The Benefits of Team Collaboration

When working on product deve­lo­p­ment, one of the most powerful tools at the hand of deve­lo­pers is team colla­bo­ra­tion. Working in teams, as opposed to working indi­vi­du­ally, enables the deve­lo­pers to take advan­tage of the indi­vi­dual strengths of each team colla­bo­rator as well as their combined strengths.

Who Benefits from Team Collaboration?

The easy answer is “ever­yone”. From the indi­vi­dual team members, to the manu­fac­turer of a product, to the end user of a product, there is no one in the chain who doesn’t benefit. Teams benefit from colla­bo­ra­ting because it takes the stress off of the indi­vi­duals involved and allows for more consis­tent and effec­tive work sessions.

A client waiting for a big project with a rush dead­line will defi­ni­tely benefit from team colla­bo­ra­tion, as it means the project will be done very effi­ci­ently with no change in deli­very time. For most busi­nesses, time is money. And team colla­bo­ra­tion can save the client both time and money, which is the biggest benefit to them. Team colla­bo­ra­tion can even take place despite large distances between team members. Desktop sharing, web confe­ren­cing and online presen­ta­tion soft­ware solu­tions allow team members to work and colla­bo­rate toge­ther in real-time via the Internet. This form of online team colla­bo­ra­tion can drasti­cally save compa­nies time and money.

When is Team Collaboration a Good Practice?

Team colla­bo­ra­tion is a perfect solu­tion for large projects that require the exper­tise of many people and even minimal actions on the part of each expert. When a project has a fast approa­ching dead­line, it is often team colla­bo­ra­ting that makes the project a success, as indi­vi­duals can each take pieces of the project and get them done while others are finis­hing their own specific parts of the project. Using web colla­bo­ra­tion and web confe­ren­cing soft­ware, teams can employ the skills of experts in other states or coun­tries for their project and colla­bo­rate toge­ther online. If remote support or remote access tech­no­lo­gies are utilized team members can colla­bo­rate toge­ther from across borders and oceans and work remo­tely on a common project document.

What are the Requirements of Team Collaboration?

Team colla­bo­ra­tion is an effec­tive prac­tice, however in order for it to be a successful endeavor there are several things that must be present. First, if the team members do not get along or work well toge­ther, the colla­bo­ra­tion might not be as effec­tive as it could be. Second, there has to be a certain amount of avai­la­bi­lity and flexi­bi­lity among team members. Some­times, colla­bo­ra­tion is done remo­tely via remote computer access. If so, then web confe­rence (or webinar), voice confe­ren­cing and online meeting soft­ware can be utilized. A third requi­re­ment for team colla­bo­ra­tion is a good busi­ness soft­ware package that enables the colla­bo­ra­tors to track the project and to submit their portions of the project to all other team members.