How Technology Can Improve Your Company’s Collaboration

The success of your company often hinges on the employees you hire and their ability to work as a team. However, as remote work is becoming more common, it’s also becoming increasingly difficult to build cohesion and encourage teamwork. Technology can help. Online collaboration tools and other technology can help remote companies keep morale high and boost communication and efficiency.One caveat, however: Tech isn’t everything. A well-timed phone call or in-person visit can be vital to boosting team relationships. And, even the best tech can fail. It’s always good to have a backup.This week I’ve included advice on how to boost your company’s teamwork online -- and in person.The Changing Definition of Collaboration. CIO: “Collaboration is about people. Even with all the latest and greatest software and hardware, people are the heart of collaboration. All of the technology, best practices, cultural initiatives and methodologies are worthless if you can't make them appeal to the people on the other end. Your employees are core to collaboration in your organization. They’re the ones that benefit the most from it and they’re the ones that suffer when it’s absent or not effectively encouraged. The human element should always be the first consideration when making a new technology purchase or beginning a new cultural initiative.”7 Secrets to Successful Online Collaboration. Office Blogs: “...it’s surprising how many organizations lack software that makes real-time collaboration on documents possible. By finding software that allows team members to co-author or work simultaneously on the same document, you can ensure that everyone has access to the latest version, and can knock out deliverables in less time. Virtual meetings—When you need to get the team together and bring everyone up to speed on a project, idea or development, use a meeting service that allows for screen sharing. This way, you can keep people engaged (and away from their mountain of laundry that they need to fold) and share your point precisely.”Five Simple Ways to Improve Team Collaboration. Zapier: “Coordinate team tasks. When you're on a team long enough, you get comfortable with varying communication patterns—Matt prefers using the chat app, Kerri favors phone calls, Ellen likes when you stop by her desk, and so on. But if you need to collaborate with another department, inducting newcomers into your process can be tough. Let automation be the bridge between your teams to ensure everyone has the context they need. ‘We use Zapier to send Pivotal Tracker notifications to different Hipchat rooms,’ says Peldi Guilizzoni, founder and CEO of Balsamiq. ‘It really helps our distributed team know what everyone's working on at all times.’”8 Ways to Create Culture Among Remote Teams. Vistage: “Hold weekly video conferences. Executives should never underestimate the power of visual recognition. One way to create company culture is to have weekly video conferences with the entire team, both remote and in-office workers. Create an agenda that focuses on clients and business updates as well as personal news. Create time during the weekly call to be used as an open forum for staff to get to know each other. Video calls can also be used as an opportunity to congratulate people, celebrate their birthdays and share exciting life news.”5 Lessons Traditional Companies Can Learn From Remote Companies. Entrepreneur: “Proactive communication is the key to productive teams. Every remote company we’ve talked with says the same thing: communication is king. But they don’t necessarily mean lots of scheduled, but often unnecessary, meetings or forced interactions. Instead, communication is an ongoing, daily, organic thing that helps remote workers to be more efficient, productive and engaged, both individually and as a group. Carri McKeegan, a co-founder of Greenback Expat Tax Services says, ‘We don’t set communication rules for the team, but we rely on a collaborative approach to accomplish the company’s goals. Rarely is one team member working alone on a project, so communication is a must. They rely on each other so heavily to do their jobs that there really isn’t a need to specify the terms of communication.’”Want to read more about how your team can work together, now and down the road? Download our step-by-step guide to succession planning to keep your team strong into the future.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.