itm-platform-teambot-example

ITM Platform has just released a brand new app for Slack focused on collaborative work management. With ITM Platform Teambot, ITM Platform users can:

  • Recall their projects and tasks
  • Report their hours
  • Report follow-ups in percentages
  • Add comments to tasks and projects

We really believe ITM Platform Teambot is an interesting case study on how to promote SaaS adoption with smart integrations targeted at improving the experience of our user base.

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Enterprise software is the toughest of choices

One of the most common challenges for CTOs and enterprise technology owners lies in how to select a software vendor. Experience says technically great products do not necessarily perform better, while employees tend to stick to what they know.

I don’t think there’s an easy roadmap for choosing good software, nor even an adequate personality that solidly indicates a good decisor: the insightful CTO that evaluates dozens of options before selecting his technical champion can be exactly as wrong as the SME CEO that chooses a vendor based on his guts and contacts.

The secret is in the users

Very often, when a product doesn’t deliver what it promised the problem tends to lie in management, not in the technology: workers, workflows and technology are disconnected.

This is particularly important for project management solutions, that tend to have an asymmetrical use among different stakeholders: while project managers use the most advanced features, team members tend to be bugged down by boring and allegedly unnecessary reporting procedures that don’t add any value to their work. In that context, any friction will kill you. I can’t tell you a more common failure story in project management governance.

In other words: in a software-centric organization, you can’t escape treating your employees as users. The second step is to address user needs as that of internal customers: calculate software adoption as a major component of your technological ROI, as many experts are already doing:

  • 72% of CTOs consider adoption as the main driver for successful SaaS implementation (Sandhill)
  • 43% of CTOs recognize the threat of “shadow IT” and the use of non-validated software (Forrester)
  • 80% of users abandon enterprise mobile apps after a single use. (Boston technology)

So here’s our own experience for treating users as our major customers.

How to get your employees to use project management reporting tools

As any other SaaS company, at ITM Platform we know that if we rely solely on user’s good will for internal reporting purposes, any friction will disengage them. Neither we nor the company admins we work with want that to happen.

How ITM Platform Teambot solves the problem

  1. Go to where the user is

Instead of forcing the user to log into our system merely to report hours or progress, we have chosen to go where our users already are. In other words, we are choosing to support our standalone product with our own app for Slack, because we believe that it may turn into THE tool for enterprise communications and productivity.

  1. Make life easier

Once ITM Platform Teambot is authenticated, a team member will not need to enter into ITM Platform regularly: he or she will be empowered to execute all reporting actions directly from Slack.

By merely typing “/itmplatform list projects”, anybody can see what projects they have been assigned to on ITM Platform. The action takes abot 4 seconds and no browsing action.

What’s more, if you want to log in to ITM Platform to do more complex actions you can do so by merely clicking on the project or task names: they’re all functional hyperlinks!

  1. Productize user experience

The workaround that we have developed with ITM Platform Teambot has allowed us to productize user experience. In fact, what started as an improvement for our existing customers has become the most powerful project management app for Slack that we know of.

Visit Slack’s app directory to add ITM Platform Teambot now or request a demo to find out more on how to make ITM Platform work for your company!

 

Jaime González-Capitel
Senior Content Strategist
ITM Platform

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Slack logoSlack has its own guidelines on how to make the best use of your team chatrooms for managing your projects, and they’re a great way to maximize your productivity if your teams is already using Slack to coordinate your team communications. We particularly find that having a policy to create project-based channels is a great way to ensure that the right people are always getting the right information on time. And if you have a consistent naming guideline, the search box can become a powerful database of everything that is going on in your company!

project, Slack

Source?  Of course, Slack themselves. https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/218130338-Slack-for-project-management#apps-for-project-management

In fact, while the case for Slack may seem already redundant for American companies given the platform's soaring popularity and the power of its free version, many companies in different markets still haven’t heard of Slack, so it’s never too late to go over some of its pillars.

1. Familiarity of the design

Something I often hear around me is that people dislike Slack because they haven't invented anything. Well, you know, anybody familiar with the history of technology will debunk the romantic myth of originality: technology creates technology. New technologies, particularly successful ones, are combinations of already existing artifacts.

Feels familiar

  • So yeah, Slack’s repurposing of an IRC interface is not original, but at the same time it’s crazy brilliant because it goes back to the foundations of consumer satisfaction.

    You can think about it like the free food and napping pods at Google’s offices transformed into a digital environment. Chats and texting feel leisurely, and that’s precisely the feeling you want to give your team when you want to motivate them to use a specific tool. Particularly if you have a young workforce, trying out the giphy command can be the best way to guarantee people open their Slack account every single day.
    respekt

    2. Cell phone reporting

    Slack stands for “Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge”.  Although it looks like a chat, it is actually designed as a repository of information that you can search at any time.

