How to set up a collaborative platform?

Are you having difficulty managing collaborators' tasks or, more generally, teamwork? Are you looking for a software solution that could allow you to streamline communication and increase efficiency? The ideal solution is to set up a collaborative platform within your workflow.

By centralizing data and exchanges, you will energize your team and reach your goals more quickly. However, it is necessary to find the solution that best suits your specific needs. For this reason, we invite you to discover in this article the essential steps leading to the deployment of such a platform.

What is a collaborative platform?

A collaborative work platform is a tool, generally in SaaS mode, allowing employees to work together on the same project. Such a tool is ideal for providing teams with all the elements they need for successful collaboration.

In addition, collaboration technologies are used in business, but also in many organizations or associations. Thus, cooperative tools are used for product development, scientific research, education as well as artistic creation.

All these sectors take full advantage of an asynchronous software solution, which allows everyone, regardless of their location or working hours, to participate actively in a common project.

What are the advantages of a collaborative platform?

Developing a collaborative work environment has many advantages for your business. Far from being a simple trendy trend, teamwork is a major challenge for all businesses and is essential for a successful digital transformation.

Centralize data and processes

The first advantage of a collaborative platform is to centralize information. Thanks to cloud storage space and online tools, collaborative software saves time. All project managers, collaborators and partners can access the data and documents they need at any time. In addition, actions can be coordinated more easily. Project management is therefore very positively impacted.

Adapting to new ways of working

In 2023, employees teleworked on average 3.6 per week compared to 1.6 days at the end of 2019. Remote work is therefore developing in a very important way. For this reason, companies must adapt to meet the new needs of employees. Especially since 72% of employees say they are satisfied with teleworking and 54% believe that it promotes innovation and creativity.

Improving team productivity

By optimizing project planning, task allocation, and communication between collaborators, a collaborative workspace increases productivity. On the one hand, because the processes are streamlined and on the other hand because employees enjoy using such tools. Thus, by setting up a collaborative platform, companies can expect to obtain a productivity gain of 30%.

Encourage the creativity of employees

One of the most important features of collaborative tools is instant messaging. By connecting employees and different teams, a teamwork platform promotes exchanges, emulation and the involvement of employees. They share their ideas and knowledge and this allows new ideas to emerge all the time. In other words, it is a tool that actively supports collective intelligence.

How to deploy a collaborative platform?

To deploy a common tool within your company, it is necessary to follow certain steps. Step by step, you will create a suitable environment for collaborative work.

Define your goals and needs

To get started, you need to list your goals and needs. Doing this brainstorming work will then allow you to select the ideal tool. The latter must meet all of your requirements and correspond to your business. Depending on the type of project, the number of collaborators or the functionalities sought, the platform can thus differ greatly.

Set up a communication plan

You must then prepare your employees for the integration of the platform. To do this, deploy an internal communication plan. This is important to unite teams around this new tool. In addition, you can also collect the desires of your employees so that the collaborative platform chosen meets everyone's needs. All this will then promote real teamwork.

Select and configure the platform

By taking into account your needs and the feedback of your employees, you can select a professional collaboration platform. Your technical experts will then have the task of configuring the tool. Different steps can constitute the configuration such as creating profiles or pages, setting up authorizations, managing authentication or setting up notifications.

Train users in the collaborative tool

Before and during the deployment of the collaborative platform, it is necessary to train all users. Through online tutorials, group training sessions or the provision of user guides, make sure that everyone is fully familiar with the tool. To better collaborate, each team member must learn to understand how to take advantage of the software and use its features.

Evaluate the platform and adapt it to your needs

Finally, feel free to gather feedback from each user. By evaluating the solution to see if it effectively meets the needs of the organization, you promote smooth collaboration and effective work. If necessary, adapt the platform by adjusting the settings or changing the configuration of certain functionalities.

How do you choose the ideal collaborative platform?

An ideal collaborative tool is one that allows teams to work better together. Before acquiring an online collaboration platform, check that it has the following functionalities in particular:

• Collaborative messaging: Instant messaging makes it possible to share information and promotes the sharing of knowledge.
• Sharing documents: Sharing large files is essential for collaborative projects.
• Video calls : To work in a remote team, videoconferences organized on the fly are essential.
• Project manager: Task management features, kanban boards, or a collaborative group calendar will improve productivity.
• Ergonomic dashboard: Ease of use is a necessary condition for your teams to quickly get started with the tool.

To avoid making mistakes, the best thing is to test different solutions by taking advantage of free plans or trial offers. This does not commit you to anything and will allow your teams to define the collaborative work tool best suited to their professional needs.

Oberlo, Remote work: 10 key figures you need to know for 2023, 2023

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