Why Real Time Collaboration Matters

Ah, I remember the days of working a 9-5. Using Lotus Notes and network drive files, fighting to update that one important excel sheet before your coworker jumped in. Nothing was better than opening an excel file you had to update for your 5pm meeting at 4:55, only to realize that one of your co-workers was in it and away from their desk. That error notice that popped up saying “Sorry, but someone else is in your sheet, you snooze you lose” was pretty much a daily occurrence.

This is just one of the reasons I love Google for Work. Not only does Google Sheets allow multiple users to view at once, but you all can edit at the same time! Google automatically saves every update, so no more worrying about forgetting to hit save. Another great aspect about Google for Work is that in Google Docs, it allows people to make suggestions instead of actual edits. These suggestions are suggested revisions that you want the owner to see, but give them the option to either approve or reject. Using this feature, you can allow your voice to be heard without drastically changing documents that someone else owns. When you are in a document with someone else, you can actually see their edits as they make them. It looks something like this:

Everyone in the document has a color under their initials so you can see who is updating exactly which part of the document.

Using these collaboration tools, as well as hangouts and the Google mobile apps, your co-workers can all work together and know exactly what is going on, no matter where they are.

The importance of this capability is astronomical for any company. According to a June 2015 Forrester study, Google’s real time collaboration across their apps allows employees to save 2 hours a week, equating to 13 working days a year. These 2 hours, we frivolously waste, come from situations like I mentioned above, or having to wait to get a completed report from someone that may be away from a computer and cannot update their numbers etc… With real time collaboration you are saving time (which is extremely precious) as well as money. Now your employees can focus on their actual work, working efficiently and increasing their overall productivity. In the long term, this winds up saving companies money on projects that may otherwise have been extended.  The same Forrester study showed that companies who switched to Google Apps had an average ROI of 304%!!

At Wursta, we are more than happy to go over even more benefits for your particular business needs, so contact us today!