What is a Collaboration
Platform?
These tools are designed to boost team productivity as they allow
them to share information, files, and documents and help teams
communicate faster in an enterprise environment.
There are several reasons for such rapid growth.
The majority of businesses realize the usefulness of remote work,
coworking spaces, other types of physically decentralized offices,
and other more flexible approaches to their workforces. It isn’t
necessary to meet the people you work with to discuss projects
anymore. You can do it through collaborative and instant
communication software.
These tools aim at easier communication and collaboration. All
kinds of shared file programs, task and project management
features are a part of the collaborative tools.
Frank Hamilton: “From instant messaging to project
planning, collaboration software is involved in a plethora
of tasks. It can help incorporate knowledge management
into your business, which is an important factor in proper
information-sharing and problem-solving.”
Collaborative platforms are digital workspaces where you can
communicate like in an office while being in different countries.
With a collaboration platform employees can communicate with
each other in order to achieve the best results in their processes
and find solutions to difficulties that will occur due to remote
work. Some examples of providing services on collaboration
platforms are emails, personal and group calendars, video
meetings, collaborative documents, and message notes.
There are many types of collaboration platforms in the market.
Some of them are all-in-one solutions, and some others are as
specialized for the following:
Instant Messaging
Document Management System (DMS)
Video Conferencing
Task Management
Cloud Storage
Idea and Knowledge Management
Most of the above collaboration solutions are easily customizable,
which makes it easier for you to create a version of the software
that will suit your business.
Collaboration Platform Features
Here are some features that are incorporated in a collaboration
platform:
Project planning, management, task, and process scheduling
capabilities
File sharing, including presentations, charts, statistics,
company news, spreadsheets, sale proposals, business
documents etc.
Topics, discussion boards, and wikis
Push notifications & reminders for tasks, emails-messages
Chat & Video calls with screen-sharing
Achieving advanced collaboration in different ways is easy with
such software because different teams have access to the same
files and information. Each takes the data necessary for their own
tasks. This eliminates the need to create assignments for each
team, which saves time and resources.
Advantages of Collaboration Platform
A collaborative platform will save:
Time.
Your employees won’t need to spend time communicating, doing
paperwork, etc. Everything is within the platform, available to
regular staff and managers.
Effort.
Communication can be done through voice, text, or even video,
which makes it easier to customize the workspace to every
individual.
Resources.
Your company will not need to invest in physical resources like
office equipment etc. This will reduce operational costs.
It will also increase the productivity of all your teams since
everyone can work from their perfect spot. No commute, no
inconveniences connected to work at the office. Not to mention
the focus on sustainability due to lower commute. Your
employees can go to a coworking space nearby and join the
conversation on the go.
If all that isn’t enough, here’s a list of benefits a collaborative
platform will provide for your business:
Focus on creating value.
Instead of troubleshooting Excel or other conventional project
management tools, employees can work conveniently and focus
on what really matters – value. You will notice a spike in creativity
and productivity since there will be fewer annoying disruptions.
Knowledge management boost.
With time, the platform will become a large digital library for all
staff members. Information about the company, finished projects,
innovations, recommendations, etc. will be stored in one place
and optionally backed up by a cloud to make sure nothing is lost.
New employees will feel like a part of the team much faster,
which will decrease turnover.
Better communication.
Communication is key to a healthy, well-functioning team.
Whether it’s about a project or teambuilding, there have to be
convenient channels for chatting. Managers can assign daily tasks
in time, employees can comment on them and ask questions,
getting quick replies, thus increasing performance.
Innovation motivation.
If one of your business goals is to nurture innovation, greater
progress will be achieved with a collaborative platform. There,
you can post about the type of ideas welcomed. Employees will
write down ideas, while their co-workers will be able to enhance
them, eventually creating new solutions.
