Test: are your tools designed for online collaborative working?
When a company has mastered the challenges of collaboration, its teams are accustomed to working together online. Productivity and competitiveness are the result of the right choice of collaborative tools, as well as agile project management. Are you sure you're making or have made the right decisions? Take the usability test!
What are online collaborative tools used for? What are the benefits for collaborative working?
Online collaborative tools, used in the professional sphere, enable a company's employees to achieve a number of objectives, through useful functionalities:
- control and secure access to company data,
- share data more easily, thanks to a file storage and exchange space,
- exchange information in real time via a dedicated online space, such as instant messaging or a project newsfeed,
- communicate more effectively, reducing the number of e-mails,
- organize tasks and simplify teamwork,
- promote collaborative working, for example by viewing shared agendas,
- track the progress of a project, always knowing where it stands in terms of the human resources mobilized, and the tools and techniques required,
- anticipate at any moment to adapt the progress, and gain in responsiveness,
- increase productivity, in particular by using work tools that complement each other and can be interconnected.
Some companies pile on the tools one by one, in order to satisfy a need, a use, as they go along. Others, more mature on the subject, are looking for project management software or a collaborative online working platform that covers all their needs.
To guide you in your choice of tools for online collaborative working, the best solution lies "simply" in the question of usage. Your uses determine the collaborative working tools your team needs.
You've identified certain needs, and certain uses are expected. But have you covered all the bases? Have you really anticipated all the relevant uses to make teamwork smoother and more productive ?
We've put a usage test at your disposal: sift through your tools to check whether your current choices match your needs!
Tests specific to collaborative working
Test 1: videoconferencing
Requirements:
Exchanging information solely by e-mail quickly becomes unmanageable: many employees turn to other means such as instant messaging or videoconferencing to lighten their mailboxes, communicate more easily and save time. What's more, complex subjects that are difficult to manage in writing can progress more quickly thanks to even a short face-to-face exchange.
Uses :
- Communicate easily and spontaneously with one or more other people,
- easily invite a colleague to a meeting using a messaging system,
- share your screen with your customer or team.
The benefits :
- you save an incredible amount of time when you exchange information face-to-face via videoconferencing,
- and optimize your meeting schedule,
- web conferencing is also more convivial, more human,
- it's the ideal solution for instant brainstorming.
Examples of collaborative online tools dedicated to this use:
- Skype,
- Google Hang out.
Test 2: sharing files
Requirements:
Transfer or make available files that are heavy or too large to be sent by email.
Intended use:
Share files via a service, such as an online storage space.
Benefits:
- you gather all your data in a single online storage space,
- you share your files with the right people
Examples of specialized tools for this purpose:
- Dropbox,
- Box.
Test 3: Teamwork on shared documents
Requirements:
Improving teamwork is a constant preoccupation: you want to provide your collaborators with the latest versions of documents, and make them accessible as simply as possible.
Desired uses :
- an online office suite, a web office for everyone in-house,
- teamwork on the same documents,
- secure access to work documents from anywhere,
- the ability to share these sometimes cumbersome documents with external stakeholders (customers, suppliers).
The benefits :
- all employees use the same office tools and the same workspace,
- document and file sharing is simplified,
- the team can access documents off-line,
- everyone has access to the latest versions of documents, which is very useful for building up a common knowledge base,
- in terms of security, an administrator defines access rights.
Examples of tools specializing in these uses:
- Office On line,
- Google Drive.
Tests that characterize a project management tool
Test 4: streamline work organization
Requirements:
In project management, optimizing everything related to the project is the permanent grail. To optimize the organization and monitoring of the team's work , management tools are essential.
Uses relating to task management :
- assign tasks,
- create recurring tasks,
- work in project mode,
- visualize progress,
- coordinate and control all tasks.
The benefits :
- structured planning,
- monitor project progress,
- react in real time to incidents,
- anticipate with alerts and notifications,
- optimize ongoing work management.
