Understanding the trend Collaborative Technology

Generally, Collaboration is inevitable in the business world, whether talking with a customer or to a colleague; in some way throughout the day some form of collaboration will takes place. Collaboration involves working with a team, or with someone, in order to create or produce a product or service. Overtime, with the help of information technology (IT), new forms of collaboration have been introduced to the world and have allowed employees and businesses to interact with each other in ways that were previously not possible. Collaborative technologies (CT) make it possible for organizations to quickly bring together remote workers into virtual teams to perform a variety of tasks.

Businesses and fellow employees from all across the world have the ability to link in with one another, share their data, and work on projects at their own convenience. CT involves the use of the Internet, or some other form of technology, to share information with one another. These collaborative technologies have the ability to eliminate face-to-face conversation and can boost productivity if implemented correctly. The employees collaborating need to be familiar with the systems and develop a skill known as collaboration know-how. Collaboration know-how is the ability of an individual to communicate his or her ideas and combine them with group members in order to enhance the success of the team.

Collaborative software for the workplace has been around since the late 1980s and the advent of personal computer networking. Programs like Lotus Notes and Novell's GroupWise (originally WordPerfect Office) combined electronic mail with document management and calendaring as well as scheduling for groups. Workflow software enabled knowledge workers (workers whose output is some form of information) in remote locations, allowing them to collaborate on a project and to move the project through a defined series of steps to completion.

Collaboration tools can route work through a process, distribute pieces and tasks to involved parties, and help to coordinate activities. Consider this example: A business wants to draft a contract to sell a product to a customer. Sales and marketing provide documentation about quantities, types and maybe the specifications. The accounting department specifies the terms for purchase, and the legal department inserts language in the contract to protect both parties in the transaction. Everyone uses a collaborative software platform to work together to get the job done, regardless of where they're located.

There are three major types of collaborative software tools;

• Communicative Technology: Communicative technology is the first .As its name suggests, communicative software tools allow for messages, chat groups and conversations to be conducted between individuals and parties via the Internet, whether those parties are in different parts of the office or different parts of the world. Communication tools also tend to be unstructured. They do not require prior scheduling or calendar sharing to be effective in fact, they’re not intended to be formally preemptive at all.

Examples of communication technology include:

Email

Instant messaging apps

Team, department or org-wide chat forums

Digital voicemail applications

Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls

• Conferencing Technology: Conferencing tools as relating to collaborative software have two core features defining them:

Conferencing software allows two or more individuals to communicate with each other in real time, using Internet-based or cloud-based platforms.

Conferencing software allows that same group of people to view a unified screen.

It’s this second component that distinguishing conferencing technology from sheer communications technology. Depending on the software used, conferencing technology allows for everyone to access, make changes and work on the unified screen all at once or for a single presenter to control screen movements and functions, such as during a presentation.

Types of conferencing tools for the workplace are:

Video conferencing with shared screen capabilities

Document-sharing software

Shared digital whiteboards, where users can ideate, review and edit information or data simultaneously

Shared applications, where users can simultaneously access certain apps in real time to check information

• Coordination Technology: Coordination technology rounds out the three main types of collaborative software. Arguably the most holistic of collaborative tools, coordination software is designed to integrate both teamwork and task functions. In other words, they allow individuals and groups to connect interpersonally as well as coordinate work tasks and activities making end-to-end workflow management simpler and more efficient.

Some examples of today’s types of coordination tools include:

E-calendars

Employee time trackers or scheduling systems

Project-management systems, on-premise or SaaS, web or cloud-hosted

Enterprise resource planning software

Internal employee as well as client portals

Other types of collaborative tools that also exist are:

• Document Synchronization: With document synchronization software, tracing the breadcrumb trail of document tweaks, tailoring, additions or deletions takes only a few clicks. Plus, these pieces of software synthesize separate documents into one fresh sheet based on directory inputs, saving teams from redundantly creating documents.
• Digital Whiteboards: This software takes the meeting room wall staple from the physical to the digital. It’s a dream tool for remote teams during a conference video call. Colleagues can take turns drawing graphics, plotting charts, mapping concepts or even jotting down quick notes on a shared screen, then save or erase those images once the next person needs the board.
• Screenshots and videoshots: Share pictures and even videos of your screen using communication software that turns screengrabs into condensed links. This collaborative feature makes both real-time and asynchronous troubleshooting easier. Imagine you’re having problems saving work in your team’s new document-management software. You can send a video illustrating your process difficulties to a team member, who can then send you a link of their own with a step-by-step, visual tutorial. No more complicated or difficult-to-follow written directions or long-chain responses
• Accounting and Budgeting software: Team members sprinkled remotely can use financial planning, accounting (FP&A) and other budgeting software to generate and send invoices, track expenditures, view outgoing payment deadlines, submit time sheets, approve reimbursement reports and more, all from one platform

Truth be told, collaborative technology has become a major out of the numerous necessities for businesses and industries. Its unique ability to streamline communication and collaborative efforts between in-house and remote teams hence providing companies with multiple benefits that accrues greater success. Despite the location of teams, with the aid of collaborative technology, teams can work together in real-time to solve problems and also perform crucial company tasks.

