The virtual workforce is taking a serious role in business – today, nearly 30 million users are working from home at least 1 day a week. By 2022, the global mobile workforce is set to increase to 1.87 billion people or 42.5% of the global workforce. This is up from 38.8% in 2016.
If you are one of those users who occasionally works from home (or you WANT to be), you will need an online collaboration tool suitable for your company. Online collaboration platforms allow you to share and manage content, knowledge, and applications to empower teamwork, quickly find information, and seamlessly collaborate across the organization.
Are you thinking, “Yup, those are all things that would make my life easier”?
If so, you need to consider integrating Office 365 – this software includes various platforms that allow for simple and seamless sharing within your organization. This article will discuss five ways Office 365 can help reinvent how your business collaborates.
1) Real-Time File Editing
Co-Authoring allows for multiple users to seamlessly edit a document at the same time. Similar to using Google Docs or Google Sheets, these powerful Microsoft SharePoint tools can enhance your team’s productivity by allowing users to make changes to their documents and have the edits synchronized. It is also available through Office 365 Online apps and can even be joined to your iPhone or Android device.
View this video to learn more about SharePoint and how it could help your business.
2) Collaborative Work Space & Conversations
Microsoft Teams is an online collaborative tool offered in Office 365. It is seamlessly integrated and features a chat-based workplace that joins users, information, and conversations. Microsoft Teams allows for conversations to be publicly or privately stored; it also supports threaded chats – allowing for more users to be involved. If you need audio or video conferencing, Skype is a useful webcam application that is integrated with Microsoft Teams.
3) Structure and Secure Your Organization’s Information
Office 365 Groups assist in structuring your organization’s information, letting you choose the team members you wish to collaborate with and easily set up resources to share. Resources such as a shared Outlook inbox, shared calendar or a document library for collaborating on files.
Office 365 Groups automatically gives the elected team the permissions they need to use the resources you provide. Groups also gives you instant access to Office applications from any location, such as Outlook Web Access, OneDrive, OneNote, and more.
4) Share Discussion Topics with Yammer
Yammer is a web-based application included in Office 365. Essentially, it is a social network that is focused entirely on your business. It acts as a useful collaboration tool for teams and organizations to share ideas, ask questions, and gather information.
For example, if you were to receive an email that you believe needs to be discussed by peers in your group, you can forward the email to Yammer to create a thread for group discussion. Yammer includes a mobile application that allows you to take the communication and collaboration wherever you go.
Source: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/say-hello-to-yammer-02ac514e-cf1d-4060-9cde-6038ca812ede
5) Multi-Client Collaboration
Collaboration is not limited to just your organization. With Office 365 you can extend your collaboration to include outside entities who are also using Office 365! You can set certain permissions, so the included entities can only view and edit certain items; this is especially helpful when working with project-based companies who need to view and/or edit their client’s calendar.
Included organizations may:
Create centralized locations for files
Share Calendars
Communicate via email, chat or audio/video calls
Securely access shared resources
Overall, SharePoint Online through Office 365 will assist in creating useful links that promote synergy throughout each organization. If you want to empower your employees, continually collaborate in order to stay on the same page, and discover new information and insights, SharePoint is the right place to start.
For more information, visit https://products.office.com/en-us/sharepoint/collaboration.