Examples of tools dedicated to these uses:
- Trello,
- Asana.
Test 5: Share and access a synchronized agenda
Requirements:
How do I schedule a meeting or videoconference? Who will be available? I'll be away: how do I do this?
Uses :
- share team agendas,
- organize meetings quickly,
- maintain mobile access.
Benefits :
- mobile access to your (synchronized) agenda, on all devices (including cell phones),
- share calendars,
- better organization,
- anticipate in real time,
- respect project deadlines and key dates.
Examples of online collaborative tools specialized for this purpose :
- Google calendar
Test 6: Activity reporting
Requirements:
How far along is the project? Who's behind schedule? Who is working on this task? How much time does this person spend on this task? Is the team behind schedule? How do you measure all this?
Uses :
- need for a mind map, a dashboard offering precise indicators,
- a linked alert system that sends notifications.
Benefits :
- easily visualize the progress of my projects,
- measure the activity of your team and its individual members,
- keep an eye on resources allocated to the project,
- estimate a project's completion date, anticipate any needs,
- produce reports easily.
Project management software specializes in these uses.
But if you're using multiple tools, you may want to consider a collaborative platform such as Wimi, which integrates all key services under a single interface. Let's see why and how.
The ultimate test: do it all on the same online working platform
The disadvantages of managing several collaborative tools
As we've just seen, some online tools are perfectly suited to specific uses, and some are even dedicated to them. While it's easy to accumulate a few of them, it becomes complicated when the number increases: some tools can't connect with each other, and you lose the initial quest for productivity. Goodbye complementarity, goodbye synergy.
For example, if your tool offers only one or two functionalities, you run the risk of :
- multiply your tools without complementing each other,
- spread your data across different services,
- having to control accesses by multiplying them by the number of tools.
Another aspect is the appropriation of tools by your team members: the more tools you have, the more your collaborators have to grasp functions that are not necessarily similar in their logic of use. If the interfaces are not intuitive, the learning curve will be long... and fruitless.
And what if two tools offer the same functionality but duplicate each other? You'll have to impose a usage, at the risk of frustrating a few employees along the way.
Finally, deploying a large number of tools across the enterprise can be complex and costly, not to mention managing access rights.
The more different tools you use, the more dependencies you create on sometimes incompatible tools or services. Is it worth the risk?
Why adopt a collaborative platform
Why put all your web tools on the same platform? Why? First and foremost, you naturally avoid all the disadvantages listed above. To understand all the benefits, let's delve a little deeper...
The main advantages :
- you only have one service to manage,
- you make it easier for your staff to adopt the platform,
- you don't spread your data over a plethora of online tools and services,
- centralize rights management and data access,
- you grant specific privileges on your tools according to user roles,
- reduce and better control your digital budget.
The right tool for every purpose
In the world of collaborative platforms, Wimi offers a complete range of solutions to meet all the needs of collaborative working. Storing, securing, synchronizing and sharing your data within the same space greatly simplifies teamwork. Project managers can work with remote teams in eight languages!
Wimi lets you create real synergy between your tools: everything is available within the same platform. Video demonstration :
Wimi stands out from the crowd by bringing together all user habits. The solution is part of a totally complementary approach to collaboration. In unified workspaces, Wimi effectively brings together all the tools needed for teamwork and project management, such as :
- team communication channels (Slack equivalent), associated with each workspace,
- document synchronization and sharing with a Wimi Drive (Box or Dropbox equivalent),
- agile task management (Trello equivalent),
- shared calendars & Wimi Outlook connector (Google Calendar equivalent),
- chat, videoconferencing and screen sharing (Skype equivalent),
- centralized management of access rights.
Choosing between several tools or a single online collaborative work tool is a choice that depends on your uses and expectations over the long term. It's all about finding the perfect balance between productivity and collaboration, and making the best decision to stay competitive.
On your marks, get set, test!
Article translated from French