A recent study from Stanford claims that the U.S. population has adapted into a work from home economy, with 42% of the American workforce now employed full-time remotely. Luckily, advanced file sharing solutions are here to meet this moment and deliver the unrivaled support your team needs to perform its very best.
With so many businesses operating remotely nowadays, it’s important to have a file sharing solution that makes content management as seamless as possible. Not only do you want to be able to share files internally, but you also want to give your customers access to documents without asking them to download an app or try to navigate complex software.
A simple content management process involves creation, review, and publishing, but that has to happen for each and every content piece. If you’re not organized, managing content can quickly become out of control.
Keep reading to learn more about how file sharing solutions can effortlessly help your business facilitate streamlined content management.
Enhanced Collaboration
Even though face-to-face communication is always going to be the ideal choice to relay information, it simply isn’t always realistic. You won’t be able to count on every employee and customer to be available at the desired time, especially with remote work being more common than ever.
File sharing solutions make collaboration more attainable and efficient. While not all your employees and customers will be able to meet up in-person to convey ideas and share updates, file sharing platforms solve this problem. Now, team members and customers alike have the ability to share all sorts of digital assets—such as documents, videos, and presentations—in one convenient location. Gone are the days when sending around a file via email. Long email chains be gone!
Cloud-based programs are especially important in this time of remote work because files can be uploaded and accessed from anywhere with an internet connection by anyone with access to the system. Your files can be shared publicly or privately, depending on your unique preferences and security.
Having a dedicated file repository is a great way to ensure everyone stays on the same page and has access to the same relevant files. One of the greatest benefits of online file sharing is the capability for live collaboration on documents. Teammates and customers who have been granted access to the document can work together to edit and review without the need to send multiple versions back and forth via email.
Easily-accessible collaboration with team members and customers has become an expectation. Without file sharing solutions that facilitate content management, it would be a nightmare to manage all the different processes you’re expected to work with others on. Collaboration improves communication, which in turn creates a better culture at your business.
Internal Editing and Review Process
File sharing solutions are great for the internal editing and review processes. While file sharing systems’ main function is to digitize and organize files, this software can also allow users to share files with one another and collaborate on editing them. Some software implements a check-in/check-out feature that guarantees only one user can work on a document at a time. On the other hand, some file sharing software will give users the ability to edit a document simultaneously—and others offer both options!
All edits will be automatically updated in the same master doc and saved in the cloud. This means there is no need to create a new document for each draft. Thanks to version control features, “versioning” allows you to keep track of changes that have been made to a document over time. You and your teammates won’t have to worry about making edits to outdated drafts ever again! If you’ve ever created changes to a document only tombe told it was an old version, then you’ll understand the importance of version control.
The best file management software maintains an archive of old versions, letting you see how documents have evolved. Better yet, you won’t have to worry about losing previous versions of a document.
You can even revert to an old version if needed–just in case someone changes their mind. And if you work in content management, then you know that can happen more than you’d like.
File sharing platforms can track edits and comments to help you record what changes were made by which collaborator. This can help you understand what changes to make for future content and the preferences of certain editors.
With filing sharing, you can streamline your collaboration efforts and increase productivity nearly effortlessly.
Another critical feature of document sharing is the ability to set permissions to who can edit and review which documents. You can have permissions through group membership, or the data owner can send a link to edit the file. Documents are shared via email or through a URL, and team leaders can select which specific employees can directly edit, suggest edits, or have view-only access.
For example, SmartFile offers granular permissions that can be customized to provide viewing and editing powers down to the file level and they can be game-changers for working with clients, partners, and contract workers needing temporary or otherwise limited access to your confidential materials.
This feature opens new doors for content management and allows multiple team members both to write and edit drafts in real-time. These tools help to prevent miscommunication while allowing for a faster and more streamlined document creation process.
With improved efficiency comes more cost-effective processes.
A Holistic View of Files and Content
When organized and structured correctly, a file sharing solution offer your company a big picture view of the topics and types of content that you are storing, promoting, and sharing. The person who oversees your content management can have a full understanding of where each content piece stands.
This holistic approach to content management helps business owners develop and support their most important information in a way that creates a visible ecosystem. This ecosystem then offers a powerful infrastructure for sharing, collaborating, and analyzing content in ways that enhance value.
When you can view your files and content as a whole rather than a bunch of separate parts, it becomes a lot easier to manage it all. File sharing not only makes it easier than ever before to access a comprehensive overview of your files and content, but it also offers problem-solving solutions in a unified, cross-disciplinary way. Move documents across your file structure to wherever they need to be according to the document’s lifecycle.
One sure-fire way to maintain the success of any business is to develop the basic understanding that all things should be working together toward a common goal. Your business’s content and files are some of its most valuable resources. File sharing gives you and your employees the ability to make all your information accessible, secure, and manageable.
Designated Client Portal
After all your internal content review and edits are complete, file sharing solutions like SmartFile offer branded portals for your clients. When it’s time for clients to see content documents, a branded experience allows them to upload content, review work, and safely share information in real-time with your team.
File sharing also helps make content management straightforward for your customers. It’s a single location in the cloud that can be accessed through their web browser. All they need is an internet connection and email address; no apps or downloading confusing software. Make the process as easy to use for your clients as possible. Not only will this help cut down on time-consuming back and forth emails, but it can be seen as a professional courtesy.
File sharing solutions like SmartFile make set-up and use so simple that your clients won’t need to call on IT-support like they would with many other client portals.
And, because file sharing client portals are built with best-in-class security features, as well as granular permissions, your clients can have complete peace of mind when uploading, sharing, and collaborating on files. You can co-edit and review documents with your clients, as well as set deadlines, and approval requests.
It’s a truly innovative way to connect your team with clients and create a better customer experience that makes your business stand out among the rest.
Over the past few years, there’s been a growing demand by employees and clients alike to share and collaborate on documents with people inside and outside of their organization. Cloud-based sharing made this not only possible, but it is now necessary and expected. Check out our website to learn more.