{"id":40510,"date":"2022-11-24T21:32:02","date_gmt":"2022-11-24T21:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/articles\/collaborative-online-virtual-workspace\/"},"modified":"2024-08-29T06:45:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T06:45:10","slug":"collaborative-online-virtual-workspace","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/articles\/collaborative-online-virtual-workspace\/","title":{"rendered":"The best way (&amp; tool) to build a collaborative virtual workspace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class='inline-text-container MobileAlignment DesktopAlignment'>\n  <div class='richText'><p dir=\"ltr\">Imagine you\u2019re a Product Marketing Manager being bombarded with requests from sales, marketing, product, executive and help teams:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Sales<\/strong>: \u201c<em>Could you hop on a call to train us on the (XYZ) feature? It\u2019s intriguing prospects who demo our product<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Marketing<\/strong>: \u201c<em>We\u2019ve created an SEO-focused page around the (XYZ) feature, and now the product team hates us. Will you review the copy and explain what\u2019s gone wrong<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Product<\/strong>: \u201c<em>Marketing has again misrepresented (XYZ) product feature! Sit down with us to create some training for them, please?&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Can you picture the plight of handling such complex demands <u><em>without <\/em><\/u>a collaborative online workspace to centralize, capture and distribute your product-specific knowledge to the teams that need it?<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This scattered way of working is a scary thought.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But it\u2019s just one of many examples showing how\u2014with the rise of remote work and technical roles\u2014poor virtual collaboration is rapidly becoming a reality for teams relying on the wrong software and tools.<\/p>\n<div class=\"note\" role=\"note\" aria-label=\"Information\">\n<h3>Table of contents:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"#The-missing-tool-for-a-collaborative-online-workspace\">The missing tool for a collaborative online workspace<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"#Centralize-your-collaborative-online-workspace-with-an-LXP\">Centralize your workspace with an LXP<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"#Allot-subject-matter-experts-to-expedite-problem-solving\">Allot subject matter experts to expedite problem-solving<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"#Recognize-and-reward-frequent-contributors\">Recognize and reward frequent contributors<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">The missing tool for a collaborative online workspace<a id=\"The missing tool for a collaborative online workspace\" name=\"The-missing-tool-for-a-collaborative-online-workspace\"><\/a><\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Cracking the code to virtual collaboration drastically enhances employee performance and business outcomes.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Mitchells &amp; Butlers, a hospitality leader with over 44,000 employees, for example, achieved an 89% compliance rate and a 5% boost in quality scores by establishing <a href=\"\/node\/294\" data-entity-substitution=\"canonical\" data-entity-type=\"node\" data-entity-uuid=\"df62f537-c66f-4774-8c79-4cca48af6003\"> an engaging collaborative virtual workspace <\/a> .<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Unfortunately, fostering a collaborative online workspace is challenging due to the narrow scope of commonly-used tools and the ever-expanding need for intense, team-based knowledge work.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Tools like Google Drive, Slack and Microsoft Teams certainly ease the project management-related challenges of working within large dispersed teams, but they aren\u2019t designed to support the deep drivers of a collaborative virtual workplace.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Multiple singular purpose tools can\u2019t act as a central space to facilitate and document key discussions, connect employees to subject matter experts and foster learning in the flow of work, because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Critical conversations and ideas get buried between different channels<\/strong> and are hard to capture. This thwarts productivity and team-based problem solving<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Subject matter expertise isn\u2019t captured, shared or made accessible to employees across the organization<\/strong>. As a result, demands on internal experts increase and guidance for non-expert employees (that\u2019s specific to job roles\/skills) becomes less efficient and effective.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Personalizing learning around the needs of individual employees (and their job roles) becomes difficult to scale<\/strong>, especially in larger organizations<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This is where an internal workplace collaboration tool like the <a href=\"\/products\/learning-experience-platform-lxp-totara-engage\">learning experience platform (LXP)<\/a> comes in.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In this post, you\u2019ll learn how to address the aforementioned limitations with an LXP to significantly improve employee communication, problem-solving capabilities and productivity.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Centralize your collaborative online workspace with an LXP<a id=\"Centralize your collaborative online workspace with an LXP\" name=\"Centralize-your-collaborative-online-workspace-with-an-LXP\"><\/a><\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Complex operations require intense collaboration that combines expertise from multiple departments.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">If you\u2019ve got a new product launch, for instance, constant communication between your product, management, marketing and design teams is a given.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">As the intensity and cadence of communication increases, however, the quality of collaboration drops as critical feedback, ideas or documents \u2014that bounce between multiple channels, departments and tools\u2014get overlooked or lost.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This hinders teamwork, disrupts communication and slows down work processes.