Strategies for Real-time Document Collaboration

Remote workers can collaborate just as successfully as those sitting next to one another in an office setting. Teams can create and exchange crucial business papers with no inefficiencies or duplication of effort thanks to a wide range of collaboration capabilities, including saving and storing files in the cloud.  

Here are 7strategies for collaborating in real-time: 

1. Become Familiar with File Sharing Options.

Email file sharing is one method of team cooperation. However, there are occasions when email cannot handle the size of the file, and there are other times when edits are lost in the frequent back-and-forth and overlap of edits. If you need to transfer large files, there are several options available. You can share files online with a file sending service that uses end-to-end data encryption, password protection, 2-factor authentication, and virus scanning. Sharing files online via a cloud storage service is effective and supports almost all file formats, including spreadsheets, movies, and PDFs.  

2. Control File Access. 

You can choose who on the collaborative team can access a specific file by setting sharing permissions. Make sure that only the people on your list may read or edit a file by using lock-sharing. 

There is always a danger that a shared file will be accessed by someone who shouldn’t have access to it. Using the “file labels” feature, you may categorize and safeguard a file. This can be done by labeling it “confidential,” for instance. Furthermore, you can limit access to team members who are permitted to open a sensitive document. These file labels have a time limit beyond which they cannot be copied, sent, or (if specified) opened by an authorized user. 

It is also best to enable track changes when editing a shared document so that you can quickly view and track changes made by others. In addition, the lock-document feature can be used to prevent unauthorized changes to sensitive or urgent papers. Additionally, you can limit editing to only certain types of modifications. 

3. Use the Combine and Compare Changes Feature.

Reviewing edits made to a document at various stages or intervals might be helpful. With this feature, you can combine changes and examine an older version of the document alongside a more recent one. 

4. Examine the Version History.

Most cloud storage services set up a version history for files when you save them there. In order to recover previous edits or versions, you can review and restore earlier versions of a document using version history. To examine the precise changes done, you can also compare multiple versions of the file. 

5. Make use of the Editor Function. 

This AI-powered feature in Microsoft Word provides helpful grammatical and spelling guidance for writing in emails, documents, and social media posts. It can also help with content clarification, condensing messages, language suggestions, and other sophisticated style improvements. 

6. Remember that you can Recover Deleted files from the Recycle Bin. 

What happens if a team member recycles a pertinent document after deleting it? Fortunately, it is possible to retrieve a file from the recycle bin. The majority of cloud storage recycle bins save data for 90 days before deleting it. 

7. If Necessary, you can Change File Ownership.

A team member who creates a file is referred to as the file’s “owner.” Ownership entails having permission power over who else on the team can use or improve it. If it is decided that another team member should take over file ownership, the original owner or another person with the appropriate system administration credentials can initiate that change. 

Conclusion

Sharing files efficiently keeps a project on track. Small organizations frequently need to share files in order to quickly turn around documents and other types of files while ensuring accuracy, security, and proper file ownership.  

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.