User training has the potential to do much more than simply familiarize employees with the basics of a new software program. With the right assistance, workers can learn new ways to boost productivity and collaborate in meaningful ways with the tools they already use on a regular basis.

One of the biggest trends to overtake the workplace in recent years has to do with enhancing collaboration among individuals either through in-person contact or over remote channels. In fact, the winners of the 2013 "Workplace of the Future" design competition, which was held earlier this year in New York City and featured the work of leading designers around the world, focused heavily on anticipating a greater need for collective input on day-to-day office projects and tasks, according to a press release from the contest organizers. This concept of hypercollaboration, in which the entire office layout is suited for interdisciplinary and cross-company interactions, is not simply limited to physical space either. Enterprise software has also advanced in recent years to reflect the growing need for collaboration among employees.

For example, Microsoft updated its Office Web Apps suite with a whole set of new features that make it easier to co-author, share and edit documents between users. The industry magazine PC World said the free, Web-based versions of Office programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint now offer the ability to co-author documents and track changes from different users in real time. Previously, Microsoft only offered limited versions of these programs as Web Apps. However, these most recent changes translate many of the features of the Office programs to a cloud-based environment. Microsoft Office 365 takes your organizational collaboration to the next level, giving your company access to Office and other productivity software almost anywhere.

Eliminating Confusion
Organizations that either already use or are interested in using Microsoft Office and SkyDrive (OneDrive) in the workplace may experience substantial benefits by seeking quality enterprise training services. As employees leverage advancements in technology to enhance the collaborative process, managers must ensure everybody on the team is entirely comfortable and familiar with any new tools or features. The Microsoft Windows blog said one of the unique characteristics of using SkyDrive (OneDrive) to co-author Word documents is that the program easily avoids any potential confusion by only allowing a single user to edit any given section.

Companies can further avoid eliminate software-related complications by seeking third-party help for the end user adoption process. Training employees on how to collaborate with documents can not only boost productivity, but it will also place the business ahead of the curve on many of the latest industry trends.