    Now imagine how powerful this can be for teams that have workers deployed on the field. On one hand, they can send useful information from their cell phones knowing that the app is a validated form of communication; on the other, project managers will spare time on data management and the enforcement of reporting tools.

    3. An app environment for chatbots

    The main one? You guessed it: while Facebook is driven by procrastination, Slack is driven by productivity.

    The integration of third party applications follows its own patterns, starting with chatbots. Although the passion for chatbots has been heavily criticized by some as a passing fad, the truth is that they are a good example of simple products that do small things, but do them good. No team will have use for every app on Slack, but some of them are really powerful.

    Slack doesn’t have a very targeted public. If you work in an office, you can enjoy it. However, these guys have made sure that they meet the needs of any technological firm. In fact, besides giving access to specific apps for developers that go from GitHub and Heroku, there’s a specific feature that allows to share lines of code.

    Create snippet, Slack

    All in all, the main reason why you want to be on Slack is that, whatever your core business is, you will find ways to save time, connect your team, and increase the effectiveness of your internal communications. At the end of the day, that translates into a more solid organization and better project management.

    Did you know that ITM Platform also has it's own integration with Slack? If you want to check it out, click here.

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Collaborative work has changed the workplace. Every day more and more companies are choosing to work remotely from home. Thus, office maintenance costs are saved and the quality of life of workers is improved.

The savings in time and transportation, added to the greater schedule flexibility achieved with these new work systems, means every day more workers are choosing this system, because for workers it is easier to accommodate work and family life.

According to satisfaction studies both workers and companies prefer this method to the traditional office system.

In addition, telecommuting enables companies to choose workers located anywhere in the world, on the sole criterion their suitability for the job offered, without geographical restrictions.

long hands characters keys to teamwork success production process concept with computers poster flat abstract vector illustration

Even for those who decide to continue with the traditional office work, the use of remote working tools allows a degree of interaction and flexibility that they could not otherwise get.

In a world in which the use of technology is essential for communications and business, using the appropriate software can make the difference between the success and failure of your business.

In this article we'll give you some tips to help you choose the best collaboration software for your company.

Identifying the problem

In order to find a solution, it should raise the problem that needs to be solved. The software will be different depending on your needs. Just as there are sectors where communication is more important than in other more traditional sectors, it is not the same as an international company with hundreds of employees than a local company with few employees who tend to live near their workplace.

Users also participate in the decision making

The company decisions that affect everyone should have the greatest possible consensus, especially those who will be affected by the changes and, after all, use the tool. If they like it and it suits them, adoption is feasible; otherwise, it will become quite a problem.

Good software requires good implementation to squeeze the most out of its technological capabilities, achieve maximum efficiency and get the most benefit for the workers themselves and for the company.

Therefore, the choice of a particular type of software should have the opinions of all the staff who will be using it.

A practical example would be the design of a hospital. Doctors and nurses should be the first port of call when it comes to designing a hospital. The distribution of space and resource management cycles should include information and advice from healthcare workers who subsequently use the facility. In other words, distributing the different services so that they can provide the best patient care is something that exceeds the limits of architecture and economic management.

Returning to project management, using IT solutions can be a breakthrough, as long as they are understood and properly used by the personnel involved, you should obtain answers and solutions to their questions or problems. Therefore, the adoption process must include information collection cycles, both formal and informal. Discussion sessions, surveys or even the use of software testing by the technical staff are some of the alternatives.

Evaluate programs from different companies

When evaluating alternatives, it is likely that most companies offer a similar basic service, so this section will not help you decide on one or the other. However, if you dig deeper under the conditions that each offers, you will note that differences do exist. Some present more complex algorithms or specific utilities that help you perform the most complicated of tasks.

For example, in the case of ITM platform we present, among other utilities, a specifically integrated communication functionality in each of the work panels.

Another increasingly popular trend in both the United States and the rest of the world, is the utilization  of team communication platforms such as Slack. This company is looking to transform business communication by adopting the traditional model of chat rooms and adapting them to the needs of modern organizations. One of the most interesting aspects is the fact that, similarly to giants Facebook or Google, Slack are opening an ecosystem of apps developed by third parties with simple text commands entered using the backslash key. While some are humorous, like the one that lets you send animated images taken from giphy, other apps can solve quick calculations or retrieve specific information that a member of another department may need, without opening another window. This communication tool is evidently improving productivity within the workplace.

Consider software integration

Whatever system you choose, it should be integrated into your workflow and accessible to all members of your team.

So, ideally, this would be a cloud software that allows synchronization of all information anytime, anywhere and at the same time allows the maximum number of tasks without leaving the software itself.

