Suppose your company is going to host an event over the next few weeks and you need to coordinate the plans with different people in your organization. However, conducting a physical meeting with them is impossible due to their different locations. What would be your available options to push things through?
For one, you can use a dependable VoIP business software to make calls and conduct video conferences. You can choose the most ideal tool based from Crowdreviews.com consumer feedback for the different business VoIP software in the market. It’s easy to set up, as long as you have internet connection and the required hardware.
The last option, which is most likely the best and the most recommended option, is to use a collaboration software. This kind of software is a game changer for so many businesses today, thanks to its many features that improve employee and employer communication, coordination and creativity.
What Is a Collaboration Software?
In some cases, collaboration software is also referred to as a collaborative software, collaboration groupware, collaboration tool or group support system. It is a very handy tool that you can use for communicating concerns, coordinating plans, sending out documents and other pertinent files, and conducting audio or video conferences at the same time. Think of it as an all in one business solution that lets you take control of your business, better and faster.
The history of collaborative apps traces back to 1986, when Computer-Supported Collaborative Work or CSCW was first coined. The system for collaboration software was tweaked over the next few years until the release of the new and improved apps that many business owners enjoy right now. Find out why business owners love using a collaboration groupware.
- Save Up on Internal Communication and Travel Expenses
Enplug.com emphasizes in an article they wrote that there are statistics that would prove how important internal communication is for every business. According to the article, 70% of employees in the US aren’t that engaged with their respected companies, but because of using different platforms like feedback channels and the like, they get to voice out their concerns better. This also allows them to share their ideas better in the projects of the company.
In order for you to facilitate internal communication, there are instances when you and your employees would need to move from one place to another to conduct meetings, seminars and the like. This could eat up a lot of time and not to mention cause additional expenses.
Fortunately, business solutions like collaboration platform offer entrepreneurs and business operators the option to conduct everything in their most preferred location. Imagine how much you can save from your trips alone. We can go on mentioning about the additional expenses you would need to shoulder during a business trip like hotel accommodation, and intercity transportation costs but we all know for sure that you’re already well aware of these. The amount of cash you are able to cutback could be allocated to other needs of the company.
In addition to saving more money, you will also save more time because you no longer need spend time sitting on a plane or whatever mode of transportation you use when you travel. When you use a collaborative software, you get to avoid these issues As long you meet the requirements of a typical collaboration software like a stable internet connection, and your preferred device.
- Faster Exchange of Information
With an online collaboration application, exchange of information would be way faster and more convenient for everyone working on a given project. Typically, businesses or companies would use email to send out updates and instructions to their employees. When you use a team collaboration application, you get to send out messages to the participating individuals, and use additional apps like calendars, client portals and time trackers to coordinate your plan. It’s an all in one tool for communication and organization.
A collaborative groupware works well for either a brick and mortar enterprise, or a web-based startup company. Team collaborative softwares allow their users to easily send out files and documents to all of the added members. Members also get to send out files and share their feedback through the instant messaging feature of the software.
If you want to know more about how the different online collaboration tools can help you to improve the exchange of information in your business, you should read a collaboration software review. An article written by Finances Online about Collaboration software suggests that, if you want to find the top online collaboration tools in the market, you will need to ask if that software includes communication, conferencing and coordination tools. These are the three most basic features that you will need to fully increase the speed of processing different matters for your business operation or project.
- Improved Employee Satisfaction
Now, say your employees aren’t available to come to a scheduled meeting on a specific venue because they are away, or your employees work remotely, but you badly need everyone to attend, how will you be able to adjust accordingly? Again, the best solution will be a collaboration groupware. By using a collaborative software you are able to provide flexible terms for your employees.
As mentioned earlier, using a collaboration app would significantly minimize your expenses for business trips and additional communication services. The money you are able to save from these two could be used for employee training.
The best part about this is that you are able to conduct employee trainings at their most convenient time and their most preferred work space. You no longer need to organize a training, seminar or workshop that would entail your people to go to a specific venue. Instead, you simply log in to your collaboration tool for business, and add the participants and upload the necessary files needed.
According to Finances Online, there are two main types of collaborative apps – the asynchronous and the synchronous. Asynchronous collaboration software lets you conduct your training or collaboration meetings on a non-real time setup. Participants would simply read your emails for your instructions, or you can loop them in to a workflow system. You may also use a calendar to schedule specific events that the participants should take note off.
For those who prefer to conduct trainings or meetings on a real time basis, it’s better to use a synchronous collaboration groupware instead. This app would let you view the files or documents at the same time with all of the participants. You have the option to use the app’s video or IM features to get instant feedbacks from everyone on the team. There are also some online collaboration apps that will let you share a whiteboard for better discussion among your team members.
Most of the tools in the market can be asynchronous or synchronous depending on the setup that you prefer. If you want to know which software to use for your business needs, you should refer to the different reviews of online collaboration tools available today.
- Increased Productivity for the Company
It is no secret that a company with highly trained employees is on its way to success. Entrepreneur.com shares in an article that by conducting employee trainings, you are also able to minimize your business costs, because of the fact that happy employees remain loyal to the company. The higher your staff turnover is, the higher the costs of training new employees for the different tasks assigned to them.
In addition to this, we know for a fact, that well trained and well informed employees and collaborators play a big role in increasing the company’s productivity. The better they are at doing things, the faster and more efficient a company would operate. Can you imagine how troublesome it would be if a business employs people who aren’t equipped with the necessary skill set to complete a certain tasks? This would certainly result to unhappy customers, plunging sales and increased customer distrust.
With the use of a collaborative software, you can avoid that, because you will be able to send out new training materials like videos or written sources to every member registered with the software. These materials could contain instructions on how to use the new equipment the company has installed, or specific protocols they need to follow in attending to a certain issue.
Aside from using the app for employee and customer service improvement, you can also use it to keep track of your business or project’s progress. You can provide an interactive checklist that they should fill up once they are able to finish a particular set of task. You may also use the app’s calendar to remind the members for upcoming events, delivery dates or whatnot. The best collaboration software should be able to assist you in your employee trainings and allow you to monitor the day to day operation of a certain business or project.
There is a long list of online collaboration groupware that you can choose from. Among the most commonly used today, according to online collaboration app comparisons are Clarizen, Gotomeeting, Asana, Intercall Unified Meeting, Wrike, Join.me, Slack, Team Viewer, Yammer, and Jive.
These softwares primarily differ with their capabilities in handling specific enterprise sizes. Most of these online collaboration applications work best for small businesses, while some of them are highly recommended for medium and large scale businesses. They also differ with pricing, free trial availability and deployment method.
Get to know more the different tools you can use by reading our collaboration software reviews. Verified users were generous enough to share their two cents about the different companies and their respective products and services.
John Tovar
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