Collaboration tools have come a long way in the last few years. They’re streamlining many of the communication and organizational tasks that used to take up a significant chunk of the work day. Yet, many managers and workers in small businesses don’t use them.
If you’re looking for a better way to get things done, collaboration tools like Outlook, Sharepoint and OneNote might just be your answer.
Are you ready to make the switch? Here are the top five signs your business needs better collaboration tools:
Document revision nightmares – You’re emailing documents back and forth for markup and you’re on about the 20th version. Nobody knows anymore if the current revision has everyone’s changes or not. It takes weeks to get a document through revisions and approved, and in the end you’re still not sure if it’s right.
Huge file uploading issues – Digital media is great, but PowerPoints, images and videos are bandwidth hogs and a nightmare to email. You can spent precious minutes or hours waiting for them to upload or download. A collaboration tool like SharePoint makes this a thing of the past, since you can securely email a link to the document to any recipient, making uploading and downloading far less time-consuming.
Your organization method involves sticky notes – If you keep track of your projects with sticky notes on your computer, we want you to know there’s a better way. With Microsoft Outlook, your email communication, tasks and calendaring can all be kept in one place. You can even upgrade your task management to a more fully capable project management tool by integrating OneNote.
You can only access your files when you’re at work – customers expect you to be able to access answers and deliver the information they need whenever and wherever they call. But if you can only access files from your desktop in the office, you’re missing those expectations. Collaboration tools like SharePoint allow you to access your files from anywhere – whether it’s a desktop, laptop or mobile device.
You actually still use a Dayplanner – Dayplanners were the best thing since sliced bread back in the day. Gone were the days of memorizing phone numbers or forgetting where you were supposed to be at 9am on Tuesday. But technology has come a long way since then. Everything you used to do with your Dayplanner can now be done with Outlook and a mobile device. Phone numbers and contact information, messages, calendars – they’re all right there at your fingertips on any device. And you never even have to worry about losing your pen.
What tools is your business using to manage your collaboration with customers and teams? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
