Are Team Collaboration Tools Over Rated

The very need for having a “team” or groups of employees in a company is a testimony to the fact that the “I” cannot achieve what the “We” can.  Rightfully so, team collaboration is the cornerstone to help you achieve and excel in a sustainable manner.

As leaders, managers, project managers we focus heavily on getting the strategy right, making robust plans with no scope of error, breakdown our plan to the smallest chunk possible, and deploying the best of processes and tools to track each aspect of our project.

However, the success of the plan primarily boils down to the team executing it.

We all deploy the most fancy of tools and processes at our workplace but how much of it do we bae into our plans.

Have you seen a project plan with any mention of the so-called collaboration factor?

The point is, it is an unspoken, unwritten assumption by all of us. Because we know we cannot go far without it.

The question now becomes, how effective are we in enabling team collaboration at the workplace?

Let us take cognizance of the contributions project management collaboration makes to the success of a project.

Projects are executed by the “Project Team”

To have the individual members of the project work as a team, we need to ensure they first stay as one.

“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.”   – Reid Hoffman

What should be some of the parameters to look for in a collaborative workplace?

Easy access to Information

We live in a world where information is power. Imagine a project carried out by over jealous team members who hold all information for the sake of losing relevance. Sounds terrible!

But is true to its core. Each one of us has indeed met such a team member at our workplace.

You cannot expect team members to function optimally when all relevant information isn’t easily accessible.

This is where project management software and team collaboration tools come in handy.

They offer the right mix of data privacy with need-based access control and quick information sharing by means of instant notifications, alerts, chatting, and document sharing.

Most importantly, teams can access the required information whenever required in an absolutely hassle-free manner.

This not only makes their lives easier but improves their sense of accountability and ownership.

Moreover, erroneous information can be quickly identified and corrected when there are additional pairs of fresh eyes. It surely helps prevent misinterpretation or misrepresentation of facts and from going entirely off-track.

Free flow of information also helps in priority issues handling as delays are avoided as the right people can be contacted, the right steps can be followed and the ensuing crisis is prevented or well handled.

Ideation and brainstorming are without boundaries enabling team members to be more forthcoming with ideas and relevant information they have.

Free-flowing Communication

People will retract into a shell if they aren’t able to communicate freely.  It chokes innovation and demotivates members to speak when needed.

Communication is an important aspect of human life. We just cannot function without communication. At the same time the more adept we are in our communication, greater the chances of our success.

“It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin

We live in a digital world that is overly instantaneous yet we fail to convey the right message at the right time. And this impacts our professional and personal lives significantly.

Building a culture of free-flowing communication is of utmost importance. Not all communications should be via hierarchy and neither should they be restrictive.

When people do not have the confidence and autonomy to communicate ideas die, team collaboration comes to a screeching halt and progress is drastically stunted.

Modern enterprise project management tools are the platform of choice to strengthen team collaboration.

Key features such as in-app chats, comments, daily catch-ups enable teams to share information and voice opinions freely on impending issues.

Given the visibility across the project tasks and issues, teams are motivated to help each other and come up with far-reaching solutions in the best interest of the project.

Moreover, project collaboration software encourages teams to stay aligned with shared goals and contribute to their success.

The whole point is the ability for individual team members to challenge each other for smarter and quicker outcomes.

As Henry Ford once said – “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”

Informed and Insightful Decision Making

Prompt decision making is the need of the hour today. If you realize, executives refaced with a unique challenge today. Each day they have to take numerous decisions and at times in split seconds.

Michael Dell says he wants his executives to send less than 20% of their days in decision making and 80% working towards the future i.e. next quarter or 2 quarters from now.

How can this be achieved? Real-time yet granular data points are key to informed decision making.

Each one of us is a data bank at our workplace. Everything we do is a valid data pint for one or the other function of our company right from Security, HR, Compliance, Sales, R&D, etc.

Imagine the volume of data for enterprises.

Having a central dashboard that is intuitive and intelligent is critical to successfully manage our programs and portfolio.

Executive dashboards with clear insights to portfolio profitability, program progress with the ability to drill into granular KPIs in terms of tasks, time and resource billability make enterprise project management tools like Orangescrum a dependable platform.

The best thing is there is greater transparency at all levels with clear inputs to take proactive measures and quick course corrections as needed.

More importantly, collective decision making helps build consensus, improved acceptability and ownership in making the decision the right one!

“Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs

Overall, digital enterprise project management tools like Orangescrum are all about inclusive success. One for All! All for one!

You get to benefit from all the bells and whistles you need to provide your team with a comprehensive collaboration environment and platform.

• In-app chat
• Mobile app
• Document sharing
• Instant alerts, desktop notifications & emails
• Resource availability & utilization
• Time tracking with approvals
• Roles based on hourly rates
• Executive dashboards
• Scrum & Waterfall project management

No matter your team’s way of working or your organization culture, a robust project and collaboration tool would be easy to adopt & align with your team’s priorities.

Remember the journey to success is a long one and rightly explained by an African proverb –

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”