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IT professionals’ play a huge role in workplace collaboration – which will improve with the overall business objectives, and increase productivity within the teams. By collaboration, it is important to have an open communication either through virtual communication tools or regularly in person collaboration sessions. This will help promote a positive and creative working environment.
There are 6 quick ways to Increase Workplace Collaboration

  • Utilize wireless presentation technology: Weekly collaboration sessions are recommended between team members. These weekly collaborate sessions can be an overview of tasks for the week or sharing best practices which will take 10-15 minutes. These sessions should be quick, where no one should be fumbling with cables – therefore, using a wireless presentation solution can make the progress seamless and easy.
  • Create a creative environment: The most innovative workplace environments are those where teams members feel like their voice can be heard. Make sure your workplace is an environment that encourages the voicing and sharing of ideas.
  • Lead by example: If you make the effort to work with the guys in marketing, or some other function in the business, your teams will be more inclined to work in the same way too. Demonstrate you are a leader.
  • Know your colleagues: The better you get along with your colleagues, the easier it is to work with them. It’s a simple rule to follow, but the more time you spend getting along with your colleagues personally the more over time you are sure to be rewarded professionally.
  • Set your expectations and clearly communicate them: It always helps a team especially remote teams if they know what is expected of them. Rather than let your teams drift along, make it clear what you expect of them. Tell them you want them to collaborate with one another!
  • Reward collaboration: If as a manager you see collaboration taking place between colleagues, celebrate it! Highlight the successes that collaboration has brought the company, and tell people how they are adding value. Remind individuals that ultimately they will be rewarded where they want rewarding most – in their pocket.

Hopefully, it has made you think about the ways in which you can become a more collaborative colleague too.

Want to set up a wireless Conference Room?Try Now

Managing virtual teams and working in different time zones has become increasingly popular. It’s estimated that around 10 million people work in this way and IT professionals in particular have been a big part of this shift in work culture.
More companies than ever before are outsourcing their IT projects across the world, whether for cost-saving purposes, or for the need to acquire specific expertise.
Managing virtual teams across time zones is not without its pitfalls though. If you are responsible for people working across multiple time zones, here are some handy hints that should help you work more efficiently:

  • Keep everybody up to date – It’s easy for virtual employees to feel disconnected from their team especially when most of the team members are based in a different location. Keep teams in the loop with regular, scheduled virtual meetings by utilizing conference room technology such as wireless presentation, remote presentation, or videoconferencing.
  • Set clear expectations – This applies especially to deadlines. Make it clear to your team members that the task needs to be completed by a specific time zone. For example, 4pm PST or 2pm EST. Setting clear expectations will help eliminate any complications and misunderstanding.
  • Have all teams work from the same schedule – If most of your team members are based in the Pacific time zone, it would make it easier if your calendar is changed to the Pacific time-zone to accommodate their schedule. Additionally, placing all files on the corporate network or a shared drive would help team work collaboratively and efficiently.
  • Unified Communication is key – Integrating enterprise communication such as instant messaging, data sharing, or even desktop sharing can help teams stay connected and gets responses in real-time.
  • Get everybody together in the same room – If it is an on-going project, it might be valuable to bring the whole team together in one central location so different time zones wouldn’t be an issue

You will have noticed there is one common theme with all these suggestions: ‘communication’. Effective communication is the key to successfully managing virtual teams. Take a closer look at what Ubiq’s wireless presentation technology can do for you.