5 Common Problems In Remote Collaboration And How To Solve Them

The number of organizations implementing remote work and collaboration has increased because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, businesses were free to engage customers in person without worrying about health issues. However, the global health crisis changed everything because of its life-threatening consequences.

Businesses need to adapt to these drastic changes by shifting to digital means of doing business and communicating with leads and customers. While digital technology makes video conferencing possible, allowing you to talk to your employees or colleagues, there are significant challenges associated with remote collaboration.

So, what are these problems and what can you do to solve them? Find out the answer to these common questions regarding remote work below.

1. Connectivity Problems

Many tools have emerged along with the peak use of remote collaboration. Because of the need to master these various tools, users who aren’t tech-savvy may have a hard time navigating and using the tools available, which can hamper productivity and connectivity.

Connectivity isn’t just about internet connection. Business connectivity includes your technical communication systems. Almost every business project needs proper communication and integration between systems. For instance, team members may need to pull out and show real-time data from customer relationship management (CRM) software. Other examples include building a gateway between old and new systems and connecting mobile applications to a content management system (CMS).

When you have a well-connected system, you and your employees can collaborate more efficiently and effectively. So, what’s the solution to connectivity problems?

Solution: Use API

It’s more relevant than ever to embrace digital transformation, especially when it comes to remote collaboration. One of the solutions to improve workplace connection is to build an application programming interface (API). This software intermediary enables applications to communicate with each other.
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Thus, APIs allow businesses to interact with customers and reach new markets.

Specifically, an API for remote collaboration enables you to manage your team, documents, and contracts in one place. Your team can work on a design or project more effectively without facing issues on scaling and security. Here are other ways an API can benefit your business’s remote collaboration strategy:

• Communicate and Monitor Issues: With an API, you can evaluate and communicate issues and share new ideas. An API also serves as your ticketing system to track and resolve issues.
• Standardize Your Workflow: Eliminate the headache of tracking updates from your remote team members across several platforms with an API. Give your employees the independence they need by using an API to standardize workflow and get real-time updates.
• System Integration: With an API integration service, you can improve your connectivity and obtain the most out of your company’s existing tools.

2. File And Content Management Issues

Some of the file and content management issues associated with remote collaboration include limitations to attachment size in file sharing and the compatibility of software used when team members present files to each other. These problems can affect collaboration because team members can’t receive the right information in a seamless manner. There’s a tendency to use various tools to handle large files, which can cause confusion and extra effort. So, how do you resolve these problems?

Solution: File Sharing For Team Collaboration

Using file sharing for team collaboration can help secure your data, especially when you’re working on a marketing project. A reliable platform will make sending files between different locations a lot easier, faster, and more secure than ever.

Digital Pigeon and other world-leading file transfer services offer accuracy and reliability regardless of the file size or location. These platforms make it easy to send files between offices, cities, or even countries.

These are some of the ways file sharing for team collaboration can help communications and marketing teams:

• Delivering Large Files Without Inbox Clutter

Usually, there are significant limitations to the file sizes of the attachments you can send using corporate email accounts. Fortunately, a file-sharing platform allows you to send, receive, and share large files. In this way, you’ll ensure that your messages get delivered without crowding your inboxes or using up all your storage space.
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• Tracking Every Move

By using a reliable file-sharing platform, you’ll know when your recipients view the files you send, thus eliminating any uncertainty that might affect the workflow in your company. You can send follow-ups to your boss, investors, clients, or an agency with the confidence that they’ve received your message because you get notifications when someone accesses your files.

• Managing Files Seamlessly

You can easily access large files from your remote employees, partner agencies, and other freelancers by using a file-sharing platform powered by cutting-edge technology. This will solve your file management issues because you’ll no longer need any special software to present files to each other. The platform already generates web-ready previews instantly.

