It strikes me as very odd that with web 2.0 web based collaboration tools in an abundance, so many organizations just don’t get the benefits of using a good collaboration tool instead of, or as an addition to their email system. I suppose you can create work flow with email, but it gets a bit unwieldy and takes up so much server space. Plus it is hard to relate to other files and sources. Sure a full Outlook/Exchange set up may give you that and you can develop work flow with windows server and Office.
But if you are a small business how can you justify the expense? And if you are a small business why are you emailing each other anyway? Foster a family feel, get up and talk to each other.
I am working on a project which really could have done with using a good collaboration tool from the outset. If one had been used then the work flow would have been in place and some of the things which have slipped through the cracks would not have. Information would have been kept and updated. A quick look at the overview would have shown the glaring omissions, something you don’t get with email.
People need different things from a collaboration tool, a freelancer may need one which does not interfere with the clients process too much. Somewhere he can forward emails to and create tasks for him to do for that client. Possibly a good CRM is better than a “project tool”. A larger project based firm may require the clients liaison person to interface with the tool they use. Because they have many clients and staff are working on different aspects of each clients project they need to track the work being done easily and show results, hence getting the client involved.
Things to look for in a web based tool, or a client/server one:
Audit and version capability;
Ease of use for clients, keep that learning curve down;
Adjustable work flow;
Status notification, who owns what, where and when;
Time tracking; My current tool of choice has great timing capability but I generally don’t use it as not all tasks are in front of the computer;
Customizable reports, it is good to show how much time you are spending on different things. You can highlight bottlenecks.
Ease of collaboration, does it have a chat feature? forum and document collaboration capability.
Can you communicate with your entire team from there, using email for external communications? if you can it will save you a bundle of time.
Over the next few weeks I am going to look at a few of my preferred solutions. Not so much a review as an overview and my personal opinion.
