Online, cloud-based platforms for collaborative project work offer businesses fantastic new ways to work together, interact and communicate. These innovative tools for project management and teamwork are able to revolutionise how people understand their workplace, keeping operations slick, up-to-date and adaptable.
At the heart of it all is how a business’s online platform is conducive to effective communication throughout the collaborative process. And in the contemporary business environment, that means the ways in which an organisation and its partners share knowledge, resources, documents and ideas. File sharing.
But in order for a business operation to properly achieve its potential, it needs the right kind of customisable tools in place, so that it can exchange information and file share effectively and efficiently, with an understanding of what the possibilities are.
Key features of the best online file-sharing services
SHAREABLE AND ACCESSIBLE
The best online platforms for file sharing and teamwork offer a single location where all that information can be placed and located, in a user-friendly format that is inclusive to all members of the team.
Ideally, your file-sharing suite of tools and apps will provide a customisableworkspace, which offers far greater efficiency than email. With email, crucial information can get lost in a chain of exchanges, people invariably get detached from the conversation in error, or are unable to keep up with events.
But with the best workspaces, members of the team have user-friendly access to documents, discussions, comments and progress. Online whiteboards are another very useful feature for teams that allow for easily glance-able information, suitable for posting links and imagery, all accessible from a variety of devices.
VERSION CONTROL, DOCUMENT APPROVAL
An essential feature of an effectively-composed workspace where numerous documents are presented, viewed and handled is version control. Team members need confidence in the accuracy of the information that they access, and the best platforms offer automatic document management so that each document version is visible, from original to latest.
Also, you should look out for a straightforward mechanism for document approval, so that collaborators can quickly demonstrate that they have viewed a document and express whether it is accepted or not with the facility to comment and provide feedback.
SURE AND SECURE
One of the major areas of concern for a company considering cloud technology as a means of improving its collaborative interaction and processes is sensitive information and documentation. Businesses need to be sure that their service provider is reputable, established, and that it partners with a secure centre for data hosting.
Furthermore, remote access to information is a key characteristic to contemporary collaborative work, so that access must also be secure and allowable within a permission-based environment.
Additionally, easy access to users’ activity will be available on the best file-sharing platforms, with a feature that provides for reporting and auditing that displays how individuals, groups or activities have developed over the course of a project cycle.
HELP AND SUPPORT
Finally, the providers of your online platform should offer great all-round support, which includes an online chat, email and telephone service. This is important for both the availability of technical insight when needed, and to help develop an important, lasting relationship with the people providing your organisation with the tools you need to improve its teamwork and file sharing.
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