The Latest Thing In Online Collaboration Isn’t Exactly New

3 problems the collaborative approach addresses

As virtual workforces and the ability to manage far-flung teams become critical success factors, consider the utility of the humble form: the latest thing in online collaboration. 

Thanks to cloud-based business solutions, teams are no longer defined by geography. Some of the world’s most disruptive companies have virtual workforces, with telecommuters joining colleagues on teams drawn from branches across the country or even around the world. One key to enabling effective collaboration is document control. And no matter the content — from memos to spreadsheets to datasets — forms are an unsung hero of the collaborative workplace.

Advances in online form capabilities may not get the same level of attention as other technologies, but forms are essential data collection tools — just try to build a mailing list, collect resume data, or update insurance information without them. The fact is, without forms, HR departments and other business units would find it hard to operate. Innovations in the forms space have made it easy to move offline forms online, streamlining data collection. 

These days, you don’t need to be a programmer or software engineer to create a digital mechanism to collect critical data. With drag-and-drop form creation features and advanced editing tools, anyone can develop and edit customized forms, and teams can collaborate to create forms for data collection, just as they work together to manage other types of documents. Instead of emailing documents back and forth for editing, team members can work together to edit the current version. 

Real-time form editing capabilities can save HR departments countless hours of passing markups back and forth, especially when team members are separated, either due to staff working remotely, workspaces located on different floors in the same building, or colleagues located in other offices, time zones, states, or countries. Here are three problems the collaborative approach addresses:
 

By helping teams solve these three challenges, a centralized, collaborative approach demonstrates how forms can be help far-flung teams and add value to multiple business units. A centralized document strategy eliminates the hassles and mistakes that can occur when many people are editing the same document at the same time. Mobile-optimized forms make faulty document performance in different user environments a thing of the past. And integrated workflows streamline the process of collecting and distributing data across teams while reducing costs. 

Cloud-based business solutions have transformed the way companies operate, making it possible for people to work from home and for teams to work together from anywhere. When you think about technological advances that make global collaboration possible, online forms may not be the first things that come to mind. But data collection and dissemination are fundamental business building blocks, in HR and every other department. So if you’re looking for cloud-based tools to supercharge teamwork, don’t forget forms. They may not be new, but they’re the latest thing in online collaboration.