A company is only as successful as the people who work in it. When every department in a company - from product development and marketing to supply chain and customer support - works together to solve a customer's problem and deliver an extraordinary experience, that's when success happens.

On the other hand, success doesn't come easily. Every day there's a new fire to put out. A new challenge to take up, a new competitor to face. The road to success, on the other hand, becomes considerably easier when you have people to help you.

Collaboration and teamwork are two of the most underrated, yet crucial, skills a business can have to succeed. Employees who complement the talents and limitations of others become unstoppable over time.

Although collaboration can increase productivity in the workplace, encourage creativity, create a sense of community, instil a strong sense of purpose in employees, improve problem solving, give them a sense of purpose and lead to game-changing innovations and ideas, it is one of the most under-utilised tools in the workplace.

People don't naturally gravitate towards a culture of collaboration and open communication.

We all want to work in isolation in our cubicles, with no outside distractions. Employees become increasingly disconnected as an organisation grows in size. So what's the solution? A structure that encourages collaboration in the workplace.

This blog will look at the current working landscape and how businesses can use the technologies available to improve their online communication flows.

But first, let's get one thing clear.

Working from home is not a new phenomenon

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of companies were experimenting with remote working or even fully distributed teams. For example, Wordpress is owned by Automattic Inc, a 100% distributed company since its creation in 2005. This means that everyone works from home, or more precisely, from the place in the world of their choice, and the company has been very successful in this area.

Other companies have experimented with a mixed approach, allowing employees to work from home on an occasional basis (up to 30%, according to a Gartner survey). According to a Gallup study, remote working was a coveted benefit for 54% of office workers who were prepared to change jobs simply to work from home.

As a result, change had already begun in recent years - albeit slowly. And if it hadn't been for the confinements and travel restrictions imposed at the start of the year, it's unlikely that some businesses or sectors would have changed so quickly.

According to Slack's analysis, 45% of knowledge workers surveyed said they now work remotely, with 66% of them having done so as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, and 27% working from home "on a regular basis".

The figures vary according to sector and region. However, there has been a clear increase in remote working, as well as in the use of team communication platforms and online collaboration tools.

What is an online collaboration tool?

Online collaboration tools are all types of applications that your team can use to work together more effectively. They include, but are not limited to, the following

• cloud-hosted intranet applications

• Project/task management software

• Instant messaging applications

• Team collaboration applications that enable real-time collaboration

• online video and audio conferencing platforms.

Over the last decade, these tools have become increasingly essential for businesses. However, they have also become a decisive asset for companies moving towards remote working.

According to a recent Forbes survey, remote working is set to double by 2021, far from returning to pre-pandemic levels. To succeed in this transformation, businesses will need the ideal team collaboration platform.

Obstacles to collaboration in the workplace

There are many obstacles that can hamper an organisation's efforts to achieve collaboration in the workplace. Here are just a few examples:

1. Lack of support from management

In an organisation, behaviour starts at the top. Employees are unlikely to do their bit to encourage collaboration if their leaders or bosses are unaware of the benefits of collaboration in the workplace or don't play by the rules themselves.

2. No communication

Any excellent project collaboration strategy starts with communication. When teams fail to meet their productivity targets, it's more likely that a communication problem is to blame.

And how do most teams communicate? Here are some of the traditional collaboration tools:

• electronic mail

• Spreadsheets

• Audio and video conferences

While these tools are still useful in the right circumstances, they are often insufficient to meet the needs of teams working on huge projects in the age of digital transformation. Modern teams need to be responsive and adaptable in a fast-paced working environment, and to do this they need collaboration software that facilitates communication. What's more, project managers need to be able to assess progress, detect bottlenecks and manage opportunities and outcomes with ease.

It's no surprise that, according to a study by Mail Manager, email is a huge time waster compared to online collaboration tools. According to the study, 25% of employees spend the equivalent of a working day each week monitoring their inbox. More than half (55%) of those surveyed said they were frustrated by not finding the right documents in their inbox, which made them feel like they were wasting time (63%), being less productive (48%) or losing track of project information (52%).

All this has a significant impact on the time available to devote to more vital tasks - and that's before you consider that emails are ineffective for managing work, monitoring progress and sharing crucial documents with team members. To make matters worse, the more emails a team sends and receives, the more likely they are to miss vital updates because their inbox is bursting at the seams.

3. The distributed teams

Teams can now work from anywhere in the world. This means you can hire talented people from all over the world and run your business 24 hours a day. However, this has brought new challenges for businesses.

Due to the inability to sit down and communicate face-to-face, a fractured team effort can develop. In addition, access to information (documents, media and other essential materials) can be a challenge, particularly if your business is still paper-based.

Why is having several tools a problem?

Are new technologies the answer if traditional tools aren't helping teams to keep pace with today's professional landscape?

In the age of digital transformation, organisations have the power of technology at their fingertips. There are an endless number of resources available to enable effective project collaboration, including cloud-based document management platforms, communication tools and productivity applications.

