Team collaboration platforms create the foundation for remote and hybrid work models, giving diverse groups of coworkers and colleagues the ability to share ideas and solve problems across distance. When used improperly, however, these tools can actually impede effective teamwork by wasting time and elevating stress.

These five suggestions can help ensure that your collaboration efforts meet expectations:

• Use the company-approved platform. Some employees commonly use four or more different collaboration applications on a daily basis, which makes it difficult to keep track of information related to a project. Platform standardization creates continuity and improves workflow management by ensuring that documents, conversations, files, calendars and images are accessible through a common dashboard. NetAscendant favors the Microsoft stack (Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, etc.) for collaboration.

• Choose the right tool for the job. Team meetings are important, but not every communication requires a videoconference with multiple participants. If you just want to share information, an email or a phone call might do the trick. In-app file sharing is an important tool for distributing documents. Chat is often a good option because it encourages people to be brief and to the point.

• Be prepared and engaged. Team members who aren’t adequately prepared for meetings waste everyone’s time. Always review the meeting agenda in advance and come prepared with any notes or files that you’ll need to present. Be on time, be an active listener and remain engaged in the conversation.

• Communicate clearly. Emails and text messages are often misinterpreted or misunderstood, so you should always doublecheck for clarity before sending. It’s also important to keep team members and managers in the loop with clear and succinct project updates.

• Be professional. The whole purpose of collaboration is to encourage diverse opinions and viewpoints, so don’t be rude or dismissive of colleagues with whom you disagree. Even odd ideas can lead to useful debates that produce creative solutions.