When project managing a distributed team in a variety of locations, a collaboration software (or project management) tool is an effective way to keep everyone on the same page and all of your project information in one place. However, using a great tool doesn’t magically make collaboration happen. Here are 10 best practices when using a collaboration software tool:
- Share proactively - Assign team members to the tasks they need to be aware of and @mention them in the comments, so they receive alerts when the ball is in their court.
- Put every project into your collaboration project management tool - Use your tool as a single source of all project-related materials and notes. This will make the material easy to find for everyone, no matter when they joined the project.
- Create water cooler channels - Creating channels in your communication tools where team members can discuss non-work related topics allows them to get to know each other and be social even from afar.
- Celebrate small wins - Collaboration tools are a great place to share victories, no matter how big or small. Even a short message can go a long way.
- Balance the load - You can’t collaborate well if you’re overloaded with work. Use your tool’s visibility and resource management features to ensure project tasks are balanced among your team members.
