By John Rampton, the founder of Palo Alto, California-based Calendar, a company helping your calendar be much more productive.
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The way teams collaborate these days is far different than it was before the pandemic lockdowns. Early on, many companies thought business would go back to the so-called “normal” once it was safe to return to the office. Suffice it to say that there’s no “as usual” any longer.
In 2020, employees were forced to take a crash course in technology so teams could continue to function. In fact, 40% of those surveyed for a 2021 Pew Research Center study said they started using digital technology in new or different ways after the pandemic began. After all, there was little need for many teams to use platforms like Zoom when they routinely gathered physically in the workplace. Technology that only the IT department knew how to use has become a necessity for everyone.
If you’re still cobbling together digital platforms for your team, you need to recognize that we are long past the make-do stage. You don’t want your team spending a ridiculous amount of time switching between disparate digital tools, as one Forbes Technology Council article discusses. It’s high time to become intentional and strategic.
You want your team members to work in high gear no matter where their chairs are located. To make that happen, here are three workplace tools I recommend implementing and how to choose the right ones for your business.
1. Project Management Software
Let’s begin with the digital workhorse for team collaboration: project management software. Arguably, the concept of project management has been around for nearly a million years. Dinner was a project requiring someone to make a weapon, someone to go out and hunt, and someone to keep the fire burning and cook whatever was killed. A lot has changed since then. Even the Gantt chart has gone digital.
Before teams started working remotely with regularity, project management software was a must for planning, establishing timelines, assigning tasks, managing resources, addressing issues and monitoring task completion. Now, artificial intelligence can take project management to the next level by automating task handoffs, providing predictive analyses, interpreting data and moving resources where they need to be. For example, task automation software can automatically assign tasks and move statuses, and machine learning tools allow businesses to conduct predictive analyses and interpret data.
There are tons of project management tools out there, so finding one that best meets your needs is eminently doable. Company size and number of users, budget, agility, compatibility with existing platforms and portability are a few of the factors you should consider. The one settled thing for me is that no team or team leader should be functioning without one.
2. Company Knowledge-Sharing Platforms
Does your company have an internal wiki? It’s the place any employee can go and get answers to their questions. If you still think some human in your company is fulfilling that role, think again.
The same features that make your website chatbot completely accessible and highly effective, such as AI and machine learning, are valuable capabilities for teams as well. Company knowledge-sharing platforms should be an ever-evolving source of information about everything from remote work and leave policies to how to use the break room espresso machine. Make sure you choose a platform that allows employees to access information, FAQs, videos and photos and get their questions answered from the office, at home or on their mobile devices.
When it comes to knowledge-sharing platforms, the key thing leaders should remember is that whichever platform they decide to implement for their team, they should ensure that this platform offers the option to collaborate with others easily. This means it should be a platform that allows any of the users within a team’s workspace to log and quickly access the information they need to find. For example, does the platform allow users to create their own logins so they can all view the same knowledge base at the same time? When one user updates information, will all users be able to see the changes in real time? If so, team members will know who to communicate with if they have questions about a recent update.
Don’t confuse knowledge-sharing platforms with an outdated knowledge base. AI-powered platforms are intuitive, interactive, searchable and self-updating. The latter is just a spot on the company server where documents linger until their contents become obsolete.
3. Direct-Messaging Platforms
Today’s remote and hybrid work arrangements can only be successful if teams can still communicate easily and effectively. It’s hard to believe that any company would be operating without a direct-messaging platform at this point. But are you using the best one for your team?
A direct-messaging platform can be the glue that holds your team together. You don’t have to use Slack; there are many other options to choose from. Look for a tool that allows both general and specialized channels to facilitate both team-wide communication and more targeted information sharing so you don’t waste your team members’ time.
Whatever platform you select, make sure everyone can use it and, even more importantly, that everyone actually is using it. Team members who are not a part of the conversation may be struggling, and their absence is a sign that you should check in. The purpose of the platform should be to engage everyone in team collaboration, no matter who and where they are.
All About Connection
The tools your company used before the onset of the pandemic may lack the utility necessary for team collaboration and productivity today. All signs indicate that the new ways of working aren’t going away. So if you haven’t assembled a synergistic set of digital tools that keep your team engaged, get started. Fill your team’s toolbox with these essential implements and just see how they get to work.
