How to Find the Right Collaboration Platform for Your Workplace

With the culture of business changing rapidly with the times, your employees needs to collaborate now more than ever before. Businesses are beginning to invite remote employees into the fold and work from home or flexible schedules are becoming common. And with all the new projects we can expect stemming from new technology, teams are looking for easier methods to track them. The solution? Choosing a collaboration platform for your workplace.

Why Choose a Collaboration Platform for Your Workplace?

Collaboration platforms have many benefits that will enhance your workplace’s productivity. Some of these benefits include:

• Easy reporting. When working with large teams or with different departments, reporting can become a nightmare. Each part of a project that is completed needs to be tracked. Collaboration platforms allow you to keep a record of completed projects in detail. It makes reporting so much simpler.
• Employees and teams can be located anywhere. Employees and teams and collaborate from any location, at any time.
• Easily track projects. These platforms allow your team to track projects with all of their required documents, notes and reports. You can see who is working on what, what stage the project is in and which projects have been completed.
• Documents and data are stored in one place. Most projects have documents or other attachments that are critical to their completion. Collaboration platforms allow you to upload critical documents and other data attachments to one place.

How to Choose the Right One

When it comes to your unique business, not all collaboration platforms are created equal. Using the right collaboration platform for your workplace will make a difference as some platforms meet different needs. There are five considerations you should make prior to purchasing a new platform. Let’s jump into it.

Goals

You know the benefits of a collaboration platform and how it can serve your business. However, to take full advantage of the tool, you need to understand your goals. What do you want or need from your new platform? For example:

• You want to save time on group projects that are taking longer than they should.
• You want to start implementing new technology into your business.
• You want to improve communication between departments and employees.

Considering your goals will give you a checklist of features that your platform must have. If you want to save time, perhaps there is a time tracking tool. If you want to improve communication, your platform should have a messaging feature. Purchasing a tool without knowing what its use will be isn’t smart.

Data Protection

When working with remote employees or with employees working on the go, secure mobility is critical to safeguard your business. McAfee Labs reported in 2017 a total of 16 million mobile malware incidents. You will need to consider purchasing a secure mobility client or choosing a platform that includes data protection. You will be passing critical data through the platform so either way, it must be considered.

Ease of Use

Any change can be difficult for employees within your workplace. A collaboration platform has the potential to change processes and communication routes. You will want something that is completely user-friendly with a short learning curve. It takes time and resources to train employees and implement new tools within your business. You can make it easy by purchasing a platform with an easy to use interface.

The Right Support

The platform you choose should come with adequate support for any technical issues, privacy concerns or security concerns. You do not want to purchase a platform that is completely left up to you to handle. Most collaboration platforms have a professional support team for any and all questions you may have, some with 24-hour support. Do your research and always ask each vendor what their support system looks like, prior to moving forward.

Integration with Existing Tech

Purchasing a collaboration platform shouldn’t mean you have to change every other tool in your arsenal. Instead, your new platform should integrate with all of your existing tools seamlessly. This means your security tools, your daily business activity tools and more. A lot of collaboration tools on the market are made to integrate with popular technology that the majority of businesses use. However, always check prior to moving forward. You will be investing in new technology, but that doesn’t mean you need to invest in a completely new tech strategy.

As you can see, a collaboration platform for your workplace is the perfect addition to your business. However, it is important that you choose wisely, following these five considerations prior to purchasing. We are sure that you will find the right platform for you with the many options that are on the market today. Here’s to collaborating in a whole new and more productive way within your business.