At the least, a lack of good collaboration efforts between various actors in a project is simply ineffective, and fails to get all concerned the results that they want.

But project management can be a complex task, and collaboration is often found to be difficult to properly coordinate. For instance, think of the collaboration involved in software development. You may have one team that comes up with the idea for the new software. Then you have the coding team that actually writes the software into existence. (There may be just one coder or there may be a need for collaboration between multiple coders.) Once there is something created, there will be a person or a team that tests the software to see if it works technically as well as to check out how practical and user-friendly it is. If revisions are needed, the project goes back to the coders, who may then need to check in with the original designers to see if they have missed some part of the idea. This will be a back-and-forth process until the quality control unit likes the software. Then, if you are selling the software, the designers will have to coordinate efforts with the marketing and sales forces so that they can communicate with potential buyers and get the software onto consumers’ desktops. Finally, there may very well be one overall project manager to whom everyone concerned is ultimately answerable.

There is much to think about and much collaboration needed just to engage in successful project management to create just one new piece of software. In today’s business environment, the different parties within the project may all be in different offices (perhaps working via Internet from their homes). There will be a lot of communication necessary via e-mails. There will also be telephone calls, online virtual meetings, in person meetings (between people who share an office), and perhaps instant messenger conversations. It is all too easy to get lost in these details. Today, we expect that communication should be easier and more efficient than ever thanks to our technology. However, many people involved in project management today find collaboration overwhelmingly complex, or at least ridiculously time consuming.

With today’s fast and furious communications, it’s easy to get buried in endless e-mails. It is easy to have far too many meaningless meetings that take up time but don’t push the project along. Instant messaging may devolve into useless talk.

With the way we communicate today, Internet-based collaboration is not limited to projects like software development for a business. There is online collaboration and project management done for new home construction, for instance. An architect can use online graphic and document sharing and virtual meetings to share plans with a general contractor, who then does the same with their sub-contractors. Even within the offices of the sub-contractors, online specs may be shared between different persons via Internet.

Think of what it takes to get a book published. The author shares manuscript documents online with an agent. The agent meets online with various prospective publishers until one is found. Then the author shares the manuscript back and forth with an editor until the editor is satisfied that the book can be put together and sold. A graphic designer or artist will need to have the manuscript and notes shared so as to create the cover art. The manuscript and cover art will be sent via the Internet to the printing house, and the printer will need to collaborate with the publisher to ensure that the book is put together in the right way. The sales and marketing departments of the publisher will put the book’s information up online. Potential distributors will view information about the book online.

It goes on and on. We manage project after project through the use of the Internet today. No matter what our project is, we can become lost in the intricacies of attempted collaboration, as in the software development illustration.

A powerful tool for today’s project management collaboration is organizing software that is designed to streamline the collaboration process. One of the features of such software is document sharing made easy. Documents and graphics can be uploaded online to a place where everyone concerned can view them at any time. No more need for one-to-one sharing or e-mailing attachments back and forth. Different parties would even be able to make changes to documents or graphics in real-time right before each others’ eyes.

If changes are made to documents online, however, some parties may not know who made the changes, or why. This can be confusing and frustrating. It is important for all concerned to know who has made any changes or revisions and why. Good collaboration and project management software can show this vital information for all versions of a document. If changes have been made, an involved party that wasn’t there to see them made can immediately learn who made them. If there is not clarity about why they were made, the appropriate party can be contacted to find out.

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