Ask The Expert: Eileen O’Loughlin on Collaboration Tools

 

My irregular Ask The Expert feature is back! In today’s interview I talk to Eileen O’Loughlin, market research associate at Software Advice, about trends in collaboration tech, building a business case for investment and more. We started by talking about the nature of the teams that use these tools.

Eileen, what sort of teams work remotely?

All sorts of teams can work remotely. Advances in communication and collaboration software help facilitate a standardized work environment for employees across industries whether they’re in or outside the office.

In fact, a report by WorldatWork found that in 2015, 80% of North American companies offered telecommuting and flexible work arrangements as a competitive benefit.

That being said, we see a high number of remote workers in more tech-centric industries, such as IT services (and related software and technology fields) as well as marketing and advertising. These fast-paced industries use project management software to help structure their workflows and increase communication and collaboration among employees.

In your experience, what does remote collaboration look like? Do you always need software to do it?

Although teams don’t require specialized collaboration software (after all, as our analysis has shown, email remains one of top go-to communication tools used by remote teams), collaboration software has capabilities not available in other methods that benefit the user tremendously.

Take a marketing team, for example. Using a collaboration tool with content management functionality, teams can upload and store documents in a centralized location, share files, track changes—even edit the same document in real-time.

That same team trying to collaborate over email faces version control issues, productivity loss due to a lag between responses, not to mention the potential for error and miscommunication over long email threads.

Yes, I can see that being the case. How can you justify the cost of adding new software into your business when it's hard to measure the ROI?

The business case for investing in a collaboration platform can be made easily. Studies have shown that on average, less than 40 percent of an employee’s time is spent on work-related tasks. The rest of their workweek is spent coordinating and communicating with team members. As such, a platform that helps streamline this process can increase worker productivity and provide sufficient ROI.

Wow, that’s really interesting! Any other tips for helping build a case?

Collaboration software helps centralize a team’s communication and collaboration efforts. Managers can create schedules, assign tasks to workers and track the time it takes each worker to complete each task. Team members know what is expected of them and when it is due.

Team calendars are a common feature of collaboration software. These tools provide managers with visibility into employee workloads, current and future availability and can even help identify issues before they become problems. For example, managers can set up automatic notifications to alert employees of an impending due date, prior to the deadline being missed.

Are you noticing any trends in remote collaboration and the growth of virtual teams?

One trend that stands out is the shift toward BYOD collaboration. Cloud-based collaboration software can be accessed from any location, on any device with an internet connection. Employees that have a personal mobile device, such as a laptop, iPad or even a smartphone, are already set up to work remotely.

Why do you think BYOD is taking off?

Many employees prefer to use their personal devices, due to familiarity and convenience. With BYOD, organizations have more freedom to invest in a software that connects employees, rather than spending on office hardware.

So where do you think collaboration software is going next? More consolidation in the marketplace or more explosion? And what does that mean for managers?

The mobile workforce is growing at an exponential rate. As such, it’s imperative that remote employees—and the managers of remote employees—are comfortable relying on technology to communicate.

Managers should take steps to ensure that requirements for virtual teams are clearly defined and understood by both parties. For example, if remote workers need to be active in a group chat, or have a one-on-one video call with their manager once a day or once a week. Carefully outlining any rules and regulations helps create trust between management and remote staff.

Thanks, Eileen!

More about my interviewee: Eileen O’Loughlin is a Market Research Associate at Software Advice. She joined the team in 2015 and covers the accounting, project management, legal management and professional services markets.

Eileen received her B.A. in English Writing and Rhetoric from St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX. When she’s not in the office, Eileen enjoys spending time outdoors, visiting with friends and family or reading a good book.