As employees work from behind closed doors and business functions move completely on the web, collaboration has taken the center stage on many business forums. Thankfully, the market was filled with several options for collaborative products before we found ourselves in the middle of a pandemic. From training to project management, from marketing to HR functions, there are different collaborative technologies to support various business functions. If you and your team have been struggling with effectively collaborating in this work from home scenario, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we will be discussing the three types of collaborative platforms/software that enable teams to work in tandem, regardless of the physical location of the team members. Let us begin:
3 Different Types of Collaborative Software Tools:
1. Conferencing Software
Video conferencing software and platforms have numerous applications in the business landscape. From making sales calls more engaging to delivering live instructor-led training to employees, when used right, this type of software can effectively surpass the limitations that restrict the productivity of remote teams. In fact, top video conferencing software companies are now invested in developing custom features for their software that can cater to the specific needs of their valued clients. For instance, with tools like shared virtual whiteboards and capabilities like screen sharing, these software can be used to deliver seamless instructor-led training to anyone ranging from employees to new customers. Some great examples of web conferencing software include Adobe Connect, Zoom, and Apache OpenMeetings.
2. Coordination Software
As the name suggests, coordination software is designed to facilitate teamwork and help avoid confusion. These include a variety of different software ranging from calendar apps to shared documents to project management systems. These software enable collaboration in its purest form, apart from helping manage the complete workflow of a task. Some collaborative software are also designed to keep track of the team’s overall and individual productivity. Some examples include Google Docs (collaborative documents), Time Doctor (time tracking software), and Open Project (online project management software).
3. Communication Software
Since you cannot jump on a video call every time you need to communicate something to your team members, communication software is designed to enable efficient interpersonal communication within teams. This isn’t limited to one-on-one communication. The capabilities of team communication software extend to group communications as well. Chances are, your team might already be using many such platforms or software like an email client or a team chatroom. In fact, the application of such software and platforms aren’t limited to distributed teams. Since all conversations cannot happen face-to-face even in an office setting, businesses have used such software for inter-team communications even when employees are working out of the same office. Some great examples of communication software and platforms are Gmail (email platforms) and Slack (team communication platform).
Conclusion
Collaboration is the need of the hour in 2020. In fact, many businesses have found the remote working model to be more effective than a traditional office setup. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently decided that the majority of Twitter employees will continue working from their homes even after the current pandemic situation improves. Does your business have the kind of software programs in its arsenal that will make remote collaborations the new normal for your employees? If not, what is stopping you? Share your apprehensions with us in the comment section and we will try to address them.
