Why Investing in Collaboration Software is a Wise Business Decision?

Agility is the main driver for any business towards digital transformation, and this agility massively depends on how effectively they can collaborate. To make that happen, people working towards their goals need to be efficient in their work. Nowadays, the market boasts tools promising to streamline your teams’ work process. But do they really?

It seems so. The main benefits of collaboration tools for business are to improve productivity amongst employees who don’t necessarily work in the same office space, at times even working across multinational offices. They help you streamline workflows and manage tasks through cloud-based schedules, wherever your employees are, thus improving the decision-making capability and overall productivity of the team members. 

An investment in collaborative software brings tremendous cost savings and other benefits. And here’s how:  

First things first – How do collaboration tools work? 

Collaboration software is any type of application or platform that helps team members collaborate, communicate, meet their goals, and contribute to the organization’s bottom line. A collaboration tool can help teams: 

• Access reports and data for better decision making 
• Brainstorm ideas
• Contribute to projects 
• Share data and information from one source of truth 
• Better communicate across departments, managers, stakeholders, clients, and in groups 
• And a whole lot more 

One particular advantage of using collaboration tools is that most are cloud-based, meaning teams can use them from any location. 

Depending on the tool, collaboration platforms and apps might work differently, but most utilize a few common features that tie them together to improve team efficiency, for example: 

Updates and tag-based messaging 

In today’s ever competing business landscape, emails are considered increasingly outdated and often burdensome, especially when juggling multiple deadlines projects. A collaboration software removes never-ending email chains, replacing them with tag-based messaging and updates for easier, faster communications

Document sharing has never been so easy 

Most collaboration apps allow you to share links, documents, and files, so you don’t find yourself diving into endless folders to find what you need. Even so, time is one of the most valuable assets in any business landscape, which is why some tools enable teams to create, collaborate, edit and share their docs, all without leaving the program. 

Great for project planning and tracking 

To get the most out of collaboration apps, you may need to opt for tools that have various project planning and tracking features for different kinds of projects. Research tools that offer built-in templates so you can create your perfect project workflow in a matter of minutes. 

The point is that you need a tool that helps you view your project in a way that makes sense for you and your team. 

Dashboards and reports 

The role of a team leader or project manager is to check on project evolution and create monthly, if not quarterly, reports. But the system behind it should be simple for anyone to grasp.

A collaboration app should simplify gathering, collecting, and analyzing data. Anything from charts, graphs, weekly capacity reports, and more should make it clear where you stand on projects. 

Save time and resources with collaboration tools 

Did you know that the average worker spends 38% of their time reading and replying to emails? On the other hand, collaboration software speeds up things more than you think. By adopting a collaboration app, team members will be able to work on a single project in real-time, relieving them of the tedious and manual process of collating comments and feedback from emails. 

Productivity – At its finest 

Automation of tasks and work processes not only makes things more bearable but frees up time that can be spent on more important activities. 

This means that your team will be able to focus on the tasks that digital tools can’t yet do. You can spend more time brainstorming your next great idea rather than collecting feedback from colleagues about another project. 

Boost team morale 

Online collaboration apps offer teams more freedom to work where they want while doing so more effectively. 

What’s more, we know that effective collaboration generates inventive ideas and helps team members learn from one another. With a collaboration app that enables sharing of knowledge and better communication, it becomes easier to inspire each other.

For example, if you want to organize an online event and boost your team’s morale, you can do so by using the same virtual tool. For example, you can organize a virtual event where a keynote speaker for hire can tell an inspiring story that relates to your company’s mission or can encourage team members to find renewed optimism for their work. 

Improve client-customer relationships 

Collaborative tools can also help businesses improve their relationships with clients and customers. An account manager, for example, can easily log into the app to see what everyone working on the project is up to. This helps them adapt to a client’s request for contact in seconds, rather than trying to coordinate updates from the team, which is especially daunting when the team is split across states. 

Collaborative tools can also give customers regular updates, so they don’t feel as though they have to chase you for that information. 

Overall, collaborative apps and tools can help you optimize your team’s workflow efficiency, streamline and improve communication as teams work from a cloud system, and positively impact external relationships as all the data you need is edited and recorded in a central system.