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6 Things You Need To Collaborate Intelligently
Many employees need to be able to work away from the office. Travelling clients and partners in other offices and home-based sub contractors are often part of the picture. By turning to the Internet to connect these teams, companies can increase productivity, reduce costs and improve communications. Here are six important collaboration tools that can help your business.
Shared Calendar Systems
It's easy to underestimate the value of Outlook's shared calendar system when working at a distance. By bringing schedules online, workers can set up meetings by going to their virtual workrooms and reviewing attendees' availability. Without this function, they would have to contact all meeting members directly and then juggle schedules until they locate a free spot. This not only wastes valuable time but can also rack up unnecessary phone charges.
Shared Contact Databases
Just as valuable as a shared resource is a contact database. By maintaining one common list of addresses, phone numbers and other contact data online, you can be sure team members always have access to the latest contact information. No searching for numbers in stacks of notes or making long distance calls to others when tracking down contact details. A shared database also ensures your company maintains access to important phone numbers when an employee quits or retires.
Centralised Document Storage
Editing and swapping documents directly through an online workroom is more efficient than remote access or email. Setting up these rooms is easy with a tool such as Microsoft Share Point Team Services, which allows team members to establish rooms with the click of a mouse.
Using Microsoft Office in conjunction with Share Point makes document sharing even easier. Workers using common applications like Word and Excel can save documents directly to Share Point rooms.
Announcement Boards
You can automate the process of making announcements by posting them directly to shared virtual workspaces. This reduces the hassle of creating, addressing and sending print or email announcements.
Virtual Conferencing
Real-time interaction with employees can be handled via conferencing software. Use this small business tool instead of face-to-face meetings or phone calls to reduce costs and maximise productive time.
Instant Messaging
Instant messaging allows team members to chat online instead of using the phone. It's especially helpful for employees who need to communicate consistently but who don't want to be trapped on the phone for long periods of time.
Sekhar writes articles for Microsoft India Small Business
Source: www.articletrader.com