Question

As more and more people are using collaboration tools and telecommuting, what issues would you be concerned about? Think as a manager in your major. Examples could be cost, software, hardware, infrastructure, PM, communication, or whatever you come up with.  

Answer 1

Issues with collaboration tools and telecommuting:

(a) Isolation is an often-underestimated telecommuting challenge. While 42% of remote workers feel as connected as their on-site colleagues, that’s still less than half. That’s a lot of isolated telecommuters.

(b) Telecommuting presents many challenges. But one difficulty that’s often overlooked is the impact it can have on your daily routine and diet. Working from home can blur the boundary between work and leisure.

(c) Not using the right tools is one of the biggest concerns of collaboration. Email, spreadsheets, carrier pigeons— these are the wrong tools to use for collaboration. For starters, these tools don’t bring people together. Instead, they keep information and individuals extremely siloed.

(d) Mis-communication can be one of the concerns too. When collaborating, there is always room for misinterpretation and miscommunication. Sometimes, mistakes aren’t even discovered until it’s too late.

(e) Creating cooperative interaction among team members is also an issue with collaboration. It’s likely that many team members have never met or worked with each other before.