Even if you’ve chosen an effective project management methodology and set up task tracking software to manage your workflow, it isn’t a sure thing that project collaboration will happen on its own. Successful project collaboration requires you to get your project team and other stakeholders on the same page, and use the right communication and project management tools to foster a collaborative environment.
Project collaboration can be even trickier if you have a cross-functional team and need to find ways to work together across multiple departments or disciplines, or a remote team spanning multiple locations and time zones.
Here’s what team leaders can do to encourage collaboration on any type of project, and how to use project management collaboration tools to achieve project success.
Project Collaboration vs. Project Management
Project collaboration and project management have some overlap, but the focus is on very different types of productivity. In fact, it’s entirely possible to have effective project management without much or any team collaboration, if the project manager simply delegates tasks to individual team members without encouraging teamwork.
Collaborative project management, on the other hand, tends to involve things like:
- A shared task tracker so team members can have visibility into each other’s responsibilities and overall project progress
- Project collaboration tools like document editors that enable the entire team to share files and work together in real-time
- Clear communication and a shared project plan so team members can make collaborative decisions and benefit from everyone’s skill sets
Effective collaboration involves working together toward shared project goals and milestones rather than working in isolation on individual project tasks.
3 Benefits of Project Collaboration
We all have different communication styles and ways of getting things done, and there’s nothing wrong with self-management if that’s what’s right for your project. But effective team communication and collaboration can provide some of the follow benefits.
Innovation
First, your team may come up with more creative solutions when they combine their ideas. Whether it’s brainstorming a new app or trouble-shooting an existing problem, project collaboration can help you get past roadblocks and eliminate bottlenecks.
Plus, by encouraging cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing, you can knock down the data silos that are holding you back from a successful outcome.
Efficiency
Collaborative task management tools allow for greater team productivity and resource management because you can allocate tasks to team members more efficiently. Stay informed about due dates and deliverables and reassign tasks accordingly.
AI project management software like Anchor AI can even assign tasks and due dates automatically based on what you discuss in your meetings. You’ll spend less time on tedious project management tasks and benefit from efficient task automation.
Motivation
Project collaboration tools can help keep your team engaged and support more effective communication with stakeholders. Working in isolation can lead to feeling overwhelmed or burned out, but regular check-ins can help keep everyone motivated.
Effective collaboration ensures team accountability, and allows for a greater degree of autonomy as team members work toward shared project goals.
Key Challenges of Project Collaboration
The benefits of project collaboration are enormous, but not every project team is set up for collaboration from the start. Here are three common situations that can complicate the path to project collaboration and what team leaders can do about them.
Remote work
If your team is fully remote, or if your company has a remote work policy, it can take more effort to work collaboratively than if you share a workspace. Team members in different time zones may work asynchronously, making it harder to brainstorm new ideas in real-time or turn to a colleague for support.
Remote collaboration tools like virtual meetings can help you overcome some of the challenges of remote work culture — but you may still want to schedule a company retreat or another opportunity for your team to meet face-to-face.
Cross-functional teams
Cross-functional teams consist of team members from multiple departments, each of whom may bring a particular skill set or area of expertise. Team members don’t usually leave their existing teams to join your project, and they may even have different levels of seniority or decision-making authority.
To encourage project collaboration, you’ll need to find a common goal and ensure that team members don’t get burned out from working on too many things at once.
Communication challenges
Project collaboration can be derailed by interpersonal conflict, especially if certain team members have different priorities, or feel like they’re carrying more of the workload. Or, you may struggle to share data across multiple storage systems or spreadsheets.
You can encourage clear communication by taking notes at every meeting, using online collaboration tools like digital whiteboards, and following priority management practices to ensure that the most important things get done first.
Project Collaboration Tools and Software
Once you’ve identified your biggest project collaboration goals and challenges, it’s time to find the right tools to empower your team. Here are just a few examples of the tools you can use to facilitate project collaboration on any type of team.
Remote collaboration tools
Remote collaboration tools aren’t only for remote workers. These tools are just as useful for teams that share a workspace or have a hybrid work model because they allow you to collaborate from anywhere, keep a record of meetings and conversations, and store important files all in one place. Remote collaboration tools include:
- Messaging platforms like Slack
- File sharing software like Dropbox
- Document editing tools like Google Docs
- Video conferencing software like Zoom and Microsoft Teams
Look for tools that offer integrations with each other. For example, you can use Anchor AI to record a Teams meeting and take meeting minutes or notes. Then, send out the notes to your team via Slack or upload them to Dropbox for future reference.
Project management tools
Project management tools include a variety of tools and templates that help you keep track of the big picture and balance your project scope, budget, and timeline. Project management software may include a daily task tracker, but also offer resources for scheduling, budgeting, and project planning, such as:
- Kanban boards to help you group individual tasks by task type or status
- Gantt charts so you can visualize your project timeline and dependencies
- Project roadmaps to help you plan ahead and allocate resources effectively
When you use Anchor AI for project management, you can Ask Max for advice at any stage of the project life cycle, such as “What should we work on next?” or “How many more weeks will it take to reach our next project milestone?”
Task tracking software
In addition to project management tools, you’ll also need task tracking software to help you assign and track tasks on a daily basis. Ideally, your daily task tracker will include built-in time tracking so you can see how much time team members are spending on individual tasks and allocate tasks effectively. Use a task tracker to:
- Assign tasks to individual team members
- Track billable hours or time spent on tasks
- Prioritize the most urgent or important tasks
When you use Anchor AI as your AI task manager, you can add action items to your task tracker automatically, complete with due dates and a task owner based on your meeting notes and other information. Anchor AI can do the hard work for all of your meetings, whether they take place online or off.
Accelerate Project Collaboration With Anchor AI
Project collaboration goes well beyond project management to include the ways that you facilitate teamwork and communicate with your team members. Effective project collaboration means using the right tools and project management strategies to get everyone on the same page and keep them motivated as you move forward.
Use Anchor AI to accelerate project collaboration with our AI-powered note-taking and task management tools. Start by inviting Anchor AI to your next team meeting to take notes and delegate action items for you. Then, Ask Max for deeper insights into your project, such as “How did the meeting go?” or “What should we focus on next?”
Get started today with a free trial to see how it works!