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Virtual collaboration in 2024
The pandemic brought forward the digital transformation, and it’s clear that remote work is here to stay.
Remote workers benefit from a better work-life balance, while companies can cut costs and access a wide talent pool. However, despite those undeniable benefits, virtual collaboration can be challenging. There are also unsubstantiated myths about remote workers that organizations need to nip in the bud.
Leading a remote team requires different efforts from the manager. Read on to find out how to make collaboration with your virtual team more efficient and successful.
1. Collaborate visually
It’s estimated up to 65% of the general population are visual thinkers. We process words as a series of pictures and learn through visual means. So, in order to ensure we are communicating effectively, it’s important to understand the role visual thinking tools play in ideation, workflow and collaboration. A virtual whiteboard makes it easy for everyone to draw, scribble, design, share ideas and edit online.
2. Stay in touch via video
Numerous tools now allow seamless video conferencing with up to 50 people at the same time, so you can benefit from real-time remote collaboration meetings online. Video conferencing allows you to observe body language, hear the tone of voice, and see what people are talking about. Additionally, you can use chat channels to ask quick questions. Conceptboard’s synchronous collaboration features include both video conferencing and on-board messaging.
In case you’re finding it hard to engage remote participants, read our comprehensive guide to remote meetings.
Start collaborating in minutes with Conceptboard!
3. Centralize your content in one place
A visual collaboration tool like Conceptboard is your one-stop solution to centralizing team communications, brainstorming, and collaborating in real-time. You can store all your documents, collaborate centrally, and share internal documents with ease, without the need for app switching.
We’ve also created a comprehensive list of free remote tools you can use in your workflow today.
Create boards like this with a free Conceptboard account!
4. Centralize feedback and move away from email
No more needless email attachments. Move your projects onto Conceptboard and centralize feedback, streamline the editing process and speed up approvals. Not only will it free up your email inbox, but it also creates a culture of transparency and eliminates double handling.
5. Break the ice
Casual communication is important for any team, especially for distributed ones. The best way to foster such conversations in remote teams is to create an internal communication channel, or set up a virtual water cooler time. These are places where people can chat about anything, such as their hobbies or families, plus celebrate personal events like birthdays.
You might also give virtual ice-breakers a try to inject some fun into your virtual meetings.
6. Share boards in a click
Easily share boards with both external and internal collaborators in one click. You have the option to selecting various access levels, depending on who you are sharing the board with.
This feature makes remote client presentations a breeze. When you need project approval, simply toggle the access level to invite collaborators to share their feedback.
7. Break down silos
Break down silos by getting all stakeholders and departments on the same page.
All project information should be laid out in a shared dedicated board, so everyone can access it. This makes information sharing between employees simpler. It also means everyone understands their own roles and responsibilities, but also their colleagues.
A visual, collaborative template like the team charter template can help create team bonds and promote project alignment.
Another great way to foster trust and transparency is by conducting daily standup meetings. Although this is primarily used by Agile teams, the template can be adapted for any weekly meetings.
8. Keep track of time
Keep track of time with our new timer feature. Set the time for brainstorming sessions, presentations, or team meetings to ensure everyone stays on schedule. Especially in remote teams spread across various time zones, it’s important to respect everyone’s time.
9. Live cursors
Live cursors are the tool you didn’t know you needed! When working on a collaborative document, or during a workshop, everyone’s movements are easily identifiable via their individual cursor.
This feature helps track engagement during meetings. If someone isn’t following along, their cursor will be left behind and you might need to give them a friendly nudge. When you need to clear the screen, simply toggle live cursors off.
10. Manage data privacy
Protect your data and your employee’s privacy by ensuring your virtual collaboration tools are GDPR-compliant. A big focus for us here at Conceptboard has always been privacy and security. Conceptboard Enterprise servers are hosted as a dedicated instance in Amazon data centers. We offer you the additional flexibility of selecting the data center and region of your choice.
If your company has strict GDPR regulations in place that completely prohibit the use of any 3rd party integration that resides outside the EU, a team Administrator can toggle off certain integrations within Conceptboard for the entire team from the team settings page.
Virtual collaboration powers remote teams
So, how can remote teams thrive in 2024? It’s all about streamlining your communication, improving your visual collaboration and building connected teams.
For a deep dive into how to jumpstart your virtual collaboration today, read our complete guide to virtual collaboration in 2024.
2 Comments. Leave new
Thank you very much for your advice. Despite the fact that the situation in the world has become easier compared to last year, most of our employees still work remotely in our company. We use google services, but after your article I wanted to try your service.
This is very interesting, very clear about the subject.