By Dipti Parmar
There are some reasons why some businesses stand out and deliver outstanding products and services. Some businesses do start out that way but they will eventually lose it. Others don’t bother and just pivot when faced with excessive competition – like the kind of competitive hustle you’d find in online collaboration software industry. Either way, there are some of those factors that you’d need to consider before choosing your online project collaboration tools. Here are some of those:
Continuity in Excellence
Here’s a trend in business: startups make a splash, create hype, sell products, provide customer service, and eventually the gusto diminishes. Some companies grow visibly resistant to change and some others fizzle out and die.
One of the factors while looking for reliable online collaboration tools is continuity of excellence. You’d need products that have been around for a while and developed massive social proof. Some companies such as Basecamp, for instance, did develop a great product but the “excellent” part is fading quickly. Basecamp is no longer as good as it used to be. Its competition beats it hands down and is more affordable. It’s only a matter of time when customer migrations will begin.
Tools that emerge from grueling testing periods
Most businesses start with gusto but usually lose the momentum after a while. Sometimes, it’s nice to a late adopter when it comes to a highly competitive industry that online collaboration software belongs to. You get to ride out the period that usually sees iterations, bugs, and numerous fixes.
Thankfully, the industry already rode out that period and most instances of online collaboration tools you have today are out of “beta” already. It’s easier to pick from the pool of web-based collaboration tools available now than ever. Yet, you’d want to choose tools that emerged after massive user acceptance.
The feature set you are looking for
It’s easy to get sidetracked; social proof can influence your decisions; buzz and hype around some products can befuddle your decision-making. It’s far too common for companies and individuals to get carried away by all the social conversations around a particular product or service. Online collaboration tools get a lot of conversations going.
For you, as a business, it’s smarter to start with the feature set you need and then look for online collaboration software or tools such as WorkZone that serve this feature set. For instance, you’d be out looking for alternatives for Basecamp, if you bill your clients for hourly work since Basecamp doesn’t have time tracking features. You wanted simplicity and ease of use; SharePoint is the last product you’d be looking at.
User Preferences determine efficiency at work
Some companies (and hence teams) work better with traditional project listing type. Others work better with lists. Some projects progress better when there are Gantt Charts to support this progress. Many companies need responsive designs and the ability of online collaboration software to extend use on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. When trying to determine the online collaboration tools for your business, pay special attention to user preferences. Brainstorm with your team and find out what kind of project management software works best for your business.
You’d want minimal resistance to user adoption while you have the features you need for better project management.
What do you look for before you go hunting for online collaboration tools? What are your factors to determine the tools of your choice? Have we missed out on any of the important factors that you ought to take into consideration before choosing project management tools? Please share your views with us below.
Dipti Parmar, a digital marketing wiz is associated with E2M Solutions. She’s been journeying through the world of digital marketing for 6 years and is a blogger and networker. She’s also a movie buff and loves taking long walks by the seashore. She is @dipTparmar on Twitter.
