Have you ever sent a document to your project team stakeholders for review only to receive back multiple copies of the same document with various edits and comments? Now you’re left with the laborious task of merging everything back to the original. I’d be willing to bet most of us have been there.
This is just one example of many where inefficient collaboration can result in wasted time, wasted resources and other costly issues down the road. The fact is, information silos and communication barriers are bound to happen throughout a project’s lifecycle—particularly when cross-functional teams are involved.
Do any of these common collaboration woes sound familiar?
- Your team requires multiple follow-up meetings to ask questions, check on status, confirm changes, etc.
- Members of the team are not clear about who has which documents, where they are located or how many people are tasked with reviewing those documents at any given time
- You added requirements later in the process, which caused confusion
- Members of the project team are only reading certain requirements and skipping over the rest
- You’re inundated with emails, saddled with the laborious task of searching your inbox for the latest status or document updates
Fortunately, collaboration challenges are among the most easily remedied in the world of project management—that is, if you have the right tool in place.
Notice, I said, “tool,” not “tools.” Many organizations attempt to remedy their collaboration problems by adopting an array of tools to address their various collaboration challenges (e.g., one for project management, one for shared files, one for team chats and so on). But more doesn’t mean better. And it most certainly doesn’t mean more productive, more efficient or more cost-effective! No matter how good each tool is at the function it is intended to perform, without one centralized process to manage it all, you’re still left with disjointed flows, ineffective communication streams and, ultimately, delayed projects.
That begs the question: how can you effectively and seamlessly enable smarter collaboration across project teams over the duration of your project? With a software tool that brings it all together under one umbrella to enable real-time, fully informed reporting and collaboration across your organization.
The good news is, tools like these are not only readily available; they are easy to use and won’t break the bank. With a tool like Siemens Polarion, for example—an application lifecycle management software program—you can:
- Get access to real-time product roadmaps, portfolio plans and dependencies
- Facilitate a seamless flow of information across project teams
- Gain full control over your application lifecycle
- Easily map processes
- Get real-time visibility into project, product, program and portfolio statuses
- Keep stakeholders on the same page while ensuring the appropriate levels of access to the information they need
With one unified, modular software development and collaboration platform, you can seamlessly communicate and collaborate across the organization—with fewer headaches and improved project outcomes. If you and your team need help improving collaboration, contact our Sterling experts today.