To collaborate well, your teams need to communicate, to centralize information, and to organize their tasks in an efficient way. Collaborative work platforms are a great tool for this: they make it easy to manage team projects. Through this article, discover collaborative platforms, their benefits and the various functionalities they offer. You will better understand why they are the future of teamwork and why it will be difficult to do without them in the years to come.
What is a collaborative work platform?
Collaborative platforms are digital tools designed to help employees work as a team and coordinate their activities. They integrate a variety of functionalities: instant messaging, file sharing, file sharing, task management board, video calls, etc. They allow geographically remote teams to work together effectively, by centralizing resources and by easily coordinating activities.
Each collaboration software has its own specificities: Slack is ideal for communicating, Notion for organizing documentation, Monday to manage projects, zoom for video conferences, etc.
What are the advantages of collaborative platforms?
Collaborative work platforms are very useful in business. Here are their main strengths.
They facilitate the work of teams
These tools allow teams to communicate very easily. An online chat is often available to write to the person of your choice and receive a response quickly. Spaces are also designed to exchange asynchronously. Audio and video calls as well as videoconferencing solutions are also very often possible, promoting communication and coordination between the various members of the projects.
Thanks to collaboration software, hybrid and asynchronous work is facilitated: it is no longer mandatory for all employees to be physically present in the same office. This makes it possible to consider projects with decentralized and cross-functional teams, which can open up many possibilities.
These platforms simply allow teams to work better together, and to be more productive, which is a major advantage for a business.
They engage employees
Collaborative work platforms involve employees in certain decision-making processes, through surveys, votes or online comments. It also allows everyone to share ideas and take initiatives. These features are great because they push employees to engage and they value them because their opinion is taken into account.
They also offer a very immersive employee experience, promoting transparency, flexibility and Recognition. This type of work environment can appeal to younger generations, for whom work-life balance is essential.
They are all-in-one tools
Finally, we can simply say that these tools are all-in-one and are often easy to set up and use. They offer significant benefits without being laborious to implement.
What are the functionalities of collaborative software?
This type of software can offer one or more functionalities among:
- Project management. It includes dashboards, a task assignment system, deadline monitoring, etc. Some even include reports.
- One or more communication systems. It can be instant messaging, a call or video conference system, discussion forums, etc.
- Sharing documents. This may include the ability to download, store, and edit work documents.
- Integrations. They allow you to connect with other tools used by employees.
- The various security and permission systems, in order to protect sensitive data.
The majority of platforms offer a web version, accessible from their website. Some go further and have a mobile version, which is very convenient to use during business trips.
How to choose your collaborative work platform?
To properly select the work platform (s) you are going to use, here are 4 tips.
1 — Target your needs
The platforms offer a very varied range of functionalities to facilitate the work of your teams. However, you are unlikely to need all of them.
So make a list of your specific desires in order to choose the tool that will best meet your problems.
2 — Make sure it's compatible with your tools
If you are already used to using certain tools in your daily work, simply make sure that the platform you choose is compatible. If not, you will have to migrate all of your files to the new tool. It can be both complicated and time consuming.
3 — Focus on ease of use
Some platforms have extremely comprehensive functionalities, but they are very complex to use. If you want all your employees to join it, it is best to opt for a tool that is easy to use.
You can still train all of your staff to use it, so everyone can use it freely, without frustration.
4 — Involve your employees in the choice
Finally, ask your employees to give their opinion on the various possible tools. Indeed, your teams will be required to use the collaborative platform on a daily basis to make progress on their projects. They know better than anyone what they need to be more efficient, so consult them before making your choice.
Collaborative work platforms are essential tools for improving communication, project management and the commitment of your teams. They offer a multitude of features that facilitate the coordination of projects and allow teams to work together effectively, even remotely. By adopting these tools, you can create a more productive and harmonious work environment while meeting employee expectations. In the future, these tools will certainly be essential in all businesses: don't wait to implement them!
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