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">An LXP like Totara Engage (which is a single component of the <a href=\"\/products\/totara-talent-experience-platform\">Talent Experience Platform<\/a>), solves this common problem with permanent virtual workspaces for deep collaboration.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-24475 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/totara-engage-workspaces-scrs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/totara-engage-workspaces-scrs.jpg 350w, https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/totara-engage-workspaces-scrs-300x171.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Giving employees a dedicated space to work together, workspaces are used for teams, departments, roles and learning cohorts to discuss projects, processes and problems.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This is especially useful for larger organizations, dispersed teams and technical projects\/training because workspaces become exponentially valuable with time as more people contribute and share knowledge.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The beauty of workspaces is that teams can tailor them around their own unique collaborative needs and projects. They\u2019re suited for shallow interactions (e.g. to post and respond to ideas, or to vote in polls to decide on a course of action), but are perfect for complex tasks and projects:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Wikis<\/strong> help employees independently troubleshoot and self-serve issues<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Forums<\/strong> document deep discussions, facilitate valuable team brainstorming, stimulate new ideas and enable peer reviewing<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Surveys<\/strong> help efficiently capture ideas and sentiments from large groups of people<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Content playlists<\/strong> can be assigned to foster continuous learning and upskill employees on specific subjects or competencies<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Badges and labels<\/strong> <a href=\"\/node\/1842\" data-entity-substitution=\"canonical\" data-entity-type=\"node\" data-entity-uuid=\"95f4c52b-bf2d-4267-8e71-6a2766afa2c4\"> gamify knowledge sharing<\/a>, reward subject matter experts and recognize frequent contributors<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"note note--perform-blue\" role=\"note\" aria-label=\"Information\"><\/div>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Allot subject matter experts to expedite problem-solving<a id=\"Allot subject matter experts to expedite problem-solving\" name=\"Allot-subject-matter-experts-to-expedite-problem-solving\"><\/a><\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">From brand-new employees to experienced senior management, an LXP connects people with similar needs\u2014whether that&#8217;s by role, location, seniority level or skill set.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Not only will this help your people fill skills\/knowledge gaps created by <a href=\"\/blog\/5-secrets-behind-highly-effective-corporate-training-programs\">corporate elearning<\/a>, collaborate on projects from a centralized collaborative virtual workspace and communicate with colleagues, but it also opens up the opportunity for developing employees to be mentored\u00a0by senior experts.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Experts can curate training resources from multiple channels to create personalized development paths and answer questions from mentees\u2014who can comment on and rate content created by others.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This provides employees a dedicated place to develop their skills, discuss ideas with colleagues and solve problems together in an engaging and interconnected way. It even <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/become-a-partner\/totara-trade-show-partners-1\/\" data-entity-substitution=\"canonical\" data-entity-type=\"node\" data-entity-uuid=\"0f2398b8-b827-43bd-8d3e-e65af5516dd8\"> aids career progression<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-37086 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Totara-engage-career-progress-scr-2-1024x675.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Totara-engage-career-progress-scr-2-1024x675.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Totara-engage-career-progress-scr-2-300x198.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Totara-engage-career-progress-scr-2-768x507.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Totara-engage-career-progress-scr-2.jpeg 1031w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Recognize and reward frequent contributors<a id=\"Recognize and reward frequent contributors\" name=\"Recognize-and-reward-frequent-contributors\"><\/a><\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Subject matter experts play a crucial role in collaborative workspaces. Other employees will turn to them for advice and guidance, and they can help complement formal learning programs in your <a href=\"\/products\/totara-learn\" data-entity-substitution=\"canonical\" data-entity-type=\"node\" data-entity-uuid=\"cc27e042-e65c-4557-8379-2643e3bdcc0f\"> learning management software<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to recognize subject matter experts, and employees in general, for helping team members and sharing knowledge.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">With an LXP, employees can be recognized as experts or valuable contributors with tools such as ratings, labels and badges to identify top-performers and motivate employees to help each other.<\/p>\n<div class=\"note note--perform-blue\" role=\"note\" aria-label=\"Information\">\n<div class=\"note__footer\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n  <\/div>","protected":false},"template":"","tax\/tags":[719,730,692],"tax\/solutions":[],"tax\/topics":[],"tax\/industries":[],"tax\/article-types":[1021],"class_list":["post-40510","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/40510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax\/tags?post=40510"},{"taxonomy":"solution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax\/solutions?post=40510"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax\/topics?post=40510"},{"taxonomy":"industry-tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax\/industries?post=40510"},{"taxonomy":"article-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax\/article-types?post=40510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}