in real-time.
Choose the right technology for your team
If you want effective collaboration, you need expert technology on your side. Frustration is bound to set in when you're attempting to open a colleague's document that was created with an application you do not have on your workstation computer. This is a common complaint among many project team members, particularly when bringing together a team consisting of different providers and clients. It doesn't make a difference whether you are issuing a simple memo or notice or a comprehensive report or budget presentation. These need to be created with the total collaboration experience in mind so everyone involved can easily open and read it despite the application in which it was created. Your goal is to send the document to a client, colleague, boss or other team member who can open it, read it, possibly make notes or changes and then send it back to you.
Several online collaboration platforms offer online documents, spreadsheets and presentations that any of your team members can access online, without any outside applications. This allows teams to open up important business documents as long as they have a web browser and internet connectivity.
So, Coach, What's the Play
More frustration arises when you receive that document back from a colleague without knowing it has arrived. Using collaboration software that also sends recipient notifications about document changes will save you a considerable amount of time while increasing project effectiveness. Depending upon the "clout" of that recipient, lost "suggestions" can have a dramatic, and drastic, effect upon success of the entire project. A collaborative project calls for many sets of eyes to participate in the "game" where no one person can make the play individually, but by working together. Good collaboration software allows all team players to know what the other team player assignments are and how these are being carried out.
Great sports plays depend on not only great leadership, but collaborative thinking and teamwork. Collaboration software allows teams to do just that - stay on the same page, and make game-winning calls together.
Grace Kang is part of the Central Desktop marketing team, the top online collaboration and project management software for SMBs.
