Over the next few posts, I will share a few of my favorite tools for collaboration in a virtual environment. Helping to promote collaboration in your organization is hard enough in person. When you add the dynamics and challenges of doing it in a virtual environment, it sometimes seems nearly impossible. The good news is that you can foster collaboration within a remote team with the proper training and support.
The first tool that I want to feature is Google Docs. Many students know the power of this tool for collaboration because it is free and easy to use. An often overlooked application, Google Docs can empower a team and foster collaboration. During a video or conference call, multiple people can view and edit a Google Docs file simultaneously. With Google Docs, everyone working on a project can make changes to the same master document. The work saves almost immediately, and team members can brainstorm or work on a shared proposal in real-time.
Reasons I love it:
- It’s free.
- It is intuitive to use.
- All changes are viewable in real-time.
- Changes and adjustments are traceable to the contributing user.
- The file is in a shared location and accessible later for continuing the collaborative work or reference.
Want to know more? Reach out to me, Meghan Scheidel, and find out how Empowered Development Consulting can help you.