File sharing solutions like Dropbox, WeTransfer, and a few others offer quick and easy ways to send documents to coworkers and clients. These online services are fairly secure and don’t limit you on file size. However, it’s a rare case where you only need to share files. It’s much more common to need additional capabilities and features, such as document management, project management, and communication.
Instead of searching for piecemeal solutions for each of these capabilities—which you’ll inevitably need if you’re sharing files—you can find one comprehensive solution that combines them all. The use of a file-sharing solution that also acts as a collaborative platform saves time, makes your team more productive, and ensures no important information is lost when navigating between tools. The four scenarios below underscore the importance of employing a collaboration tool that covers more than just file sharing.
When File Sharing Alone Is Not Enough: 4 Scenarios
1. When you need feedback on a document.
While occasionally files may be sent into a black hole, never to be heard of again, most documents require some type of feedback. If you share a document with your coworkers, you probably need their input. You could coral around the water cooler or start a long, confusing email chain—but neither would be very productive.
A solution that includes file sharing and communication features would offer better (and multiple) ways to share feedback, including instant messages, group conversations, or even threaded discussions attached directly to the uploaded file. The latter is perfect for keeping the conversation relevant, and the document close at hand.
2. When you need a document read or approved (and need proof).
File sharing is great. Document management is better. Taking that next step feature-wise gives you read receipts and approval workflows. Read receipts are great for when you need to know whether a coworker, your boss, or your client actually viewed a file. Instead of wondering, you have proof—unhindered proof, unlike with emails where the recipient can simply decline sending a read receipt.
Additionally, approval workflows enable your team to get required sign-offs from a boss or client. The client can review the file, and then mark their approval with the click of a button—providing their digital signature and alerting you of their sign-off. And if they have a question about the document before approving, they can use the attached threaded discussion.
3. When you have a document that requires action.
Whether you’re sending a client a file or they’re sending you one, there’s likely some type of action required from either or both of you. For example, you send a document to a client that needs to be reviewed and marked up, which you or a teammate will revise accordingly. Those multiple actions need to be tracked, especially if you do this frequently. Multiply this by multiple files and multiple clients and you’ll quickly be overwhelmed.
Hence why you’d also need project management or task-tracking features as part of your solution of choice. With an organized to-do list, you can easily assign tasks to both your team and the client’s so everyone knows who’s responsible for what and when things are due. A robust set of project management features will also include reminders for alerting assigned members to complete their tasks.
4. When you have a document that must abide by extensive regulations.
Highly regulated industries like finance often have regulations around securing and retaining documents. Exact regulations vary by industry and geography, but they often deal with the secure transfer and storage of data. For example, an accountancy firm may have documents or other data that needs to be encrypted both in transit and at rest. In addition, documents such as tax filings may need to be retained for a certain number of years. Such requirements may necessitate a secure solution that handles more than just file sharing.
File sharing is naturally a collaborative activity, which is why other collaborative features should be included in whatever solution you choose for your team. The above are just a few of the many scenarios where you would need related capabilities to better manage your team and ensure they’re operating efficiently.