Here are some of the benefits of collaboration technology to businesses

Increased Productivity

 Increasing employee productivity leads to greater profits and more improved business functions from top to bottom. Collaboration technology—when used correctly—decreases the feeling of isolation among workers and improves employee productivity. Implementing collaboration technology correctly gives employees the tools necessary to feel more engaged with tasks, and increases productivity among both in-house and remote workers. In fact, remote teams using collaboration technology often outperform co-located teams. How? Collaboration technology provides the backbone for efficient and effective communication, which leads to greater engagement and increased productivity.

 

Reduces Costs

Travel costs can quickly become a major expense for companies. This includes traveling to meet with clients, train employees, and monitor the progress of projects. Collaboration technology allows businesses to forgo the expensive of travel by implementing visual communication tools. For example, video conferencing is a great example of the type of collaboration technology that allows companies to cut back on travel costs. Video conferencing allows real-time, face-to-face conversations to take place anywhere in the world. The instant communication enabled by collaboration technologies such as video conferencing is unmatched by any other technology on the market.

 

Cultivates A Team Environment

The generational demographic of the workplace has changed drastically over the past five years. Millennials have become the majority in today’s marketplace, and companies have found a way to cater to their needs by creating more productive and team oriented environments. Hybrid office spaces that incorporate a variety of collaboration technology have proven to cultivate a more team oriented environment that the millennial generation thrives in. Hybrid office spaces like huddle rooms are smaller style conference rooms that include various collaboration tech within them. These smaller rooms create more intimate settings than traditional conference rooms, and therefore encourage employees to work as a team.

Increased Accessibility Of Documents And Resources

One of the most critical components of success is the accessibility of documents and resources. Collaboration technology simplifies sharing and accessing documents. Various collaboration technologies offer simple and user-friendly sharing capabilities that make file sharing a breeze. Collaboration technology also allows companies to record and save various training videos for future use. Knowledge transfer is critical to the success and longevity of a business, and collaboration tech increases the accessibility of documents and resources.

Gives You A Competitive Edge 

Globalization in the marketplace has led to greater competition, not only for new clients, but also for talent acquisition. Collaboration tech will give companies the edge they need to stay competitive. Recruiting high-talent employees, finding new clients, and retaining existing clients are all made possible with the use of collaboration tech.  Collaboration technologies have the ability to make distance disappear and can foster better relationships with business partners.

Allows For Greater Flexibility

In today’s globalized marketplace, both employees and clients demand flexibility. The number of remote workers is on the rise, and with the help of collaboration technology, these remote workers are able to perform the vital tasks of their jobs from wherever they are. In fact, a recent study showed that only three percent of workers come up with their best ideas while on the clock. The other 97 percent of workers said their best work-related ideas come to them while being out of the office and doing routine day-to-day tasks. Collaboration technology enables employees to communicate and share ideas whenever and wherever their best ideas come to them.

Just like every other form of technology that evolves collaborative technology also has its own limitations.

When working with collaborative technologies, employees may have complications when the technology is not able to perform a specific process. Employees who connect virtually rely on their connection to the Internet. However, this can be a limitation if an employee does not have a reliable Internet connection at home or located where Wi-Fi is not available. If members of the team are highly mobile or working globally, then they need have a reliable connection available. A consequence to not having the Internet connection could mean a halt in the work process and potentially missing deadlines. For employees to get their work done, they need to be able to share and access information. In some cases, gaining the information is not a limiting factor for the employee. It is essential for businesses to share information among the different departments. When information is shared it ensures all departments are essentially using the same data. Issues emerge when there are large amounts of disorganized information. Many of the companies could benefit from improving their file organization. One manager states, “Our Intranet is just a garbage scow of information…The same document can exist in literally hundreds of places. Another noted, while our corporate level content is well-managed, it gets messier the lower down in the organization you go”

Here are the two major risks associated with the integration of collaborative technology:

Employees :

When new technology is introduced into a company, the business also has the responsibility of ensuring employees are aware and satisfied with any changes. It is becoming common that employees, in any part of a business, will use some type of technology to communicate with their co-workers. However, there is some resistance from employees who choose not to use the collaborative technology. When this is the case, the individual and company are missing out on 6 the potential benefits. An employees’ reason for avoiding the use of collaborative technology can stem from a variety of areas. Some reasons may be they are not familiar with the collaboration tools or they have a different personal preference for a particular task. To help minimize the risk of employee resistance, companies should ensure full training of all management and staff who will be interacting with the collaborative technology. The more confident the employee is with using the technology, the more productive their work can be, and the more benefits the company will receive.

Security:

 Collaborative technologies have increased the capacity of sharing information. However, some companies believe when they increase the information they share the likely hood of something bad happening also increases. The vulnerability causes companies to not want to share. This is a legitimate concern for companies have. Sensitive information in the wrong hands could be severely disruptive to a company. Security functions must evolve alongside collaborative technology to find a balance between sharing information and the risk. An option for companies who are in the market for a collaborative system is to use tools such as identity recognition to minimize risk. An example would be employees using a specific user log-in to get into the system. This can minimize unauthorized access . As collaborative technology continues to 7 evolve, the task of protecting the system becomes progressively more difficult. Some risk cannot be completely eliminated, but being aware of the risks can help to organize a plan of action.

For any form of automation in your business, our topnotch developers at Digiweb will be able to help you, so get in touch with Digweb and get your business ahead.