Document collaboration is now standard for teams revising documents as a team. No more emailing back and forth, keeping track of versions, and inevitably losing files and changes.  With online document collaboration, multiple people can edit a document in real time. But that doesn’t mean you can’t run into trouble. Smokeball makes this extremely easy by allowing small law firms instant access to every matter with every related document and email within seconds to work together, respond to your clients in a timely manner and increase productivity. Let’s take a look at a few tips on making your collaboration a smooth one.

Choose The Right Tool

Not every collaboration tool will be right for your project.  Choose a tool that has all the features you need. Here are some of the common features of collaboration tools you may want to consider:

• Comments/suggestions. This allows people to make suggestions about changes without altering the document.
• Sidebar chat where you to talk live to fellow collaborators. Sometimes you may need to discuss issues live while in the document, tools that offer chats (voice or text) make it easier for your team to communicate.
• Import/export ability. Make sure the document can be exported easily to programs used by your team.
• Revision history. This is especially important if you have a large team. You want to see who made what changes and easily revert if necessary.
• Mobile support. Can you use this tool on your smartphone? Is there a compatible version for the operating systems used by your team?

You also want to make sure that your team is properly trained on the collaboration tool and that it is easy to use even for a novice. If you need training, find out if there are online tutorials that are easy to access.

Agree on Process

You must put in place a process for handling conflicting comments/suggestions and edits.  How will you determine which suggestions will be prioritized and how will you come to a consensus when edits are controversial?  Having a written process in place before you begin the project will give your team an advantage by minimizing conflicts.

Protect Confidentiality

Not all document collaboration tools are good for law firms because they may not have a high level of security.  Choose tools that use dependable security protocols that prevent your document from being shared without your permission. Also, put in place rules about when and where fellow collaborators can download or share the document.  For example, you may want to prohibit your fellow collaborators from working on the document when using a public WiFi connection since it’s not secure.

Show Respect

While your document collaboration tool will give you the flexibility to change documents in real time, don’t forget that another person is behind what’s being created.  Be respectful by leaving changes as suggestions that can be rejected/accepted and comments that can be reviewed.  Also, if you do make permanent changes to someone else’s work, make sure that you don’t change the meaning of their words. Edits should aim to provide clarity not change meaning.

Document collaboration tools will save you time, reduce errors, and make your law firm more productive. However, how you use those tools will determine just how effective they are in the long-term.

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Jane Oxley is President of Smokeball, a productivity and case management software provider that increases efficiency and profitability for solo attorneys and small law firms. Jane’s worked in the legal field for her entire career, spending over 20 years engaged with small law firms. She has a strong affinity with small law firms and the crucial role they play in the communities they serve and is passionate about helping them work towards more productive and less stressful practices.