Quantify the impact for your company

Introducing the use of online solutions for project management will undoubtedly be a positive change for your company. Although in the early days an extra effort will have to be made to learn to use the software, however, soon you will see that its simple and easy to use interface has much to contribute to your business.

You may have the feeling that it has increased your efficiency and productivity. However, until we quantify its results we cannot know exactly how much the new tool brings.

In the case of ITM Platform, the transition is simple. The platform is cloud based, offers a wide variety of features and is scalable so you do not pay for anything you don’t need.Why not give it to your project managers to test?

ITM platform free trial

Here are some recommended articles:

Organizations will run off remote jobs

Top tips to collaborate virtually

Top tips for communicating better in a virtual project world

 

Juan Delgado Moraleda

Blogger ITM Platform

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team members around a table, sharing on social medias. follow, share, like, phone, computer, tabletSocial networks have entered our lives, and they are here to stay.

Just a little more than a decade ago internet became popular and now we couldn’t live without it. Social networks have gained importance for some years, in both our lives and in the business world.

Actually, it is unthinkable that a company has no presence on the internet or in major social networks.

Project management is no stranger to these changes. In recent years new models of project management using social networks have emerged.

Initially project management 2.0 emerged, better known by reference: PM 2.0. This is the use of web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, for open and integrated online collaboration in a project team.

A more modern concept is Social Project Management. In this case, there is a much deeper integration with social networks. It is a way of understanding the interaction between project management and social networks looking to get the most out of what this new form of communication can bring to the world of business management.

Let’s see what their main contributions are.

Integration with the community

The project has resulted in the achievement of a product or service. Subsequently, it will have to participate in the market and meet the needs of the customers.

A closed project will only contain the views and contributions of members that make up the team. However, it will be closed to the internet community, which is a very large and representative sample of the global market in which the product will be integrated later.

Therefore the use of social networks allow collaborative contributions from individuals outside the team, most likely potential customers, so it will be possible to know their degree of satisfaction with the product before releasing it to the market.

This will foresee the needs that may arise and dynamically adapt the project so that the product meets the needs of the maximum number of customers at the time of its release.

Visibility

Enlisting the help of users of social networks will not only enrich the project but will release it. The internet community will feel part of the team. Really, it is the customers themselves who have designed the product to meet their needs.

During the process, they have exchanged information on the social network platforms visible to everyone, and therefore have formed a new advertising channel.

In addition, being able to work and feel part of the project is a powerful advertising tool. Customers may feel that the product is part of their lives even before it reaches the market.

Intimacy

A project openly in social networks brings you closer to the customers. Technology has added a certain point of dehumanized relations within companies and between them and their clients.

Social networks are the solution to recover the direct treatment through proprietary technologies. Even to get in contact with people with whom it was previously impossible.

Social networks allow you to show the human side of your company and get to know your customers intimately. Maybe people do not dare to say everything you think about your product or do not bother to respond to surveys at street level or by phone. However, social networking breaks all barriers and allows fluid communication between businesses and consumers. 

Diversity

Social networks are a useful tool regardless of the size of your company or the type of project you want to carry out.

In any case, social networks add value to your business. If small, you will have less followers and interaction in social networks, but will have as much room and potential for growth as a multinational.

In fact, you can interact with leading companies in your industry or other areas, achieving a useful communication will result in a mutual benefit.

For all these reasons, social networks are a tool to incorporate marketing strategies and project management. And every day they are more important and crucial to success.

In fact, there have been new marketing strategies based on the use of social networks. An example is known as the marketing funnel.

Therefore, social networks are increasingly used in business. What do you expect to use?

 

Top 5 most read blogs on ITM Platform:

The Monte Carlo Method in Project Management

Extra Extra Extra!

Three disastrous project management failures

The project in the face of adversity: what should a project manager do?

What is the Virtual Sock Management or Periodical Online Management?

 

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collaboration mind mapAs the famous poet Mattie Stepanek once said, “when there is collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” But what happens when those who are meant to collaborate are geographically separated, physically incapable of meeting with one another? The answer is virtual collaboration.

Rather than having projects run on generic face-to-face communication, businesses become reliant on technology-mediated communication. This approach integrates online tools into the workplace to help maintain interactions amongst group members. Now you may wonder where and when this would be used? 

Why virtual collaboration?

Simply put, virtual collaboration is made for virtual teams. If you’re unfamiliar with the term “virtual teams” you can always refer back to the article on remote work because the two are very familiar. Regardless, virtual teams are known as groups of individuals who work together despite being geographically dispersed. In this case, they highly depend on communication technologies to link them with one another and keep their team strong.