3. File Sharing Security Issues

Remote collaboration can pose security issues, especially when sharing files on a less secured platform. Your files may contain sensitive information that you need to store in a secure storage location. However, with remote collaboration, there are risks when team members share files and content over the web.

Especially if you use free tools that store data in the cloud for file sharing, you might expose your data to cybercriminals. A single breach in your system can ruin your business. So, how do you resolve file and content management issues?

Solution: Use A Secure File-Sharing Platform

Look for a file-sharing platform with security features that you can rely on when managing your files. For instance, you can choose a platform that uses a two-fold security system such as a combination of in-house and bank-grade security measures. In this way, you can avoid data leaks to your competitors and the general public.

A good file-sharing platform allows advanced team management. This means that you can add your entire team, office, or department to your account, offering a standard sign-in process for better security.

4. Remote Project Management Issues

Do you have remote workers in various parts of the world? If so, then you need to have a solid plan on how to manage your time and assign tasks effectively.

While you can ask your remote team to adjust their schedule to accommodate yours, it can compromise their productivity, which you wouldn’t want to happen. So, it’s best to have a system in place where your remote workers can access projects and finish them on the specified number of hours or days, depending on your requirements.

Solution: Project Management Software

You need to have a reliable project management software program for your business if you have remote employees. Equipped with these tools, they can check their tasks and assignments in a single place. Use project management software to plan and schedule projects, manage and allocate resources, share relevant company assets, and collaborate and monitor work.

Project management software allows teams to develop projects from an idea or concept to its actual delivery. This program ensures that your projects are completed within the set requirements, budget, and timeframe.

A project management software program promotes better team collaboration with the following features and benefits:

• Use collaboration tools suitable for external, internal, and distributed team members.
• Perform collaborative project planning with the virtual workplace feature.
• Use communication tools like real-time messaging apps to replace email and achieve faster response rates.
• Other communication tools include conversation threads to connect tags, feedback, comments, and attachments.
• You can manage schedules using project calendars that you can share and sync with personal calendars.
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• With deadline reminders and personal task lists, individual team members can keep their commitments.
• Managers can carry out online meetings in the digital workplace.
• Team members can share contacts, contracts, and centralized data.
• Project information and virtual workspace are accessible on all internet-capable devices.

5. Monitoring Problems

Are you having issues with monitoring your remote team? An effective approach to remote access situations that affect workplace productivity is constant monitoring, which applies to your team and business data security. Thus, it’s crucial to have a monitoring system that’s effective, accurate, and reliable.

Solution: Use A Reliable Monitoring Tool

Reliable monitoring tools may include software programs or applications that can provide real-time data on the performance of your business systems.  Here are different ways you can monitor your remote staff to improve collaboration:

• Check The Quality Of Their Output

You don’t need to have 24/7 online surveillance for your remote employees. You can check the quality of their output instead. Find out if they produce excellent quality output or not and use this information to evaluate their performance.

• Track Timesheets

Tracking timesheets is important to determine the performance and salary of your remote employees. You can ask your staff to record their daily work-related tasks and compare them with their output. You can set targets by creating daily, weekly, or monthly goals that your remote employees should work towards.

Time management practices can make or break a business. So, make sure that your employees’ timesheets are updated. If your remote employees need to have some days off or take a sick or vacation leave, they should be able to set these schedules using good time management software.

• Create A Policy

If you decide to monitor your remote staff, it’s important to be open with them and create a policy that everyone agrees with and should follow. The policy may include rules on data or file sharing, collecting customers’ information, and time frames to access the system. In this way, you can protect your data and ensure safe and secure remote collaboration activities.

Transitioning to and implementing remote collaboration may raise issues with the technical and human aspects of your business operations, including connectivity issues and loss of focus and productivity in a work-from-home setup. There could be gaps in the communication between team members because of distance problems and varying workplace conditions.

However, you can solve these problems by using the right tools and strategies. It’s important to also evaluate the preparedness, needs, qualities, and values of your employees to make remote collaboration a success.