Why Real-time Collaboration is Essential in Web Apps for Work in 2021

Companies are becoming increasingly distributed around the globe and some are switching entirely to remote work. COVID-19 only accelerated the move towards a more digital and interconnected way of working.

The jump to a predominantly online workplace calls for a solution that empowers cross-border teams to work together efficiently and productively. Workplace web applications should support seamless online collaboration as digitized workflows become widespread.

With Vaadin’s Collaboration Engine (CE), you can easily build real-time collaboration features into your web app. Real-time collaboration allows multiple users to work on projects simultaneously in private and secure workspaces, without having to rely on face-to-face communication.

Learn more about the benefits of real-time collaboration to level up your team’s productivity and overall user experience (UX).

1. Increases productivity

Collaborative web apps increase the efficiency and speed with which global teams are able to complete projects. According to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute, improving communication and collaboration with social technologies can increase productivity across teams by 20 to 25 percent. 

Instant messaging built into collaborative software eliminates the need for users to email each other back and forth regarding project updates, pending edits, or looming deadlines. Communication via email snags away a whopping 28 percent from the average work week, which is time that could be better allocated.

Vaadin’s CE now comes with a chat feature, which allows users to see and communicate with each other in real time whilst working collaboratively on tasks.

Check out Mikael’s article for more information about Chat and how to implement it into your flow app here.

2. Enables organized workflows

Smooth digital workflows are essential for the success of any business. A wide range of collaboration tools from Google Docs, Slack to Asana are already popular amongst teams. As stand-alone applications they are great, however, most cross-border teams use a combination of several collaboration apps to form a makeshift digitized workflow.

Valuable time is lost trying to navigate through scattered multi-platform workflows. Different versions of the same document float around cluttered folders, taking up excessive storage space, and transferring data between multiple tools creates unnecessary inefficiencies.

With real-time collaboration, the content of each file is organized under one copy, reducing errors, as users automatically access the latest version on the web app. Changes are reflected instantaneously, allowing collaborators to feel in control over their work, which improves active contribution and engagement. 

3. Improves workplace UX

Companies that recognize the importance of web app UX gain a clear competitive advantage. Today, it is no longer enough for a business app to do its job; it also has to be intuitive, simple, and - dare I say it - fun to use. Anything that is too difficult or complicated won’t be adopted by end users. 

Work apps that support real-time collaboration greatly enhance UX. Unnecessary steps and inefficiencies are removed from digitized workflows, and employees can better focus on their tasks. A high-quality UX helps employees feel more invested in their jobs, which directly translates to the success of the organization. 

Businesses save time and money by avoiding costly mistakes caused by poor design. Bad UI design cost Citi $500M in 2020 and, although blunders of such a scale are rare, minor mistakes and errors due to subpar design occur daily. 

In an era where face-to-face collaboration has gone online, global teams call for logical and streamlined digital workflows to deliver their best work, and we're here to help! 

Our solution: Collaboration Engine

Simplify scattered workflows and enhance the UX of your web apps for work by building powerful, real-time collaboration features with Vaadin’s Collaboration Engine. 

CE is a fully customizable, out-of-the-box solution that enables developers to easily build real-time collaboration features into specific UI components, views, or entire Vaadin applications. It’s the simplest solution for building powerful, real-time collaboration features into web apps for work. 

Excited to learn more about Collaboration Engine? Click here.