When I was taking some of the upper level engineering courses back in my college days, I remember swapping files back and forth via USB. I remember those horrible times of having 18 different versions of every Excel spreadsheet, Microsoft Project file, and Word document from start to finish of the project. You want to talk about a frustrating and annoying?
Working together, together as well as afar, is key to business success.
Let’s not even talk about the hundreds of emails that went back and forth and were impossible to trace to any type of useful answer. Fortunately, things have changed and now you can get more done and make everything you do count when you use virtual teams technology to work together more effectively. Here are three of these technologies you should consider using today.
1. Web Applications
If you’re not using forums, blogs, or online databases to keep track and share your information, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage. Sure, we’ve come a long way since the newsgroups and the chat rooms, but even those were a step in the right direction.
Putting all this information at places that are accessible from anywhere with an internet connection is a way to make this information be up-to-date and always available to everyone on your team. This method of collaboration is great for productivity and cooperation.
2. Smartphone Applications
This didn’t exist ten to 15 years ago. People didn’t have mega computers in their pockets. They didn’t have the ability to open up their Evernote or their Trello and actually collaboratively work with everyone on their team from their phones. My mind is blown at the way technology has grown.
Someone can literally take a file from my Dropbox account, update it, put it back in there, and I’ll be able to see the change on my phone immediately. This is an amazing advancement for all types of output for your project. And hey, you get so say you’re finally using “the cloud” to get stuff done.
3. Desktop Computer Applications
Speaking of Dropbox, when someone makes that kind of change, I’ll even get a little notification in the corner of my PC computer task bar when a file has changed. I don’t even need to worry about different revisions going back and forth because everything is there and available.
What about other tools? You have Microsoft project. You have very fancy Excel spreadsheets. You have Dropbox. You have mind mapping tools and you have all types of collaborative programs that are available for Mac and PC to help your team work better together. A lot of times these programs are web enabled so that you can still be working on the most updated files and sharing them with the rest of your team.
Use Technology to Boost Your Team
The ultimate level of proficiency and effective teamwork comes with a greater understanding of the virtual teams technology you have available today. Using the web applications, the smart phone applications, and the desktop computer applications available to you will be your biggest step up when it comes to getting good results out of your team efforts. Check out the resources and tools page that I have available here for some other secret goodies that can change the way you do everything that you do.