Teamwork makes the dream work! I’m sure you’ve heard it before—but it really holds true. Effective collaboration is an essential component of the successful teamwork required to reach your company’s goals. However, effective collaboration isn’t always easily achieved. Virtual project management software can increase collaboration and bring teams together in a virtual office.
Geographic Dispersion of Teams
As business becomes increasingly global, it is not surprising that teams working for global companies are experiencing the effects of this trend, first hand. Teams are becoming increasingly geographically dispersed, working across cities, countries, and even continents. In fact, we’ve found that 28% of teams work with geographically dispersed colleagues. Communicating and collaborating with colleagues in your physical office can be difficult, so imagine the inefficiencies experienced with virtual and geographically dispersed colleagues. Teams often experience decreased visibility of goals, difficulty executing tasks, and a decreased level of productivity. You face challenges that go beyond regular in-office collaboration. As a manager or member of a virtual and dispersed team, how do you:
- Maintain visibility into all ongoing programs and activities?
- Provide access to shared files?
- Keep team members engaged, motivated, and updated?
Luckily, there are ways to connect team members, no matter where they are in the world, to get more work done. Create a virtual office and leverage virtual project management.
How to Create a Virtual Office
In the whitepaper: How to Create a Virtual Office, we’ve compiled tips on how to foster a collaborative work environment for your team. Highlights from the piece include:
- Staying connected wherever you go
- Digitizing your plans and teamwork
- Making better decisions with dashboards and reports
- What to look for in a virtual office
In creating a virtual office, you and your team can leverage the power of features such as Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and file sharing, just to name a few. Features like these make the challenges of communication and collaboration among dispersed teams seem small. Download the whitepaper to see how a virtual office can bring your employees together and help facilitate effective collaboration.
I’d like to hear from you. How do you maintain communication on projects with geographically dispersed teams? Share your best practices by leaving a comment below.
Content Contributor: Maura Melis