In this age of remote and virtual workplaces, online collaboration tools like web meeting apps have become the need of the hour for most companies out there. Back in the first half of 2020, the occurrence of the coronavirus pandemic not only brought about unimaginable disruption and large-scale loss of human life but also brought the daily operations of countless offices to a screeching halt. It was then that these companies resorted to the refuge of virtual communication and documentation platforms so that they could at least resume work remotely.
Need For Online Collaboration Tools
What started as a means of adaptation gradually started to garner more and more gravity. As the situation of the world continued to worsen by the day we could see this happening. Gradually, we have now reached a point where small-scale and multi-national companies across the globe have no other option but to normalize the concept of remote workplaces for their employees.
The normalization of WFH (work-from-home) allows companies to prioritize both the health of their employees as well as their business activities. It has its fair share of challenges. After all, getting everyone on the same page when you are managing teams that are located in different corners of the world is no child’s play. This is where online collaboration tools and Web Meeting Apps come into the picture.
Advantages of Online Collaboration Tools
At the outset, online team collaboration toolsare software that helps businesses manage their workflows immediately. Their bevy of unique features makes them a valuable tool for any business for they empower teams to execute projects, achieve unmatched collaboration, optimize resources, and promote transparency. Some of the other advantages of virtual meeting solutions are:
- They provide team members with the necessary tools and resources needed to work with their colleagues from any location. The online collaboration tools contribute a great deal towards increasing the overall productivity by drastically cutting down on downtime.
- Team collaboration tools ensure that all the communication takes place over a single secure, and online platform. Besides eliminating redundancy, this greatly enhances the efficiency of your employees.
- In comparison to other traditional methods, online collaboration tools are highly accessible and cost-effective.
- They help you broaden the scope of the people that your organization collaborates with. This allows you to get in touch with a greater number of potential investors and stakeholders.
- Most online collaboration tools and platforms have watertight security measures in place that ensures that the data of their users is protected at all times
How To Pick The Best Online Collaboration Tool For Your Team?
Employers and Project Managers are encouraged to take the following parameters into account before they settle on a web meeting app and collaboration tools for their online workforce.
- Purpose of The Tool: Before you consider a tool, you must first ask yourself about the purpose that it is going to serve within your organization. This is because there exists no one-shoe-fits-all tool in the market. Some are designed to keep creative teams in mind. Others are more conducive for teams that prefer sticking to an automated and structured workflow.The best way to go about this is to list out your fundamental requirements in chronological order of their priority. Select a tool that you’re reviewing is successful in fulfilling all the critical criteria.
- Size of The Team: The size of your team is another important factor that you need to take into account before picking an online collaboration tool.The number of people that are going to use the software as well as their geographic distribution are crucial parameters. Project managers must consider this before investing in a tool.
- Relevance To The Workflow: The tool that you pick should ideally meet two objectives- it should improve the productivity and efficiency of the team, and it should complement the functionality of the remaining tools in the system as well.Picking a tool that fails to gel well with other tools does more harm than good. A tool must do well on its own and also gel well with other tools.
- Ease of Implementation: No tool is good enough if it is challenging to implement and fails to provide the necessary tech support to its users.Additionally, you should also check whether the tool you’re opting for is hosted online. Check if it would require you to maintain its supporting infrastructure on your own.
- Cost: The most expensive tools in the market are those that contain the maximum number of features- there’s no denying that. However, that shouldn’t necessarily influence your decision.You should always select a tool on the basis of your requirements. You must not select a tool on the basis of the offerings of the tool in question. If the functions of the tool don’t align with your needs, you should skip that. Instead pick one that promises to give you the highest return on your investment.
Make Your Meetings Count With Decisions
Amongst the Best Online Meeting Applications out there, Decisions is a Microsoft-awarded solution that powers meeting collaboration, engagement, and productivity for users of Microsoft Teams and 365. It gives you the freedom of creating a solid meeting foundation with an agenda builder directly inside Teams itself. The app
also lets participants prepare for the meeting. It syncs their tasks and decisions directly from the minutes to Microsoft planner. You can use the task management tool of their choice.
If you’re a business you will need to attend online meetings from a web app. We suggest you try decisions for only $9.90, and this is for the whole month. Sounds good doesn’t it. Make your meetings truly professional and make them count every time you conduct them. Decisions is a preferred application. It is used by many company in the US, the UK and many other countries across the globe. The app allows you several features and keeps itself updated. The app helps you to ensure your meetings do not look like they are being conducted in an outdated application. You have the option to present the meeting, share files and the sound quality is sure to be extremely clear. Try the application today!