Why do so many teams struggle to function effectively when there are so many technological options available? One reason is the variety of tools that teams use to help them get the job done.

Using many tools in a project adds extra complexity, which is one of the reasons why teams are not as productive as they could be. In addition, the use of many tools can stifle productivity and sabotage the planning process. When it comes to distributed and cross-functional teams, it's important to keep things as simple as possible.

Advantages of using an online collaboration tool

Today, online collaboration tools are attracting a great deal of interest from businesses because of their undeniable advantages:

• Collaboration tools can reduce the volume of e-mails by up to 30% and increase document drafting time by up to 33% for team members.

• 97% of companies using collaboration software say they have improved their service levels.

• Social collaboration has improved team efficiency and productivity by 20%.

Anecdotally, this is what users say:

• The exchange of information is clear when using online collaboration tools.

• Communications, files and progress updates are all centralised and archived.

• Communication errors are avoided and everyone has access to the files, so everyone knows who said what and when.

• File transfers and team feedback have become more efficient.

• Managers benefit from greater transparency on the progress of projects and tasks.

• Online collaboration tools open up a wider network of expertise.

Employees are also concerned about collaboration in the workspace. They want to do work that contributes to the company's bottom line while feeling part of something bigger than themselves. Take a look at the following statistics on collaboration to understand why employees are so interested in collaboration in the workplace:

• Around 75% of employers consider teamwork and collaboration to be "extremely important".

• 33% of millennials want collaborative workspaces.

• A strong sense of community (wonderful colleagues, celebrating milestones, a common goal), according to 54% of employees, kept them at a company longer than was in their best interests.

• 99.1% prefer to work in an environment where employees are able to identify and discuss difficulties openly and effectively.

• Employee morale is most affected by a lack of open and honest communication, according to 33% of employees.

• Working with a fantastic team is cited by 37% of employees as the main reason for staying.

• Staff turnover is 50% lower in companies with excellent communication.

How do you choose the right collaboration software?

A solution that extends the communication channel is essential, but you also want a solution that reduces the time spent on emails and meetings so that your team members can work as efficiently as possible. When looking for collaboration software for your business, there are a few crucial things to consider:

1. Task management

• A high-level roadmap highlighting the project's long-term objectives.

• The ability to obtain a complete picture of all work assignments and commitments for all projects.

• A Kanban board and/or Gantt chart as a visual representation of the workflow.

2. File sharing and management

• Access to files on all devices (desktop, mobile and tablet).

• The ability to share documents with all project participants, even external collaborators from outside your company.

• A high-level security standard to protect your vital documents against data breaches.

• Individual and/or team access permissions and restrictions.

3. Team communication

• Filtering and search options to locate a specific topic, conversation or contributor.

• Tagging function to ensure that when you ask a question or give information, the right person sees your message.

• The opportunity to collaborate with everyone involved in your project, including external team members - regardless of function or background.

4. Real-time collaboration

• A good workplace collaboration platform requires real-time collaboration.

• Team members will be able to work together at the same time, brainstorming ideas, developing and finding better ways of solving problems using their collective knowledge and wisdom.

5.Evolutionary

• A good collaboration platform needs to be able to keep up with your expansion and the increased volume of content that comes with it.

• It must be adaptable enough to grow with your business as it expands, allowing for the arrival of new employees and, consequently, more content.

6. Flexible authorisations

• Although a workflow collaboration tool should be used by the whole company, there may be sensitive documents for which you want to restrict user access and permissions (for example, by making certain information 'visible only').

• A collaboration solution must allow managers to define user roles and authorisation levels that are adapted to the structure of your company. Password protection, file access, document version control and management, and other data security functions are essential...

These are some of the key features to look for when implementing a workplace collaboration platform in your business. We're sure you're wondering if there's a tool out there that has all the above features. That's exactly where we come in!

The online collaboration tool your business needs

Twake is the optimal solution for your task management, team collaboration, file sharing and real-time communication needs. Built to interface with multiple tools such as Zapier, OnlyOffice, n8n and many others, Twake integrates a variety of task management, file sharing and communication tools with a simple and intuitive interface.

Twake's features help you to :

• Assign and manage tasks.

• Improving communication within the team.

• Increase transparency by providing an overview of each task.

• Have a high-level overview of the team's schedule and activities.

• Organise tasks and documents to save time.

• Increase productivity through improved file sharing, messaging and audio/video conferencing.

• Get a multi-device solution with global reach.

• Integrate multiple tools into a single platform to boost productivity.

• Reduce your operating costs.

To find out more about Twake, visit https://twake.app

Twake lets you include everyone in a project, whether they're at the other end of the corridor or across the world. Your team members will quickly accept the user-friendly, intuitive interface.

In today's business environment, the desire for faster delivery is stronger than ever. Consumer preferences are changing rapidly, and businesses that want to stay ahead of the competition need to be flexible enough to evolve with them. Collaboration software that enables all team members to stay in touch, whether they are dispersed, co-located or off-site, can help businesses struggling to keep pace with a rapidly changing market to remove barriers to productivity and improve productivity.