Software collaboration tips

Jeffrey Schoenberger, Affinity Consulting Group 

Collaboration happens in two forms: asynchronous and real-time. We generally prefer asynchronous communication — text messages, emails, and perhaps voicemails — over real-time communication. How often do you text or email from your phone compared to making actual calls in a given day?  

Different forms of collaboration may be helpful for different areas of your practice. If something isn’t going smoothly, consider switching the type of collaboration you use depending on the situation. 

Asynchronous  

Asynchronous collaboration allows people to work from anywhere at any time. Early birds can collaborate with night owls. New Yorkers can collaborate with counterparts in the Far East. Time zones don’t matter. Here are tips to make asynchronous collaboration better:  

Basic document sharing  

1. If you’re not on the paperless bandwagon, start by getting a scanner to turn important papers into documents that can be shared easily. After scanning the papers, programs like Adobe Acrobat or ABBYY FineReader can convert a PDF to an editable Microsoft Word document.  

2. To work together over the internet, your document must be accessible to your collaborator. The easiest sharing platform is Dropbox, although there are plenty of competitors in this market. In fact, Apple (iCloud Drive), Google (Google Drive), and Microsoft (OneDrive) all offer free space; they just can be a bit more challenging to share from.  

3. Apple Pages, Google Docs, and Microsoft Word all offer free web-based versions of their respective word processors. If your collaborator doesn’t have the same word processor as you, they can access these free versions to edit the document you share, although they must create an account with the vendor if they don’t already have one.  

4. Each person can now edit the document.  

Share information rather than a document  

1. Microsoft’s OneNote is the most cross-platform of the note-taking or “everything bucket” solutions. Create a notebook, share it with your collaborator, and either of you can put almost anything you can imagine in there: lists; checklists; images (whose in-image text will be scanned so you can search for it); other documents like Word, Excel, or PDF files; and even handwritten notes from an Apple Pencil or Surface Pen. OneNote is available on all the major platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android). There’s even a web-based version if you’re collaborating with someone who doesn’t want to download the free app.  

2. All the major web-based practice management platforms offer some version of a client portal. But don’t be limited by the word “client”. These portals are shared spaces where anyone you allow can see and interact with information you choose to make available from your practice management program. Clio lets you share just about anything through the portal. Clients can even upload documents and send you secure communications through it. Cosmolex offers a similarly rich portal experience. Actionstep’s portal, on the other hand, is restricted to document sharing. Visit the Missouri Bar’s Law Practice Management site to get an idea of features, comparisons, and considerations regarding practice management. If you decide to buy, the bar’s Member Benefits page provides discounts for many top contenders.  

Real-time collaboration  

If you and your collaborator need to work on the same document simultaneously, consider two factors: how tech-savvy your collaborator is and how complex the shared document is (e.g., complex formatting, lots of images, etc.) 

Technophobe collaborators  

If the person you’re sharing the document with is not a technophile, the easiest thing to do is a web meeting where one of you opens the document and shares your screen. You can even grant keyboard and mouse control to your fellow participant so they can edit and navigate the document while the document remains on your computer.  

All the big web meeting platforms support screen and control sharing, though many require a paid account. If you’ve made it this far without a paid account at Zoom, WebEx, or similar, this LPM comparison chart will help you choose one.  

And once you’ve made that choice, read up on video conferencing professionally and get a pair of good headphones.  

Although you don’t need it for mere document collaboration, I recommend getting a high-quality webcam. The ones built into laptops stink, a fact confirmed by no less than the Wall Street Journal. I have and like Logitech’s Brio Ultra HD Pro Business. Despite the alphabet soup of a name, it works wonderfully and has a built-in microphone and privacy shutter (great if your office doubles as a bedroom). 

Complex documents

Complex documents share best in their native format. In the legal world, this usually means Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Luckily, sharing is fairly easy for these programs, and your collaborator doesn’t have to own (or subscribe to) Microsoft Office. Here are the steps to share a Microsoft Office document via OneDrive (or SharePoint) so others can edit it at the same time and see changes as they happen:  

1. Save your document to OneDrive  

2. Open the document via the Office desktop app or Office web app.  

3. Click the “Share” button at the top right of the Office app.  

4. Enter the email address of your collaborator. Type a message if you like. Then click “Send.”  

5. As an alternative to the step above, you can choose “Copy link” if you’d prefer to send the person a link via a text message or other means. It’s just a web link.  

6. The collaborator receives a link they can click to access and edit the document.  
7. When you both have the document open simultaneously, you will see a circle with initials of others in the document in the top right of the app or web app window. Clicking on a pair of initials reveals what page of the document that person is currently viewing or editing.  

Mix and match  

Depending on the information you’re sharing and the tech skills of your collaboration counterparts, one method may make more sense than another. In my experience, older clients prefer web meetings where you control everything as they comment or dictate text. Most other folks prefer asynchronous document sharing because, like text messages or emails, they can review the documents at a time convenient to them.