In fact, many companies today prefer virtual collaboration rather than the traditional one. The reason for this is because with traditional collaboration you run into an unavoidable barrier. Confused? Well, picture this: you and your colleagues sit around a table brainstorming ideas for your latest project. You want to be productive but can only have one person speaking or writing on the white board at a time. Virtual teams don’t come across this problem because technology permits them to make group chats, audio calls, face-time, or even use shared documents and whiteboard all at once.

Even though virtual collaboration has been implemented across millions of businesses it is still a fairly new concept and way-of-work. Many are still unsure how to go about of incorporating virtual collaboration into their own businesses. The following tips can help you with using virtual collaboration for your next project:

1. Create team rules

It’s essential for all team members to understand expectations for virtual communication. Agree upon the standards for decision making, resolving conflicts and meeting business protocol via technological softwares.  Furthermore virtual team members must have a very firm grasp on company objectives and priorities, their particular duties and responsibilities. Because this will be communicated virtually, it’s extremely important that it’s done efficiently to help reduce confusion.

2. Play online games

A fun and effective way to get team members familiar with virtual collaboration is through the use of virtual games. Workers can find online versions of “scavenger hunt” customized to their particular industry. Such games encourage players to pool their knowledge and develop connections with co-workers to solve problems. In many multi-player games, workers have to collaborate and continuously communicate with one another if they wish to survive.

3. Don’t be afraid of social media platforms

When individuals feel comfortable with one another they tend to work better together. Furthermore, people are more prone to being more willing to collaborate if they feel as though their co-workers are similar to them. This is where social media sites step in. The trick is to use these websites to find common ground amongst team-members. Put work aside and use social media tools to encourage and enable employees to communicate about non-work related topics.

Apart from taking these tips into account when planning the development of your own virtual team and the virtual collaboration that inevitably comes along with it, there is still one extremely important thing that must be done. You must find a strong, effective and virtual project management solution such as ITM Platform. ITM Platform is a cloud-based solution therefore it is perfect for virtual collaboration since it can be used across numerous technological devices, at any time and anywhere.

people join in www connections social media network

Learn more about how ITM Platform will help you with the creation of your own virtual team and all of your future projects by visiting http://www.itmplatform.com/en/

Top 5 most read blogs on ITM Platform:

The Monte Carlo Method in Project Management

Extra Extra Extra!

Three disastrous project management failures

The project in the face of adversity: what should a project manager do?

What is the Virtual Sock Management or Periodical Online Management?

 

Isidora Roskic-Blogger ITM Platform

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social media network and global communication with hands using desktop computer, smartphone and tablet computers with data streams and globe surrounded user avatarsComputers and technology are becoming much more integrated and crucial in today’s workforce. Businesses have operations across the globe; causing face-to-face interaction is becoming less of an option and virtual teams more of a reality. Without the physical interaction, communication must become much more efficient.

Here are four ways to improve communication when working on a virtual project:

 

1.Choose the right communication style

Depending on the information that is being discussed, there are many platforms that can be used.

2.Email can be used for quick interactions and delivering concise material.

3.Chat programs like Skype or Google Hangouts are great for quick instant messages and for creating a positive team chat environment.

4.Phone calls or video chat are necessary for discussing sensitive information. Any kind of emotional issue such as performance problems should be handled over the phone. Video chat would be even better as it gives you more visual cues of what is going on with the other person.

5.Use communication that is effective

Email is a great tool to convey messaged and information, but it can easily become very complicated. Hours that are spent on deciphering “chain” emails could be quickly resolved with a 30-minute phone call. When writing an email, keep the message clear and in the subject line so the subject of the email can be quickly understood. Another important note of emailing is to only attach those who would be involved in the email. If some team members are not necessary in the topic, spare them with one less email.

Sometimes, sending emails or talking over the phone isn’t enough and meeting up isn’t an option. There are various screen sharing programs that can be used for two or more team members can use to view each others computer screens.

6.Use tools that make document and spreadsheet collaboration easy

You must find project management tools that are capable of providing you with file sharing and collaboration features. When you aren’t constantly in the same room as your team members it’s extremely important that everyone can stay on task and organized. That’s why incorporating PPM solutions such as ITM Platform will allow you to finish work on time and manage all projects virtually.

7.Use your project management system

This can be a difficult step for some companies who may not have been reliant on technology in the past. However, the truth is that in this fast paced world, without systems your business is bound to fall apart. Project management softwares like ITM Platform are amazing for virtual communication amongst teams because it makes it easy to share conversations, documents and files as well as store and locate them later on. Without great PPM solutions your business can easily become disorganized and unmanageable.

social network, ITM Platform

 Isidora Roskic-Blogger ITM Platform

Top 5 most read blogs on ITM Platform:

The Monte Carlo Method in Project Management

Extra Extra Extra!

Three disastrous project management failures

The project in the face of adversity: what should a project manager do?

What is the Virtual Sock Management or Periodical Online Management?

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